"不管黑猫白猫，捉到老鼠就是好猫"
The story of how China became very rich in a relatively short period is that of good leadership and a committed population. China went through what it described as a long history of stagnation and humiliation for more than 200 years. "How China Got Rich" is an excellent documentary on Amazon Prime Video streaming video service presented by Micheal Wood, one of its directors. This documentary came out in 2019.
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| Deng Xiaoping |
China had been a leading world power till the 15th Century with international voyages to Africa and beyond. Then China decided to close its doors during the Ming dynasty to the outside world due to an internal conflict for power. The story of self-isolation has also occurred in other countries, like Japan, Bhutan, Cambodia and Korea, usually due to internal struggles where the leaders want to consolidate their power. Although it is a good strategy in the short term, if prolonged, the isolated country becomes much weaker, with no external standard or competition. This isolation occurred geographically in isolated communities like Australia and the Precolumbian Americas. When the outside world arrived, they easily defeated any isolated community with no immunity against diseases being carried by the invaders. The diseases the invaders brought quickly decimated the local population. But to remain on topic, afterwards, in China, there was what the Chinese describe as the "Century of Humiliation". Which consists of colonial oppression, civil war, Japanese invasion, etc. Then when the communist won the civil war, they also had the class struggle in the 1950s, cultural wars in the 1960s, etc. During the Cultural Revolution, most high-ranking Chinese officials and leaders were sent to the villages to be "re-educated", and the universities were closed. They were blamed for China's condition. Food was scarce, and there were famines all over the countryside. They had collective farms based on the Stalinist model, but these failed seriously. Numerous students roamed the countryside as "revolutionary guards", enforcing party ideology. The belief was that there was nothing wrong with the ideology, but the people failed to implement it properly. Deng Xiaoping was one of the leaders sent to the countryside for "re-education", and he realised that the major problem was due to China's rigid philosophy. He was later brought back and requested to be in charge of education. He re-introduced university examinations and went on a fact-finding trip to the West. He realised how far China had fallen behind. The fastest trains in China were going at 60km/h and were not running regularly. By that time, Japan had high-speed railways running at 210 km/h, efficiently running on time and were rarely late.
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| The Gang of Four on trial, from top left (clockwise), Zhang Chunqiao, Wang Hongwen, Yao Wenyuan and Jiang Qing. Photos: AFP |
Deng Xiaoping had to tread carefully, as the hardliners in the party were ruling, and as a reformist, he had to take a more pragmatic approach. He had always been a careful operator, and with the Gang of Four ruling, he had to tread very carefully. By the early 1970s, the Cultural Revolution had lost stream following hundreds of thousands of deaths, executions and the fact that the economy had not improved. As Nikita Khrushchev denounced Stalin in a secret meeting at the twentieth congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union assembled in Moscow in the Great Hall of the Kremlin on February 14th, 1956. The Gang of Four had to be denounced and removed from power before any reformation could start. This was an excellent time in history for China and its leaders. Many people were tired of The Cultural Revolution, the executions and the economic stagnation. There was a split in the Sino-Soviet relationship due to their different interpretations and practical applications of Marxism–Leninism. The Americans had seen an opportunity and had already been in secret talks with the Chinese. These talks cumulated in USA President Nixon's historic visit in 1972. Deng Xiaoping needed to bring his people out of poverty, and he had to do it quickly. Chinese youths were sent to foreign Universities in the US, UK, Germany, etc., to gain knowledge and return. People assumed they would not return, but many of them did. If only one out of ten returned, Deng Xiaoping was out of the opinion they would consider that not as a loss, even though the Chinese government was paying for the education, travel, accommodation, etc. He introduced other changes gradually, allowing some capitalist tendencies and the profit motive. If these had been introduced some years before would have indeed resulted in him being denounced and his execution. he knew he had to be careful and do a test model in a city called Guangdong, designated as a "Special Economic Zone.".
Guangdong is across the strait from Hong Kong; at night, the inviting lights of Hong Kong can be seen from China. In previous years, numerous Chinese people died trying to swim across the strait, believing that a better life was in the dizzying streets of Hong Kong. Less than 10% of those that started swimming survived, but if you could make it, you could earn more than 10 times what you could earn in China. At that time, Hong Kong needed cheap labour for its ever-expanding industries. Hence on January 31st 1979, the first foreign investment was set up in China at Guangdong. Later, due to the success of Guangdong, other "Special Economic Zones" for foreign investment were set up. This became a model of China, testing a concept at a local level, and if it works, rolling it at the regional level and then the national. If it does not, correct it, tweak it, modify what needs to be modified, retool, analyse to see the problem, and then retest it in the form of a continuous cycle of gradual improvement. Hence, more like a Scrum Sprint cycle resulting in continuous development and improvement.
"摸着石头过河"
Many people began moving from rural areas to these Special Economic Zones and making a living. This was the most significant demographic change in history, and the economy began to improve. But at the same time, a lot of damage was done to the environment and other institutions and their health. But China had one focus in mind, as they had been through a lot, famine, political distress, etc., and they had known what it is not to grow in an economically stable environment that the West has taken for granted. Deng and China instituted pragmatic changes. They were not interested in political change. This would be the Chinese way and keep production costs low. Political power will be concentrated in a central body. This seems to be a contradiction, which would mean that there would be the democratisation of the means of production, but the government would remain rigid and unchanging as one powerful state. But for the economy to be pushed forward to the next stage, there has to be a middle class, highly educated, liberal in thinking and early adopters of technology, but somehow it works in China. These individuals are more likely to ask for political representation, but the educated class has achieved a high degree of economic gains. They are the populace aware of critical thinking, are exposed to the external world and know what their government should be doing. But China has achieved what could be described as being short of a miracle within such a short period bringing millions out of poverty and dragging the whole country to the number two position in the world, one the way to becoming the wealthiest country on earth.
There is a need for a highly educated workforce is essential for rapid growth. There have to be engineers and highly skilled professionals who keep and maintain their systems. China has about 37,900 km of the high-speed train network, the longest in the world. They have invested in Green technology, with the world's highest-producing and giant solar farms. Remember that China is building a space station and launching rockets. China is an early adopter of new technology, but due to the lack of intellectual property rights and copyright regulations, China can move faster than other countries. There have been great revolutions, and China can leapfrog over the steam engine and electricity and arrive in the digital revolution.
The educated populace may have some degree of "cognitive dissonance" and can realise the economic benefits and see what they view as political stability. So Micheal Wood thinks the day of reckoning will be much further than we think.
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