March 13, 1998

The Collected Works of Maozedong in Athena’s library are one of the not-so-interesting books (to me) and now I have almost spent a whole year in this nation of Maozedong. It is an interesting experience.

When we watch the Chinese media the future is all rosy with ‘Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics’. However, there are quite a few who predict dooms day in the near future. What is the real picture? It is as much a mystery to those living in China (foreigner as well as the natives) as to those outside.

When we used to discuss about the relative merits between Capitalism and Communism, one of the points both of us agreed. If everything was to start from the scratch, Capitalism is an ideal system, which gives equal opportunity to all with rewards to the talented, and punishment to the not so fits.

However, the society we are living in is full of inequalities with inherited wealth and difference in opportunities to different sections. Therefore, blindly following Capitalism is not acceptable.

Dr. San Yatzen is the father of modern China equally respected by the People’s Republic of China and the regime in Taiwan. His history ended in the late 1910s. After that for the communist China Chairman Mao is the statesman/leader who guided the nation’s destiny. However, today, even though no one dares to sully the image of Mr. Mao, even in the official proclamations there is an apologetic tone for some of the activities of the party till 1978.

Officially the blame for the incidents during the 10 years of bloody ‘Cultural Revolution’ is placed on the ‘Gang of Four’. However, it is implied that Mr. Mao was indeed responsible for the activities of that period. In contrast, Mr. Zhou-en-Lai is projected as gentle leader with international reputation, who heroically opposed the activities of the ‘Gang of Four’.

The Hero for the last 20 years is Mr. Deng Xiaoping. ‘Socialism with Chinese Characteristics’, and ‘One Country Two Systems’, are the much acclaimed theories of Mr. Deng practiced by the nation in the last two decades. After Mr. Deng named Mr. Jiang Zemin as his successor, Mr. Jiang is leading the nation.

I would like to share some thought on modern China with reference to Leo Tolstoy’s discourses on the Individual will against the Collective Action

The liberation of the nation by the communists from the feudal and colonial rulers is not an aberration, but much wanted change. The society was reeling under the burden of out dated feudal structures, which could not cope with the Imperial Nations powered by their Industrialized societies. China as a nation and its people wanted to be liberated from the clutches of Feudalism.

As it happens with any mass movement, the leaders were feeding the masses a vision of unlimited prosperity once the oppressing elements are driven out. However, when the reality dawned and the uphill task of nation building with the largest population in the world was confronted hopes were dashed and despair was lurking in the corner.

The public attention was kept on the larger issues like American Aggression in the Korean Peninsula for some time. And finally, when the time for truth came, ‘The Great leap forward’ was organized to jump-start the economy to reach the first world standards in a few years time. This once again helped in keeping the hopes alive with rhetoric. However, with an unfortunate drought and adverse natural conditions, this failed miserably.

Again, the nation wanted to direct its energy towards the elements blocking its potential for development. It was tried to destroy all the symbols of feudalism, i.e. the basis for inequalities in the society. This resulted in violently shaking away the clutches of past. Yes, blood was spilled, hearts were broken, and an entire generation of middle class still carries the handicaps of this ‘cultural purification’. However, in my opinion, this process greatly helped in reducing, if not entirely removing the class barriers in the society.

At the end of this crusade, when the people became tired of the process, there needed some body who will lead the nation in its search of productive excellence. Mr. Deng emerged. As much as the liberation, Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution were carried out by the people of China, the "New Socialism’ of Deng is also the reflection of the people’s will.

What is People’s will? In a gas cylinder individual molecules move in all different direction affected by the neighbouring molecules and in turn affecting their movements. There is no such thing as a great molecule or a common molecule. When the sum total of the movements of the individual molecules makes the system move towards a direction the molecules in the front can be assumed to be the leaders of the pack.

In the case of human being it is essentially the same, with a small but important complication added to it. Humans base their actions on their thoughts. When the system is moving in a certain direction, the theories of leadership forces us to follow the lead for some time after the balance tilted towards another direction. (We all know how people acted in the fairy tale ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’)

Based on my personal observations and opinions made based on different information sources, I will try to describe my subjective views on China of today.

The society is egalitarian. There is a special class of citizens, the Communist Party Members. However, this is not limited to any class and by and large given based on merit. The merits may not stand the scrutiny of Western Standards, however to the Chinese it is fair. The party members have an advantage over others in getting government appointments, promotions and responsibilities. Each country has its own system of choosing persons who are to be given this advantage (i.e. Public Service Commission in India).

The social status of women is equal to that of the men. The thousands of years old male domination over the women is still practiced by the individuals even though the law does not approve of it.

This leads us to the law enforcement. When there is a law, there is no flouting it openly. As with any law there are numerous violations even by the leading members of the ruling echelon. However the severe punishments and a 20 million strong party member ship ensures a better compliance than expected in a society at this stage of development.

20 years back, when the nation wanted to change its course, the leaders chose the path of attracting foreign investments to supplement the state sector which was faring inefficiently and to infuse the western managerial practices into Chinese businesses. When we look at the manner in which they went about doing this, we strongly suspect that it is just a mean of attracting the Chinese business from the prosperous Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The first five Special Zones set up in 1978 were in Shenzhen (across Hong Kong), Zhuhai (across Macau, Xiamen and Shantou (across Taiwan). Accordingly these areas developed as a low-cost manufacturing bases drawing from the cheap land and abundant work force of the mainland. After the successful development of these regions, the leaders realized the need to widen the scope of this experiment to include the whole nation some day in the future.

Numerous special zones were established in the coastal areas which attracted the Japanese and Koreans to the East Coast, once again looking for cheap land and labour force. The nation could do it with much more completeness thanks to the centralized tight control of the Government. Huge infrastructure projects were undertaken and the places where foreigners are likely to live and do business were prepared with much better living standards if not comparable to the first world standards.

The Government and the public were made to show a friendly face to the foreign businessmen at least in the initial stages of establishing the business. Better than National treatment was given to the foreign investors.

Apart from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and Korea the other major investing country is United States of America. This is largely in Fast Food Chains, Cola, and other Consumer Goods, which by their nature necessitates the presence of the company in the market.

The country is ruled by decrees and policy statements. There is a legislating People's Congress, which is supposed to enact laws. However, the executive is much more powerful than the Congress.