China after the Revolution of 1949 - Essay Example

20 March China after the Revolution of 1949 Introduction: The Chinese Civil War, which took place between 1927 and 1950, was fought between different forces, which were loyal to the Chinese government led by the Kuomintang of the Communist Party of China (CPC), as well as those which were against the government. The war led to the creation of two separate states, namely, the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in mainland China, and these together formed the government of the Republic of China. The civil war continued consecutively till 1937, and the two parties formed a Second United Front, which later on led to the Chinese invasion in Japan. This further resumed the civil war in China, after which the war restarted only in 1946, a year after the conflict with Japan. The war ceased in 1950, and the Republic of China was under the jurisdiction of the islands of Taiwan, Quemoy, Penghu as well as several other outlying areas. Mao Zedong was commonly regarded as Chairman Mao, who was a Chinese communist, revolutionary and a political theorist. He is known as the father of People’s Republic of China since its foundation in 1949. He ruled the nation as the chairman of the Communist Party of China until his death. Here the topic under discussion is the changes that were brought about in China during Mao’s period, after the Chinese revolution of 1949. There existed some inequalities in PRC due to the dissimilarities between the Mao period and the reform eras. To know the underlying nature of the Chinese society, one needs to understand China’s transition into the present era after Mao’s period. This change was brought in its due effect after the era of Mao. Analysis: The changes that took place during Mao’s rule were based on the economy of China. There was the involvement of foreign capital in China from economic zones such as southern and eastern coasts. There was a connection of the part of China in terms of family and cultural relationships to other countries like Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. During this time, the economy of Asia was growing fast and starting to play a more important role all over the world. This was one of the advantages of China; this led to the economic reforms in the country. China took its steps for development through various fields such as agriculture in the private sector, independence in the non-state sector in industry, transport and construction, which was in crisis during the USSR times. There arose some problems in the economy. “There has been a tendency for cycles of economic boom followed by centrally – induced restraint, but these have not called the whole project into question” (Bowles et al. 70). Even if there were problems in China, there developed some reform programs such as agricultural reforms in 1978, the industrial, commercial and urban reforms in 1984 and again the coastal strategy reforms in 1978. Some legal facilities were provided in order to surpass all the rights and duties when the economic policies were being developed in China. It was the situation of flexibility in the rules rather than the communist regime. In Mao’s rule there were limitations to implement rules and regulations over the labourers in the aspects of wage rates, trade unions and working conditions. This raised market oriented businesses in the economy, and the Cultural Revolution resulted in the independence of China from other foreign countries. The banks in China followed liberalization, and authoritarianism was not acceptable anymore in the Chinese society. In this era, discontent with socialism had started to grow. Chinese economy survived after the Cultural Revolution of 1966 by the implementation of Five Year Plan; however, this revolution overwhelmed the political system of China, and as a result, chaos spread. “Two years after the Cultural Revolution ended in October 1976, the principal survivor of that cataclysm, onetime CCP general Secretary Deng Xiaoping, initiated China’s reform era” (Macfarquhar and Schoenhals 2). By the time of Deng Xiaoping’s rule, Hong Kong and Singapore had become the main industrial centres of China. For formulating further industrial policies, Deng opposed the CCP rule of ideology, Marxism-Leninism and the thoughts of Mao Zedong. Hence, foreign investment was flourishing, which amazed the world immensely. Even though these developments in China were brought about without the involvement of PRC, it got recognition internationally. Privatization came to be known as socialism with Chinese characteristics as its predecessors as well as the westerners observed the market as Leninism or as neologism. China was able to change its past and get rid of all the brutality and suppression further with the help of the student’s movement of 1989. After Mao’s rule, at the 4th national congress of January 1975, there originated a mission of Four Modernisations introduced by Chou-En-Lai. This was aimed towards the development in the sectors of industry, agriculture, defence, science and technology. Hence, through this program, China was able to achieve this progress. The Maoist concept of self-reliance was discarded, and the country began to follow the concepts of developed countries. China’s foreign trade policy was nourished by its trade with the European nations, such as Sweden and England, and the USA. To fulfil their objectives, China needed more capital, and they decided to become a member of the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for achieving their goals. Through these international relations, China began exporting and importing. As a result of getting more loans, China was compelled into exporting manpower to the European countries. China’s foreign policy was known as the “open-door” foreign policy, which was opposed by many socialist nations for its negative effects on the following ideology, society and economic policies. However, due to the economic policies of China, unemployment was wiped out in certain areas of the country. Chou-En-Lai was the prime minister of China in 1980, who contributed the most towards designing the foreign policy of the country. Hence, the cooperation between China and the USA improved. The Sino-European policy made the relation of China with other European countries stronger. During the late 70s China has engaged in trade relationship with European nations such as France, Germany and England, which has boosted their economy. In addition, as a result of this, Westerners considered China as a market power and a good trade partner. Conclusion: There were several major developments in China during the Chinese revolution and Mao’s rule. The development was not the same as it was during the time of Mao’s rule as the newly reformed government rejected the concepts of liberalisation and equality. This is due to the fact that they understood that equality cannot be made possible or applicable and maintained in all the cases. They acknowledged that liberalisation is not possible to be applied in all aspects, and they employed the idea of liberalisation in economy to make international trade and foreign policies. There emerged an authoritative government instead of Mao’s socialist-democratic government. It was necessary for an authoritative government to impose their rules. Mao’s rule was for suppression on the development because of the liberalisation in jobs, which was not possible to be put into practice. Hence, China made relations and contracts with developed countries in Europe with the aim of becoming the supreme economic power. China’s ultimate goal was to achieve economic development and to become a number one power in the world economy. For this, China had implemented certain policies and gained great progress in the world economy after Mao’s death. Mao’s concept was self – reliance, but after his death, China maintained the policy of fast development even with the foreign relations. Another important thing that China intended to do was to wipe out poverty by making various job opportunities for the people. China has changed a lot from the revolution period of 1949 under Mao’s rule, and it has now achieved the second largest economy, which is just next to the USA in the world. The economists said that China will attain the first position in the world economy within the nearest period, and recent developments in China show that this is coming true. Works Cited Bowles, Paul, et al. China After Socialism: In the Footsteps of Eastern Europe or East Asia? An East Gate Book, 1996. Web. 21 March 2013. Macfarquhar, Roderick, and Michael Schoenhals. Mao's Last Revolution. Oxford University press, 2006. Web. 21 March 2013. Read More