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China in the Late Leninist Era*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 February 2009

Robert A. Scalapino
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Extract

In the course of the 20th century, the world's inhabitants have shared one fate in common. Sooner or later, they and their society have been plunged into the maelstrom of accelerating change, an upheaval at the root of which are the explosive developments in science and technology. The global revolution has unfolded in different ways, and has had diverse ideological underpinnings, structural attributes and institutional foundations. Other variables of great significance are timing and leadership. The timing of the revolutionary effort together with the stage of preparation on the part of the society involved have had a major influence in determining the degree of coercion likely to be employed. If a reluctant, ill-prepared society is pulled into modernity largely against its will, significant force has often been required, although the creation of a new faith through intensive ideological indoctrination has reduced the quotient of coercion in certain instances. Timing has also determined the develop-mental models available as well as the prevailing ideological currents, and hence the influences likely to carry the greatest weight with elites committed to change.

Type
Whither Chinese Leninism?
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 136 , December 1993 , pp. 949 - 971
Copyright
Copyright © The China Quarterly 1993

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References

1. For a succinct account of China's agricultural policies and their results from 1952 to 1992, see “China is entering its fifth period of key farm reforms.” China Daily, 30 July 1993, p. 4. Three fine studies of the rural economy and its social consequences are Lardy, Nicholas, Agriculture in China's Modern Economic Development (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Oi, Jean C., State and Peasant in Contemporary China (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989)Google Scholar; and Chan, Anita, Richard Madsen and Jonathan Unger, Chen Village Under Mao and Deng (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992)Google Scholar.

2. A perceptive study of the Soviet scene during these years, written during the early Gorbachev era, is Bialer, Seweryn, The Soviet Paradox: External Expansion, Internal Decline (New York: Vintage Books, 1986)Google Scholar.

3. The statistics contained in this article are taken from the International Monetary Fund Yearbook, 1991–1992; Asian Development Bank Annual Report, 1992; Pacific Economic Cooperation Council, Pacific Economic Outlook, 1993–1994, and accounts published by the PRC government.

4. For an excellent overview of the economic and political situation as of the end of 1992, see Perry, Elizabeth J., “China in 1992: an experiment in neo-authoritarianism,” Asian Survey, Vol. 33, No. 1 (01 1993), pp. 12–21CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

5. For this report, see “Poll: rural youth say city grass is greener,” China Daily, 10 July 1993, p. 3.

6. A broadly gauged recent study of the economic reform efforts that combines political and economic factors is Shirk, Susan L., The Political Logic of Economic Reform in China (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993)Google Scholar.

7. For an analysis of the need for administrative reform, replete with statistics, see Hong, Cai, “Government fights to make itself more efficient,” China Daily, 16 07, 1993, p. 4Google Scholar.

8. See Scalapino, Robert A., “The United States and Asia: future prospects,” Foreign Affairs, Winter 1991–1992, pp. 19–40Google Scholar.

9. Regarding the latter development, see an article by Li Dehua and Cui Zhong on the creation of a Sino-Kazakh Joint Development Zone that appeared in Zhongguo Xinwen she, 19 July 1993, and was translated and reproduced in FBIS-CHI-93-147, 3 August 1993, pp. 5–6.

10. For example, a series of articles devoted to Deng's theory of building socialism with Chinese characteristics was published in the organ, Party, Renmin ribao, and other sources in the summer of 1993Google Scholar. Innumerable meetings have also been convened to examine Deng's writings and key injunctions, very similar to such exercises in the Maoist era.

11. A recent article illustrative of current efforts is Hongfeng, Li, “How to strengthen and improve party leadership at the present stage,” originally in Guangming ribao, 7 07 1993Google Scholar, translated and published in FBIS-CHI-93-147, 4 August 1993, pp. 14–16.

12. For a recent exposition of his position, see Jiang's, discussion with a group of journalists from Asahi Shimbun, under the title, “Jiang says friendship with Japan solid trend,” China Daily, 9 07 1993, pp. 1, 4Google Scholar.

13. For perceptive articles on the People's Liberation Army, see Shambaugh, David, “The soldier and the state in China: the political work system in the People's Liberation Army,” The China Quarterly, No. 127 (09 1991), pp. 527–568CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Lin, Chong-Pin, “The extra-military roles of the People's Liberation Army in modernization: limits of professionalization,” Security Studies, Vol. 1, No. 4 (Summer 1992), pp. 659–689CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Matsumoto, Tadashi, “Modernization or regional domination?” The Japan Times Weekly Inter-national Edition, 10–16 05 1993, p. 13Google Scholar; Cheng, Li and White, Lynn, “The army in the succession to Deng Xiaoping: familiar fealties and technocratic trends,” Asian Survey, Vol. 33, No. 8 (08 1993), pp. 757–786CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

14. Further analysis is contained in Scalapino, Robert A., The Last Leninists - The Uncertain Future of Asia's Communist States (Washington, D.C.: Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1992), pp. 81 ffGoogle Scholar.

15. An article combining strategic and economic considerations in exploring China's position regarding the South China Sea is that of Garver, John W., “China's push through the South China Sea: the interaction of bureaucratic and national interests,” The China Quarterly, No. 132 (12 1992), pp. 999–1028CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

16. For an interesting article presenting the perspective of one Chinese intellectual, see Zongshi, Ma, “China dream in the global 1990s and beyond,” Xiandai guoji guanxi (Contemporary International Relations), Vol. 3, No. 7 (07 1993), pp. 1–19Google Scholar.

17. Perceptive articles outlining China's security position are those of Glaser, Bonnie S., ”China's security perceptions, interests and ambitions,” Asian Survey, Vol. 33, No. 3 (03 1993), pp. 252–271CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Shambaugh, David, ”Growing strong: China's challenge to Asian security,” Survival (Spring 1994)Google Scholar, forthcoming.

18. One authoritative Chinese view on Japan is Fang, He, ”Japan's post-Cold War foreign policy strategy,” Foreign Affairs Journal, Beijing, No. 28 (06 1993), pp. 37–44Google Scholar.

19. See Wenwu, Zhang, “Sino-Russian relationship under new circumstances,” Foreign Affairs Journal, Beijing, No. 28 (06 1993), pp. 13–20Google Scholar.

20. For two relatively typical articles of recent vintage dealing with aspects of PRC-U.S. relations from a Chinese point of view, see Yiming, Song, “New features in the current international situation,” Beijing Review, No. 29, 19–25 08 1993, pp. 11–12Google Scholar, and Huasheng, Yang, “Clintonism diplomacy,” Yangcheng Wanbao (Guangzhou), 18 07 1993, p. 4Google Scholar, translated and published in FBIS-CHI-93-142, 27 July 1993, p. 3.