Deng Xiaoping's Role - Essay Example

10 March Deng Xiaopings Role Deng Xiaoping was born in the Sichuan province of China in 1904 (Qing 221). His father was a landowner and he was the eldest son in the family. The evolving role of China as a world leader began with Xiaoping’s vision when he regained power in 1978, as the then Communist party leader. With Deng Xiaoping’s return to power, China began its journey to global leadership. He believed that by modernizing agriculture, science, technology, education, industries, and national defense and maintaining good international relations, China would become a developed nation. Deng Xiaoping began his development agendas for China by supporting the introduction of advanced technology and equipment for advanced technology, which are one of the main tools used by the rest of the world for development. He made a lot of effort to promote talent. Bevis points out that, “Deng had rushed to hold national entrance examinations and to reopen many universities that had been closed during the Cultural Revolution” (134). The advancement of China was his topmost goal and he was receptive to new ideas. He formed friendly relations with many famous scientists and would ask them for advice on what China could do to catch up with the rest of the developed world. The implementation of the science and technology agenda for modernization in China was done through cooperative agreements between China and different science communities. The first agreement was between China and the United States; according to Fingar and Reed, “the understanding was…subsumed under the umbrella ‘Agreement on Cooperation in Science and Technology’ signed by President Carter and Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping on January 31, 1979” (39). To this day, Chinese leaders still use Deng Xiaoping’s advice, especially in regard to introducing advanced technology and learning from other nations. Among the sectors of the Chinese economy, the agricultural sector was the foremost in undergoing reforms. Success in the agricultural sector renders success in development certain. This is because it alleviates a nation’s population from hunger. Reforming China’s agricultural sector during the time was quite difficult, due to the fact that agricultural products were sold at very low prices. In addition, when the reforms were introduced in this sector, over half of rural Chinese people were living in poverty. According to Baum, “in agriculture the year 1979 witnessed the launching of a series of experimental reforms that radically altered the face of the Chinese countryside” (68). A decision had been made by the Third Plenum to allow the five hundred million farmers in China to take part in different incentive driven, and decollectivized agricultural production and marketing activities. Ethridge and Handelman support this fact by asserting that, “under Deng Xiaoping’s sweeping reform, farming was decollectivized as the former agricultural cooperatives were parceled out to family-controlled plots” (389). From this decision, a number of rural homes used “household-based production responsibility systems” to experiment these activities (Baum 68). Although caution was practiced in the beginning of these reforms, they were very successful. This led to a rise in the total agricultural output. Regarding national defense and domestic security, Deng Xiaoping was concerned with maintaining them for the many reforms ahead. The People’s Armed Police (PAP) was established for this reason. Despite this, “Deng Xiaoping did not believe that other nations were threats to China, yet he never disarmed the PLA so much that it was helpless to defend the country” (Guo 227). The formation of the People’s Armed Police served as a tool for the achievement of long and short term goals in reforms. Additionally, the PLA had been involved in far too many issues of the Chinese society and government and there was need for change. After the People’s Armed Police was formed, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) focused on defending China against external enemies. According to Guo, “the PAP’s rise was a salient part of Deng Xiaoping’s economic reforms, which focused on China’s industrialization and military modernization” (227). The formation of the People’s Armed Police marked China’s shift of focus from international threats to domestic security, and this was a necessity for the four areas of modernization in China, namely; “agriculture, industry, science and technology and national defense” (Guo 227). Deng Xiaoping had full faith that China would have peace to concentrate on agriculture, military development, industries and infrastructure. I completely agree with Deng Xiaoping’s views on state role and market role in the State Capitalism of China. In effect to his firm believe in economic reform, Deng Xiaoping advocated for a free market; it was for this reason that he ended state controls over China’s economy. From this, it is clear that Deng Xiaoping understood that there would be no economic growth without competition, which is only possible in a free market. This would have therefore been hindered by state capitalism through implementation of legal and economic controls. The policies implemented by Mao Zedong, who had preceded Deng Xiaoping in ruling China were closed door. For this reason, foreign companies could not invest in China and state-owned enterprises could not compete with private enterprises. Under Deng Xiaoping’s leadership, private enterprises in different sectors of the economy could compete with state-owned enterprises (SOE’s). He also allowed foreign companies to invest in China which was another economic blueprint. According to Knapp, “Deng especially encouraged large multinational corporations based in the United States and other Western countries to finance joint business ventures with Chinese SOE’s” (458). The explosion in economic activities in China can therefore be attributed to these reforms. In conclusion, Deng Xiaoping was a major influence in China’s economic transition and unprecedented growth. He had China’s interests at hand and this can be seen from the many successful reforms he introduced. Deng Xiaoping believed that by modernizing agriculture, science, technology, education, industries, national defense and forging good international relations, China would become a developed nation. He also believed in a free market economy. During his reign, Xiaoping worked hard to ensure that the reforms he believed in were implemented. The reforms were successful in bringing about China’s economic transition. Works Cited Baum, Richard. Burying Mao: Chinese Politics in the Age of Deng Xiaoping. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994. Print. Bevis, Teresa Brawner. A History of Higher Education Exchange: China and America. New York: Routledge, 2014. Print. Ethridge, Marcus and Howard Handelman. Politics in a Changing World. 6th ed. Mason: Cengage Learning, 2012. Print. Fingar, Thomas and Linda A. Reed. An Introduction to Education in the Peoples Republic of China and U.S. - China Educational Exchanges. Washington DC: Committee on Scholarly Communication with the People’s Republic of China and the National Association for Foreign Student Affairs, 1982. Print. Guo, Xuezhi. Chinas Security State: Philosophy, Evolution, and Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. Print.   Knapp, Michael C. Contemporary Auditing: Real Issues & Cases. 7th ed. Mason: Cengage Learning, 2009. Print. Qing, Dai. The River Dragon Has Come! The Three Gorges Dam and the Fate of Chinas Yangtze River and Its People. New York: M. E. Sharpe, Inc., 1998. Print. Read More