China After Mao Flashcards
in 1979 the four cardinal principles were announced
-to keep to a socialist road
-to uphold the dictatorship of the proletariat
-to uphold the leadership of the CCP
-to uphold marxism
Political improvements:
1979-ministry of justice re-established
law schools open to give people more protection
congressional elections were also held and were extended to factories where managers could get elected
In 1978 deng removed maos ‘four great freedoms’; to speak freely to air views fully to hold great debaes and to write wall posters
Wei Jingsheng accused Deng of being a dictator and was sentenced to 15 yrs in prison
democratic journals were shut down
the gang of four trial(1980):
Jiang(the leader) claimed she was ‘chairman Maos dog’
jan 1981 the gang were found guilty
plans to hold trials like this were abandoned as all levels of Chinese government had been involved and to implicate one person would be to implicate all
Propaganda:
Deng’s opponents were discredited in posters ad reflected the four principles
Deng made every effort to silence any criticism
Deng’s social change: education-
1977 national college entrance exam was re-established
access to higher education was based on academic ability rather than political/family connections
deng saw a link between industrial growth and education
he expanded number of universities
as part of china’s open door policy he sent thousands of students abroad to study
he aimed that they would learn western methods and bring them back to china
women-
During the cultural revolution birth control was seen as anti-marxist
the population was heading to 1 billion people
government introduced one child policy
people who accepted this was given benefits such as places at best schools for the child
people who refused faced fines
policy was less severe in rural areas as boys were useful for helping elders
baby girls not being wanted resulted in infantcide and there was a huge gender imbalance
women suffered compulsory IUD fittings and sterilisation for people who had two
Governent also increased minimum age of marriage; ‘later marriage, later childbirth’
Before Deng
either hua guofeng, the gang of four or deng xiaoping could take maos place
gang of four were maoist hardliners
they were arrested for planning a coup
they overestimated their support and were too unpopular
it appeared hua’s position confirmed
deng used his PLA links for his re-admittance from politburo-this isolated hua
he got supporters and the politburo dropped accusations
1977 he was ccp secretary till 1997
at a meeting after mao in 1978 ccp accepted deng’s four modernisations
agricultural policies:
communes/collectivisation abandoned
household responsibility system introduced
land owned collectively as long as peasants paid taxes/contributed to local targets(were allowed to keep excess to sell for profit)
entrepreneural spirit created
growing crops suitable for local terrains encouraged
peasant families farmed same land for generations-this was successful(98% farming households adopted this system by 1984)
farm output rose by 8-10% a year
grain yields 2.5 tonnes/per hectare-3.5 tonnes/per hectare
state said it would extend leases but peasants were wary of this promise
natural disasters were also still a threat
industrial policy:
plan was to decentralise economic planning and state-owned enterprises(SOE) would have more freedom
SOEs expected to be cost efficient and increase output
SOEs had to supply certain amount of goods or profit but they could make own investment decisions and source their own raw materials
this meant tey could sell surplus for profit and allow industrial growth
deng’s open door policy aimed to build economic relations with the west
1980 deng set up special economic zones which could hire/fire workers and tax. it was a considerable success
workers in urban/industrial areas paid according to performance and not flat rate
greater mobility meant workers could pursue work in new and expanding sectors
1982 workers had the right to strike
end of state control however meant jobs were no longer guaranteed
some workers had to get second jobs for their income
modernisation was slow as workers did not want to give up their privilege
there was a threat of inflation as state owned enterprises could fix their own prices in a supposedly market driven economy
