Economic Progress of China since 1911 - Coursework Example

Economic progress of China since 1911 Introduction China’s economic progress is watched with surprise by many people. When most of the communist countries struggled to progress, China stood out among them keeping their head well above than others. Many people believe that China’s economy may surpass the US economy in near future itself and China will become another super power in the world. Even the Americans looked suspiciously at the growth of China. Many people has the false belief that China’s economic progress has started recently only. In fact it started immediately after the destruction of Qing dynasty in 1911. The destruction of Qing dynasty in 1911 put seeds for the economic development of modern China. All the administrations followed by the Qing dynasty played their own part in making China in its present form. The economic progress of China during post Qing dynasty period can be classified into many stages. Leaders like Sun Yat Sen, Chiang Kai Shek, The nationalist era, Mao Zedong, Deng Xiao Peng etc played their roles effectively in restructuring and streamlining the Chinese economic growth back on track. Foreign policies and international relations of China are also debatable. Even the leaders of the same communist regime adopted different foreign policies. But the basic purpose of such policies were aimed at the economic progress of China rather than anything else. Contributions of Sun Yat Sen Sun assumed power immediately after the destruction of Qing dynasty, but forced to resign in 1912 because of his differences with the Nationalist party and the government. But he was successful in regaining the power in 1923 and worked hard for revival of the Chinese economy. He has received immense political, economical and moral supports from USSR. “Sun summarized his policies in the Three Principles of the People--nationalism, democracy, and socialism” (Chinese Cultural Studies). Sun was a great admirer of Soviet Union and the socialist policies implemented in Soviet Union. He made every conscious effort to plant a Soviet model of economic growth in China. At the same time he was aware of the value of democracy and nationalism in promoting economic growth in China. He never tried to rule China with iron fist unlike the communist regime at present. The Qing dynasty has destroyed the Chinese economy because of their dictatorship and visionless policies. Sun Yat Sen, the father of modern China can be considered as the first person who worked hard for the revival of Chinese economy after 1911. After the death of Sun Yat Sen in 1925, Chiang Kai Shek assumed power and continued the good work of Sun Yat Sen. Chiang Kai Shek Era Chiang Kai Shek led China till the Chinese revolution in 1949. During this period China underwent many difficult periods like the World War 1 and 2. Even though China faced many setbacks during this period, Chiang did everything possible to save the Chinese economy from total destruction. Chiang was a leader who depend the western countries like US and UK more for their economic growth unlike Sun Yat Sen. Chiang did everything possible to eradicate communist party from China which ultimately resulted in the October revolution in 1949. Chiang era is considered as the era in which the Chinese cities started to develop. Moreover, Chiang tried hard to boost the educational sector as he realised the importance of education in restructuring a modern China. With their emphasis on modern, urban development, the Nationalists secured the cooperation of many talented, foreign-educated intellectuals, and higher education flourished. At the same time Chiang initiated a "New Life Movement," seeking to introduce Chinas millions with military discipline and enthusiasm for Confucian values (C HIANG K AI-SHEK) The deliberate efforts to destroy communist party by Chiang resulted in October revolution and Mao Zedong, the communist leader assumed power in 1949 Mao Zedong era Mao was more adamant about the implementation of the tight communist principles. He tried to make prosperous china though the basics of communism. He was adamant on the communist principles and did everything possible to make China an opaque entity to the external world. China followed an economic policy strictly in accordance with the Marxist’s views of economics during this period. Like most of the other socialistic countries, China was reluctant in opening their economies to capitalist countries during this period. Most of the trade activities of China were with Soviet Union and other socialist countries before during the Mao regime. Land reform, social reform, thought reform, economic planning etc were the major contributions of the Mao regime (Chinese Cultural Studies). Peasants got the lands from landlords for agricultural purposes during this period which brought welcome changes in this sector. Social reform resulted in avoiding segregations between landlords and peasants. Moreover women got equality with men because of Mao’s social reforms. Mao has realised that the progress of China may not be possible if the people’s thought go against the administrations’ will. He did everything to influence the minds of the people in order to make more favourable atmosphere for the communist regime. Under the Great Leap Forward program, Mao has constructed some five year plans in order to prioritize the economic growth. Mao’s contributions in the agricultural and industrial sectors were precious, but it was not enough for the heavily populated China. The rise of Deng as the supreme authority of China in the 70’s has completely re written the economic history of China. Deng era Gao (2005) has mentioned that the agriculture sector transformed from collectivization to a system of household responsibility and the industry sector relieved from the complete dominance of the government. Moreover, lot of small scale industries under private ownership has been developed as part of Deng’s reformation process (Gao). Deng has realised the practical limitations of communist theories and made lot of changes in it in order to make it more acceptable to the public. Thus the concept of collective agriculture methods was given way for individual agriculture method. Deng has realized that China, the most heavily populated country in the world cannot develop properly, if they stay away from the global economic activities. He has realized that the Chinese market was not sufficient enough for selling their products and the western markets are essential for selling their products. Deng has opened the Chinese economy and made it more transparent than the Japanese economy at present. Pexin (2003) argued that China opened the economy more cautiously than any other country (Peixin). China never opened their critical sectors for private participation. At the same time they have encouraged privatization in most of the non-critical industrial sector. China’s historic relationship with external world As mentioned earlier, during the Sun Yat Sen regime, China tried to align more closely with Soviet Union whereas during the Chiang Kai Shek period, China was keener in developing relationships with the capitalist countries. When communist party assumed power, People’s Republic of China was more adamant on their relationships with the external world. China behaved as an opaque entity during this period to the external world. The communist regime during Mao era closed all the doors towards China and very little was known to the external world during this period about the activities inside China. China’s international relations during Mao era were limited as they distanced even from Soviet Union during this period. The rise of Deng has made lot of changes again in China’s international relationships. Deng has realised the importance of western market in China’s economic development and deliberately made every effort to please the westerners and to improve the economic interactions with the westerners. Now America is one of the biggest markets in the world for Chinese products. Moreover, American companies are competing each other to establish their offices in China at present. It should be remembered that such things were not even in the distant dreams of the Americans during the Mao regime. From the above facts it is clear that China’s foreign policies were dependant on individual leaders rather than the party principles. Even the different communist leaders have different opinions and perspectives about the international relationships. For example, Mao and Deng have totally different views about the importance of China’s relationships with the capitalist countries. Mao thought the capitalist countries trying to eradicate communism from Chinese soil. But Deng had other views. When globalization first entered the global politics, Chinese leaders doubted that it is the brain child of capitalist countries to exploit the wealth of other countries. But the Deng administration quickly realized the possibilities of globalization and made everything possible to open up the Chinese economy. Now without doubt, anybody can say that China is the number one beneficiaries of globalization. Thus China’s successful foreign policy can be considered as the contributions of the leaders with vision and mission. It is a fact that Chinese foreign policies have its own drawbacks also. At one side China trying to strengthen their relationships with US like democratic countries whereas they are not much keen in strengthening their relationships with the neighboring India like democratic countries. At the same time they are strengthening their ties with Pakistan and helping Pakistan immensely both for the military and economical development. China knows very well that India is causing strong challenges to the supremacy of China in Asia and the development of India as a superpower is not good for their interests. By helping Pakistan, China can threaten India and can cause some problems in India’s economic progress. The Pak sponsored terrorism in India is probably the brain child of China according to many political analysts. Even though China did everything to impress America, their foreign policies towards the Tibetan issue and the Taiwan issue are still questionable. China is keeping a blind eye towards this region and the call for the liberties of people in this region is not reaching China. According to Peoples Daily, April 2008, for more than 700 years, the central government of China has continuously exercised sovereignty over Tibet, and Tibet has never been an independent state. It also mentioned that no government of any country in the world has ever recognised Tibet as an independent state (BBC News). The above statements clearly indicate that China’s foreign policies are carefully formulated for executing China’s selfish interests rather than the interests of the external world. China needs the support of capitalist countries for finding market for their products and did something to convince them. At the same time they are not keen in solving the Tibetan or Taiwanese issue in the near future. Conclusions China’s current economic progress is a highly debated topic among the economists. Many people have the false belief that China started to develop only after the Mao era. But the fact is that all the administrators after the Qing dynasty played their part well in making China a prosperous country now. China’s foreign policies were also carefully formulated to sustain their economic growth. In other words, China still doesn’t have much respect towards the issues like liberty, freedom and human rights. But they are trying to convince the external world that they are changed a lot. But in reality, China has not changed much in the grass root level. All the changers appear to be visible only at the surface level and that also to keep the economic growth in tact. Works Cited 1. BBC News. 2008. The Tibet issue 7 May 2010. 2. Chinese Cultural Studies. 1995. 7 May 2010. 3. C HIANG K AI-SHEK. 7 May 2010. 4. Gao,Tao "Globalization and China: Impacts on the Economy and Peoples Quality of Life" Hofstra Universty. 7 May 2010. 5. Peixin, Zha. 2003. “China and Globalization”. 7 May 2010. Read More