Politics in Mao's Era

							Politics in Mao’s Era
Birth of “New China”
   Civil War in 1949
      January, Beijing/Tianjin fell to CCP
      April, Nanking fell to CCP
      May, Shanghai fell to CCP
   Founding of the “People’s Republic”
       Sept. Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference
        (CPPCC)
          Common    Program
          Beijing – capital of the new state
          Five-star flag
The Common Program
   PRC’s proto-constitution
   PRC a people’s democracy
    People in PRC are the following
            Workers
            Peasants
            Petty bourgeoisie
            National bourgeoisie
       Enemies of state (class enemies):
            landlords
    People vs Enemies of State
   Enemies of state in the PRC are:
       Landlords
       Bureaucratic capitalists
       KMT reactionaries
   Use of Class labels
       Members of society classified based on family
        wealth, own history & social affiliation &
        political attitude
          Poor and lower middle peasants
          Rich peasants
          landlords
    People vs Enemies of State
   Use of class labels
       Workers
       Peddlers
       Shop owners
   Facts about class labels
       Class labels assigned to everyone
       Class labels assigned for life
       Class labels hereditary
       Class labels determine political, social, &
        economic status
People vs Enemies of State
   Political Use of class labels
       Class labels divide the society into two
        separate camps
       Class labels determine who to include and who
        to exclude in:
          Job assignment
          Education
          Promotion
          Distribution of resources
     Establishing & Maintaining State
     Authority
   Political Campaigns
       Land Reform & Land Redistribution
          1948-1950
          Undermine the economic power of the
           landlords
          Disenfranchise the landlord class politically

       Resist the US and Aid Korea
          1950  -1953
          Eliminate pro-America & pro-West sentiments
          Rally nation against an external enemy
          Foster nationalism
Establishing & Maintaining State Authority
   Political Campaigns
       Suppression of Counter-revolutionaries
          Eliminate secret societies
          Eliminate resistance from forces against the
           Communist regime
          Penalize whoever who questioned the
           Communist rule
          Eliminate societal elements deemed as a
           hindrance to socialist transformation
              Drug dealers
              Pimps
Establishing & Maintaining State Authority
   Political Campaigns
          Eliminate societal elements deemed as a
          hindrance to socialist transformation
             Prostitutes
             Hooligans, thugs, fortune tellers
             Anyone considered a threat to the State

       “Three-anti-five-anti” campaigns
          Three-anti
             Anti-corruption
Establishing & Maintaining State Authority
   Political Campaigns
      “Three-anti-five-anti” campaigns
           Three-anti
              Anti-waste
              Anti-bureaucracy
         Five-anti
              Anti-bribery
              Anti tax evasion
              Anti fraud
              Anti theft of government property
              Anti theft of state economic secrets
    Establishing & Maintaining State Authority
   Political Campaigns
      The Hundred Flower Campaign: 1957
           Discontent was rising in China
                Forced collectivization
                Nationalization
                Suppression of alternative views
           Developments in Soviet bloc countries
                Khrushchev's de-Stalinization
                Hungarian Crisis
           Mao’s intention
                To ease tensions in Chinese society
                To ease popular discontent towards CCP
                To show to the world that China was different from
                 other socialist states
Establishing & Maintaining State Authority
   Political Campaigns
      The Hundred Flower Campaign: 1957
        Mao’s   assumption
           Chinese  people were unlike Hungarians
           Chinese people shared same interests as
            CCP
           Chinese people identified with CCP and
            were united behind CCP objectives
           People’s views are “non-antagonistic”
        Mao’s   two internal speeches
           One in 1956
           One in 1957
Establishing & Maintaining State Authority
   Political Campaigns
      The Hundred Flower Campaign: 1957
        Initial   Societal Response
           Deafening  silence (disbelief)
           Cautious criticism
              Larger role for CPPCC & minority
               parties
              More foreign academic journals
        Active    Response
           Beijing University, big posters
           Intellectuals joined the criticism
Establishing & Maintaining State Authority
   Political Campaigns
     Active   Response
         Entire   society joined the criticism
     Major    Criticisms
         Communist    state is simply another
          feudal dynasty
         CCP is estranged from the masses
         Officials are not “servants of people”
         CCP officials do not like different views
Establishing & Maintaining State Authority
   Political Campaigns
     Major     Criticisms
         CCP  members are “flatterers,
          sycophants, and yes-men”
         Marxism-Leninism should not be dogma
         Collectivism hinders production
         “Volunteer” work is a nuisance
         Life was better under KMT
         CCP should not monopoly power
         Multi-party election ensures democracy
Establishing & Maintaining State Authority
   Hundred Flower Campaign
       Mao and CCP Response
         Initiationof Anti-Rightist campaign
         Who were “Rightists”?
            Some 500,000 people
            Nation’s best & brightest intellectuals,
             scholars, professors, scientists, students
         Punishment
            Jail term
            Labor camp
            Demotion, excommunication, banishment
             to rural areas
Establishing & Maintaining State Authority
   Hundred Flower Campaign
       Effect of Punishment
          Family  breakup
          Stigma on entire family
          Disenfranchisement of entire family
          Life as social outcasts

       Was “hundred flower” a conspiracy?
          Did Mao intend to lure the opponents to
           expose themselves initially?
          Or did he under-estimate public sentiments
           towards the CCP?
Establishing & Maintaining State Authority
   Hundred Flower Campaign
       Was “hundred flower” a conspiracy?
          Did Mao intend to lure the opponents to
           expose themselves initially? According to
           conspiracy theory
          Or did he under-estimate public sentiments
           towards the CCP?
       What does Prof. Dreyer say?
Establishing State Authority
   Hundred Flower Campaign
       The Case of Harry Wu
        A   college student in 1957
         Voiced criticism of Soviet invasion of Hungry
         Voiced criticism of the CCP
         Condemned as a “counter-revolutionary
          rightist”
         Sent to labor camp for 19 years
         Beaten, tortured and almost starved to death


    http://www.echofoundation.org/wu/wu_bio
      graphy.htm
Economic Transformation
   The Great Leap Forward, 1958 - 1961
       Why “Leap”
          Mao’s impatience with slow growth
          Limitation of Soviet model
          Population an asset of growth
          Sputnik & Khrushchev
     Short-term        Objectives
          Iron-steelproduction
          Coal production
     Long-term         Objectives
          Increase   of productive power
Economic Transformation
   The Great Leap Forward, 1958 - 1961
       Approaches
          Mass mobilization
          Diversion of labor to steel production
          Creation of People’s Communes
     Consequences
          Grain  production drop
          Severe market supply of necessities
          Strict rationing system implemented
          Starvation swept across the nation
          Peasant death in large numbers
Economic Transformation
   The Great Leap Forward, 1958 - 1961
     Unprecedented       Environmental
      Damages
        Forest  devastation
        Desertification in animal farming
         regions
        Rivers running dry in lower valleys
        Assault on sparrows
        Wildlife devastation (Mongolian
         gazelles)
Intra-Party Conflicts
 Evaluating     the “Leap”
   The   Lushan Conference, 1959
      Marshal Peng Dehuai & Mao
        Peng’s letter
           “Leap” a waste of labor
           “Leap” counter-productive
           “leap” a violation of economic
            laws
        Mao’s response
           Oust Peng as defense minister
           Condemn Peng as “anti-Party”
 Cultural Revolution
 1962   Expanded Party Conference
   Objective    of Conference
     Evaluate   Party leadership & work since
      1958
     Reaffirm economic consolidation policy
     Reaffirm production restoration measures
   Differences    on Party Responsibility
     Liu   Shaoqi
          Party leadership failure mainly
           responsible
    Cultural Revolution
   1962 Expanded Party Conference
       Differences on Party Responsibility
          Liu Shaoqi
          Lin Biao
              Economic fiascos results of failure to follow
               Mao’s instructions
              Mao leadership flawless.

   Socialist Education Campaign
       Mao:
          Officials are becoming corrupt
          Socialist China is in danger of capitalist
           restoration
 Cultural Revolution
 CCP   Leadership in Early 1966
   Mao  Tsetung: Chmn of CCP Central
    Committee
   Liu Shaoqi: President of PRC
   Zhou Enlai: Prime Minister
   Lin Biao: Vice Premier, & Defense
    Minister
   Jiang Qing: Mao’s wife
 Mao’s Economic Policy
   Collective economy is unshakable
   Individual production, hotbed of capitalism
    Cultural Revolution
   Mao’s Economic Policy
   Mao’s Foreign Policy
       Ideological conflict with USSR
       Hostility towards West
       Support for world revolution
   Mao’s Education Policy
       Formal education should be reformed
       Education be combined with labor
       Suspension of int’l educational exchanges
   Mao’s Policy towards Intellectuals
       Ideological reform of intellectuals
    Cultural Revolution
 Liu’s     Economic Policy
     China-foreign economic relations desirable
     Mixed economy serves socialist objectives

   Liu’s Education Policy
     Formal & informal education equally
      important
     Int’l educational exchanges important

   Liu’s Policy towards Intellectuals
       Intellectual activities respected
    Cultural Revolution
 Liu’s Downfall
    August, 1966: 2nd to 8th in ranking
    Sept – Oct, 1966: public humiliation
    Nov, 1966: disappearance from public
    Oct, 1968: excommunication from CCP
    1969: died in house arrest
   Liu’s Family
     Wife: accused of being an American spy; life
      imprisonment (changed from death sentence)
     Eldest son: suicide
 Cultural Revolution
 Interpreting           Cultural Revolution
     Factional Model
        Mao   vs Liu
     Political Culture Model
        Tradition   of authoritarian politics
     Palace Politics Model
        Mao
        Liu
        Lin
        Politics   of succession
Cultural Revolution
 Aftermaths         of Cultural Revolution
  Political   crisis
     Political   succession crisis
        Death    of Lin Biao
     Mao’s    prestige eroding
  Economic       stagnation
     Rationing system permanent
     Production hardly matching population
      growth
Cultural Revolution
 Aftermaths       of Cultural Revolution
  International     relations
    US-China     relations
       Nixon’s visit in 1972
       Ford’s visit in 1975

    China-USSR     relations
       1950 military alliance
       Soviet model & Sino-Soviet friendship
       Sino-Soviet ideological differences
       Sino-Soviet military clashes 1969
Cultural Revolution
 Aftermaths        of Cultural Revolution
  International    relations
    US-China relations
    China-USSR relations
    China-Europe relations
       1964 Beijing-Paris diplomatic relations
       1966, burning of British mission in Beijing

    China-Asia   relations
       Indonesia
       North   Korea
Cultural Revolution
 Aftermaths        of Cultural Revolution
  Education
    Disruption of formal education
    Suspension of int’l educational ties
    Close of universities and colleges
       Abolition   of college entrance tests
 Major Actors in 1975 - 1976
 Mao Tsetung
 Zhou Enlai
 Deng Xiaoping
   Deputy  prime minister
   A reformer

 Jiang   Qing & “Gang of Four”
   Jiang:   Mao’s wife
    Major Actors in 1975 - 1976
   Jiang Qing & “Gang of Four”
     Jiang: Mao’s wife
     “Gang of Four” (Shanghai clique)
         JiangQing
         Zhang Chunqiao
         Wang Hongwen
         Yao Wenyuan

   Hua Guo-feng
     Deputy Prime Minister
     1st Vice Chairman and Prime Minister
 Major Actors in 1975 - 1976
 Cultural   Revolution (CR) Beneficiaries
   Mao
   JiangQing
   “Gang of Four”
   Hua Guofeng

 CR   Victims
   Deng  Xiaoping
   Ye Jianying
 PRC in 1976-1978
 End    of Mao Era
   Sept. 9, 1976, death of Mao
   Oct. 6, 1976, arrest of “Gang of 4”

 Rise   of Hua Guofeng
   Hua:    Chairman of CCP & Premier
 Policy   Debate
   Hua:“two whatevers”
   Deng: “Seek truth from facts”
 PRC in 1976-1978
 3rd   Plenum of 11th Party Congress
   Nov-Dec  1978
   Decisions
         Rehabilitate CR victims
         Suspend Mao’s mass class struggles
         Initiate economic reform
         Initiate open policy
         Reorient Party work on economic
          modernization
 PRC in 1976-1978
 Rise   of Deng Xiaoping
   Fourmodernizations
   Education reform
     Formal education
     Standard tests
     Restoration of university education
     Admission based on academic
      performance
     Restoration of int’l educational exchanges
 PRC in 1976-1978
 Rise   of Deng Xiaoping
   Four  modernizations
   Education reform
   Intellectual Policy
      Socialist   mental workers
   Int’l   Economic Relations