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CAPITALISM WITH CHINESE CHARACTERISTICS

 

Ranganayakamma

B.R. Bapuji

 

Introduction

This article is a continuation of our earlier article More Leaps Backward which appeared in 1985 (China Report, May-June 1985). Our earlier article dealt with the developments in Chinese economy, politics and culture between 1978 and 1983. We incorporated the developments of that period in our post-script to the first edition of our Telugu translation of Charles Bettelheim's book CHINA SINCE MAO (Monthly Review Press, 1978). The English version of Bettelheim's book covered the developments up to February 1978 while the Telugu version covered the developments up to September 1983. After a gap of twenty years, we have now brought out the second edition of the Telugu version and added a long post-script that covers the developments in China between October 1983 and December 2002. These developments are presented, as far as the collected data permitted, chronologically and thematically under the title: Exploitation with Chinese characteristics in the name of 'Socialism with Chinese characteristics'. Barring certain comments here and there, the entire data presented here are drawn from various sources ¾ both Chinese and non-Chinese ¾ published during the period covered. The Chinese sources include Beijing Review and books published from China under 'China Basic Series'. The non-Chinese sources include journals like Keesing's Record of World Events, The China Quarterly, The Far Eastern Economic Review and The Journal of Development Studies (an issue of which carried Bettelheim's 1988 article 'Economic Reform in China'.) However, the non-Chinese sources too, to a large extent, have relied on Chinese sources. The second writer gathered and organised the data chronologically and thematically as far as possible while the first writer presented in the present form. The present article is a translation (by the second writer) of the post-script written by the first writer to the latest edition of the Telugu version that came out in March 2003. In this article, we have given the summary of numerous reports and studies on China that appeared in journals and books mentioned above. Hence it is not possible to cite page numbers for every piece of data, observation and conclusion.

 

Revisionism revisited

What follows here is nothing but the continuation and extension of the various forms of Chinese revisionism, which Bettelheim demonstrated way back in 1978.

Although, the Chinese Communist Party (hereafter CCP or Party), until 1976, that is until the passing away of Mao, could not accomplish wonderful changes, committed many mistakes and did not have enough clarity with regard to Marxism, it included a group that followed revolutionary path. The aim of this group was to fight for the emancipation of the proletariat against the class of exploiters. Whatever mistakes it made, it used to proceed in the direction of socialist transformation. It initiated both major and minor socialist changes, with or without sufficient theoretical clarity, in various spheres of society.

What the Revisionists initiated is to reverse all the socialist transformations. They, however, do not abandon the word 'socialism'. They have to depend entirely on this term. They repeatedly recite that the 'Gang of Four' (that is, the supporters of the 'revolutionary line') committed many blunders which they are now rectifying and theirs is the real socialist path. They try to sanctify the capitalist terminology by prefixing the adjective 'socialist'. They call 'market' 'socialist market'! They call 'competition' 'socialist competition'! They call 'price rise' 'socialist price rise'! They call 'profit' 'socialist profit'! This is how they call everything!

The Revisionists are able to present such daring false formulations as socialism since the labouring masses do not know well what socialism is! Any wrong formulation will circulate among ignorant people without any opposition.

If people facing problems learn the necessary knowledge, then such knowledge would turn into a great force. Until this happens, people remain powerless. The Chinese proletariat, which could see a little of newness of socialism is still far away from the theoretical knowledge and is helpless. It is needless to talk about the proletariat of other countries.

Here we will again and again see the hitherto known fact that the present day CCP had turned into a capitalist party a long time ago. Further, we will see its anxiety, zealousness and high speed in becoming capitalistic.

The Chinese Revisionists needed the help of foreign capitalists in order to destroy at the earliest possible the socialism, however rudimentary it might be, which the supporters of the revolutionary line initiated. The objective, which the exploiters of different countries have to achieve collectively, is to eliminate handful of socialist developments that occurred in one country! Here we see such total destruction.

In any society, economic, political and cultural relations are mutually intertwined. It is impossible to separate them. Yet, we need to try to understand those spheres separately as far as possible.

In order to understand how economy in any society acts as fundamental force and how it influences political and cultural spheres, changes in China¾both in the past as well as in the present¾will stand as wonderful examples. Knowledge of these experiences would necessarily give a new strength to the world proletariat.

First let us examine the economic sphere.

 

Comprador-cum-contract economy

At the end of 1980, two trends appeared in the CCP. One trend argued for giving importance to 'market'. Deng was its leader. The second trend argued in favour of reliance on centralized State planning. Chen Yun was its leader. Deng's group, however, enjoyed majority support in the party.

 

Free flow of foreign capital

A change that occurred on a large scale in the Chinese economy since 1983 was the entry of foreign capital into China more freely than before.

On October 11, 1983 'Third China-Europe Business Leaders Symposium' was held in Beijing.  At this symposium, the vice-minister for Economic Relations and Foreign Trade said that the foreign businessmen (capitalists) can set up enterprises using their own exclusive investment in China's coastal areas. They may also sell more of their output on the Chinese market.

By November 1983, the Chinese government bifurcated the functions of 9,028 communes located in 902 counties. The central government confined communes exclusively to economic functions and assigned the administrative functions of the communes to 12, 786 townships. The government ordered that the transformation of communes along these lines must be over by the end of 1984.

December 1983 issue of 'China Finance' reported that the total debts at the end of September 1983 stood at 3,000 million dollars mainly to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and Japan. The figures did not include China's short-term debts, which were estimated by banks to be 1,000-2,000 million dollars.

On January 10, 1984, the Chinese Prime Minister Zhao Zhyang, addressing the American capitalists assured that "China has opened its door and will never close it again".

On March 6, 1984, a report of the State Council noted that there had been widespread growth in "controlled Capitalism" or Private commerce. (This amounts to saying, "although there is capitalism in the country, it is under control". Its growth is 'widespread' while being under control!) According to the same report, in 1983, the number of private enterprises more than doubled to 5,800,000 (from 2,600,000 in 1982).

On April 2, 1984 the World Bank approved a 20-year credit for China worth 220,000,000 dollars to extend the railway network in Henan and Shandong province. (With this credit, China has to buy al the commodities necessary for the railway network from foreign countries. It implies that those foreign companies got orders for their commodities on their own terms. China has to sell its commodities in order to clear that debt: so many commodities equivalent to the 'principal' as well as 'interest'! That too as per the prices determined by those foreign companies. On such occasions as these, all conditions would be as per the wishes of the lenders. In this whole transaction, the World Bank earns 'interest' from China. Whenever we hear the word 'loan', we have to recall the word 'interest'.)

Beijing Review of April 16, 1984 reported that the Chinese government would open 14 more coastal cities for foreign economic activities. The government assured to provide sites for Chinese-foreign joint ventures as well as exclusive foreign investment.

On April 27, 1984, as soon as he arrived in China, Ronald Reagan, the then President of America praised changes in China: You are encouraging farmers by assigning land on contract basis. You have introduced more disciplinary management by making managers responsible for the profits and losses. You have taken membership in IMF and the World Bank. You have established Special Economic Zones where foreign companies can do business at their will. "We salute your courage to change", Reagan said. He also declared, "I am delighted to announce a full three-year Master's degree in Business Administration at the State University of New York for Chinese managers".

The next day, that is on April 28, the top leader of CCP, Deng, when he met Reagan, said that he was "reasonably satisfied" with the flow of U.S. technology into China but he hoped that it would be speeded up.

In May 1984, Zhao, the then Chinese Prime Minister, said in the parliament that the open door policy must be implemented "resolutely" and bigger strides must be taken in using foreign capital and importing technology. "The Special Economic Zone in Xianmen will be extended", he announced. At the same time he assured that 14 more coastal cities would be opened to the foreign capitalists.

(In the beginning the Chinese government permitted foreign companies only in certain limited number of areas¾as if it were a 'minor change'! But gradually, it is extending such permission to more number of areas. This they call 'open-door policy'!)

Beijing Review of June 4, 1984, once again assured the foreign capitalists that China's open door policy remains consistent. It clarified that foreign investors would enjoy preferential treatment, including the reduction or even exemption of Income Tax. Further, they can remit their profits abroad.

In August 1984, while talking to the president of the European Commission, premier Zhao assured, "China's already opened door will open still wider. China will never close its door again". (If the doors are always open, why do you need doors at all Mr. Zhao? They are unnecessarily a hurdle! Why don't you remove the doors, throw them away and declare that "we have removed the doors?" The name should not be 'open door policy' but 'doorless policy'. Has Deng not got such a simple idea?)

Beijing Review of August 13, 1984 lamented that during Cultural Revolution, private business was considered capitalistic and was practically eliminated. But after 1978 many forms of private business started up under the guise of socialism.

Red Flag of November 1984 quoted what Deng said at the party's Central Advisory Commission on October 22, 1984. Deng said that "some capitalism" would be beneficial to the development of China's 'socialist productive forces'. (Capitalism for the development of socialism!)

Deng defended the current economic policy and described the fears of some 'old comrades' about reforms as unwarranted. He said that the basic means of production would remain in the hands of the State and there would be "no new bourgeoisie".

In a speech published on March 8, 1985, Deng emphasized that the purpose of the economic reforms was not to revive capitalism but to strengthen socialism and its "ultimate goal of attaining communism".

The Chinese government permitted individuals and companies to carry on money lending business.

At the 4th session of the 6th National People's Council held in March 1986, Premier Zhao declared that the trend towards liberalization and decentralization would continue. He claimed that the reforms, including the "policy of encouraging some people to become prosperous sooner than others" had increased China's wealth. He said that reforms facilitated the replacement of a "petrified economic structure characterized by excessive and rigid controls" with "a vigorous new one appropriate to the development of planned commodity economy based on public ownership".

(Although the Chinese Revisionists gave numerous assurances to the foreign capitalists, the flow of foreign capital into China was not as encouraging as Revisionists expected. Foreign capitalists did not dare to enter China. They were hesitating with doubts regarding the future, "we can't believe China. If something happens in future all our capital would be confiscated". Hence the Chinese Revisionists keep offering fresh concessions every now and then.)

On October 11, 1986 the Chinese government announced 22 new concessions to encourage foreign capital. The concessions, apart from other things, included preferential rates of taxation, greater operational autonomy and reduced rents and utility charges for enterprises employing foreign capital.

In April 1988, the Chinese parliament made "Sino-foreign joint venture law" according to which foreign partners are entitled to make managerial decisions¾including hiring and firing of workers¾without governmental interference.

On November 19, 1995 the government issued some new orders liberalizing foreign trade. Trade liberalization included reduction by 30% of tariffs on 4,000 important items; elimination of quota, licensing and other import controls on some 170 categories; accounting for over 30% of commodities currently subjected to import quotas and licensing requirement; establishment of Sino-foreign Joint trade venture in Shanghai and other cities and extension of joint venture to retail businesses as well.

According to Financial Times of June 17, 2002 the government had accelerated market access for foreign investors in an unprecedented liberalization that far exceeded commitments made by China upon joining World Trade Organisation (WTO). All cities including Shanghai opened up for foreign investment in key sectors ahead of agreed schedule.

By October 2002, China became source of cheap labour for capitalists from America, Japan and England. For example, Philips Company operates 23 factories and produces about 5 billion-dollar worth of goods in China each year but nearly two-thirds of that is exported overseas. Talking to the reporter of the Far Eastern Economic Review, the Head of the Philips Asian Operations said, "Our initial vision was to sell in China". But things have taken a different turn. (This means, these foreign companies can produce commodities cheaply if they establish their companies in China since workers are very cheap. They can sell their commodities easily in their competition with other companies. Therefore, the spokesman of the company is saying that shifting their company into China is more profitable than exporting their commodities to China.)

Other big companies like General Electric, Samsung Electronics, Toshiba found China as an export base than selling inside China since workers are cheaply available and the foreign companies get more concessions here.

The Far Eastern Economic Review, which reported all this also informed that one American Company decided to shut down its plants in America and expand production in China, which serves as a "cheapest pool of labour".

 

Promotion of Various forms of private capitalism

When agricultural lands in rural areas were in the form of cooperatives and communes, the land was the collective property of the rural, agricultural people. Agricultural people used to work in collective farms and nobody did own land as his/her private property. Every person had job security. (All this happened even though the principal that 'every one must do labour' was not yet properly observed.)

The Chinese Revisionists followed the path of destroying collective agriculture. They began to break collective farms into pieces and gave the land on contract to private individuals, groups and organizations in rural areas. This had, in fact, began much earlier (since 1978).

By 1983 some peasant families in villages had owned tractors, trucks and other agricultural implements to a minimum extent. But the number of privately owned agricultural implements increased gradually.

William Hinton, an American author, who has been studying China since the pre-Revolutionary period, visited China in March 1983 and commented, "Commercial freedom threatens to create merchant princes once more".

On May 15, 1984, Premier Zhao announced the following policy directives in parliament.

*      Promote multiform economic responsibility systems centered in contracting through public bidding. All contracts by tenders. We must encourage competition.

*      Try to extent the experiments in putting urban housing construction on a commercial basis and develop a real estate business.

*      Strive to make Special Economic Zones (SEZ) a success, open more coastal cities and create a new situation in economic and technical exchanges with the outside world. (This he called 'independent' foreign policy!)

*      Consolidate and improve forms of contract system whereby agricultural lands and other production enterprises in rural areas are assigned to private individuals, households or groups.

*      Replace the system of profit delivery with tax payments in state owned enterprises since such replacement has more advantages. The enterprises can retain after-tax profit.

*      Encourage individuals and collectives to run small state owned enterprises under contract or lease or payment of taxes.

 

Emergence of contract labourers

At the same conference, Zhao made several suggestions with regard to employing workers on contract basis: We should gradually reduce the proportion of regular workers and introduce a labour contract system so as to sharply increase the number of temporary and seasonal workers. Enterprises must reduce or stop bonuses or even withhold part of the wages of the workers when they have failed to fulfill their quotas (of the state plan) and paid less taxes and earned less profits. (This is to make workers work more, produce more and bring more profits! In case this does not happen, Mr. Prime Minister advises the capitalists not to pay full wages to workers!)

Le Monde, a French newspaper, carried a part of Zhao's speech in its issue of May 24, 1984 as follows: The decision making power of state enterprises, for which managers and directors would henceforth be fully responsible would be extended in 10 areas¾(1) Planning for production and operation. (2) Sales of products. (3) Pricing. (4) Selection and Purchase of materials. (5) Use of funds. (6) Handling of assets. (7) Structural establishment. (8) Administration of affairs concerning personnel and labour. (9) Wages and bonuses. (10) Inter-unit associated operations.

(All this means, it is the managers and directors who would decide all these matters. The only thing which workers must do is to come to the factory at the right time, do more work and return home. They should have no role in any decision. The Chinese Revisionists are introducing all these regulations with the sole purpose of burying all that had been done during Cultural Revolution. During Cultural Revolution, workers initiated great changes with regard to workers' management teams in the enterprises. Charles Bettelehim's book 'Cultural Revolution and the Industrial Organisation in China' depicts all these changes in great detail. Since Cultural Revolution initiated such revolutionary changes, Revisionists have so much grudge for Cultural Revolution! All the present regulations are meant to eliminate those relevant practices!)

 

All powers to Directors !

Beijing Review of June 18, 1984 carried an article by its economic editor in which he described the powers of the directors of the production enterprises as follows: "Director of an enterprise has the power to decide on the production and sales of products, the purchase of raw and semi-finished materials and the technical transformation of the enterprise, and to control appointments, transfers, rewards and penalties among the workers and staff.

(While the fact remains that workers have no role in the managing the enterprises, the consequences of the appropriation of all powers by directors will be disastrous. Corruption among directors of the enterprises would become rampant. There arise opportunities for them to take bribes in every transaction¾while purchasing raw materials, while selling newly produced goods and appointing workers. Which means, the very nature of this managerial system encourages and nourishes corruption in the enterprises. If workers could intervene in all these matters in the form of 'Workers' Management Teams' by rotation, the decisions would not be made by a couple of directors and none would get an opportunity to take bribes secretly.

 

Public bidding

According to Beijing Review of July 23, 1984 A system of public bidding and investment responsibility will be introduced for all large and medium-sized construction project this year (1984) and next year (1985). It also reported that so far 123 major projects have been contracted without public bidding (This means, officials have given away those contracts after swallowing huge bribes!)

After a week, in its issue of July 30, the economic editor of Beijing Review argued as follows: "Some people think that signing contract through public bidding is a method prevalent in capitalist countries and is incompatible in a socialist planned economy. This is wrong. Experience has proved that it is an objective law which transcends the nature of society and can be used under both capitalism and socialism". (This is their experience because they have been able to introduce Revisionism easily! Contract system is an objective law, they say! This means, in order to attach value to any dirty job, add before it words like 'objective', 'logical', 'rational' or 'socialist'. This is the tactic, which the Chinese Revisionists are following.)

 

 

Emergence of rural capitalist class

The Central Committee (CC) of CCP in its document 1 of 1984 announced its policy on private ownership in agriculture. The system of contracting lands was already there. But now the government enhanced the period of contract up to 15 or more years. In case a peasant household wants to withdraw from that contract, it need not hand over the land to the government. The household can transfer that land to another household for lease. The second household would pay rent to the government. A national conference on this policy hoped that leasing or selling of land to other peasants would encourage a gradual transfer of contracted land plots into the hands of those skilled in cultivation. (But, there is scope for the first household to get some bribe from the second household.)

Another aspect of the agricultural policy is that peasants could fix prices as they wish. They called all such policies 'reforms'. (These are in fact actions that would defend private property rights and lead to exploitation.)

The conference said that a longer contracting period was necessary to encourage "more rational and effective use of land". It would give peasants an incentive to invest more capital and labour. (This means, the assigned land would become the private property of the individual or that household.) Around this time, the director of the Rural Policy Research Bureau said that in future peasants would be allowed to hire up to seven labourers. (This means, there was permission to hire less than seven labourers. Now they re raising the number of labourers.)

But none of these rules would be effective. One would hire as many labourers as he needs but would show the legally permitted number in the records. Once the system of hiring labour exists, all other regulations would remain futile.

Disappearance of collective mode of production implies loss of employment. When the system of leasing the land comes into operation, the household that took the land for lease would cultivate the land in 3 ways¾(1) without hiring labourers (2) performing labour along with the labourers or (3) exclusively by hiring labourers.

But land would gradually goes into the possession of rich households. A system becomes established whereby all kinds of agricultural labour are carried out by means of hired labourers.

After the elimination of collective farming, people who cannot afford to take land on lease and those who cannot sustain that lease would inevitably turn into hired agricultural labourers. The same director (of Rural Policy Research) is describing the process of rural population becoming rich as follows: "Currently, some people are prospering quickly, some slowly and some not at all. To let all people eventually get rich, it is necessary to let some get rich first. At the same time, efforts are being made to let others get rich gradually. To prosper together does not mean prospering simultaneously".

(It follows that those who take land on lease make labourers do labour and become rich first. Thereafter, those labourers too would get rich. After some time all people would get rich! No other expression except 'senseless gibes' is appropriate to this kind of talk. The director of the Rural Policy Research is talking so senselessly, thinking that labourers cannot understand what is wrong in his talk! Thinking that labourers would feel happy thus, "perhaps we too may get rich after some time, as Mr. Director said!"

Labourers would really feel happy if they do not know what 'getting rich' means. One gets rich only if he exploits certain portion of the labour of the labourers. If the households of masters get rich, the households of the labourers would remain poor. It will never happen that all people become rich. All people live happily if we imagine that all people do labour, that the class of masters and exploitation do not exist!

Capitalism in the rural areas began with such changes as leasing of agricultural land to private individuals, and permitting them to hire workers.

In October 1984,  a resolution of the CC of the CCP defined the 'individual enterprises' as an 'indispensable complement to the socialist economy'. The individual enterprises were, initially permitted to hire 7 workers and subsequently the limit was abolished. It follows that one can hire any number of workers. (Still, it is a socialist society, according to them!)

By the end of 1984 about 25 million rural families transferred their lands to other families and started other businesses like workshops and small factories. All those masters who hired labourers form rural capitalist class. They are called 'prosperous households' in China.

 

Extreme poverty

According to a Chinese official report in 1987, about 100 million people¾mostly rural¾were suffering from extreme poverty. Most of them belonged to poor peasant families. They could not retain the lands, which they took on lease from the government. As they could not provide themselves with necessary resources to carry on agriculture, then transferred the lands to the rich peasant households, left villages and began to migrate to nearby small and large towns. (Had those families cultivated those lands collectively, mobilizing resources would have been their collective responsibility. It would not have been the responsibility of a single individual family. When land is collectively owned, the portion of the 'surplus value' would remain with the collective of peasants since there won't be masters and hence it won't go into the pockets of the masters. Thus, the collective would be able to mobilize easily all the resources necessary at the place of production. Then the problem of 'livelihood' does not arise.)

In March-April 1988, the Chinese parliament made certain laws which: gave a free hand to managers in running enterprises, hiring and dismissing workers; legitimized the existence of the private sector and thereby encouraged its expansion; and legalized the right to buy and sell land.

 

Dependence of women

Before the introduction of privatization of land during the existence of collective farming, women used to work in the collective farms and earned their own income. But when the same lands were assigned to individual households, women in a given household would not get a specified amount of income of their own even though they do labour in their own contracted land. The entire income would be in the hands of men. Thus, the privatization and contract system make women dependent on men.

 

Abolition of free higher education

On May 28, 1985 the CC of CCP published a document entitled 'Decision on Educational Reform". Among other things, it said: "Henceforth higher education students would have to pay tuition fees and living expenses; any payment of scholarship money would depend upon a academic performance. Some groups, however, including those studying to be teachers and those from very poor families, were exempted from paying fees."

 

Law of inheritance

The CC of the CCP approved China's first law on the inheritance of property effective from October 1, 1985. The law allowed surviving spouses to inherit half of the property of the deceased partner, the other half of the property, going to other family members.

(If it were a society without private property, property would always belong to the collectives.)

 

Stock exchange under 'communist' party rule

On September 26, 1986, the first Chinese stock exchange to operate since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949 opened in Shanghai. However, the market dealing in bonds issued by local companies had previously opened in Shanghai  on August 5.

On October 14, the official Economic Daily described the development as a means "to relieve our country's shortage of capital, to develop production and make workers more concerned about the future of their companies". (The meaning of this statement is that workers would work hard in order to secure more profits if they too buy shares. When workers are totally ignorant of economic matters, every false argument would become a great principle!)

 

New code on labour contracts

On October 1, 1986 a new code on labour contracts came into operation. As per this code, the officials of the enterprises have the right to remove workers if there is a need for economic and technical rationalization. This code marked a significant departure from the previous policy, which had guaranteed lifetime job security for workers. (They justify their actions in terms of 'rationalization'. Yes, this is their 'rationality'!)

 

Price 'reforms'

On March 25, 1987 Premier Zhao in parliament: Reform the country's pricing system! ('Price reforms' imply that all capitalist commodity owners can fix the prices of their commodities as per their estimate. The motive behind the price reform is this: collectives did not have the power to fix prices at their will during Cultural Revolution. The state used to interfere in the price-related decisions. The present reforms are meant to eliminate the role of the State in fixing the prices!)

Zhao talked about the price reforms further: Reform in the price system is an essential step in the construction of "the perfect socialist market system" and the development of a full "socialist commodity economy". (Add the word 'socialist' before the word 'market'! Add 'full' before 'socialist'! Full socialist market! Price reform is meant for such a market in which capitalists can fix prices according to their wishes!)

On October 25, 1987 Zhao's speech at the party is 13th Congress: Markets which are related to capital, commodities and labour are "not unique to capitalism" and "socialism can and should utilize them for its own benefit". We want "socialist planned commodity economy" which inherently integrates planning with the market: This is not tantamount to a return to capitalism, since the continued predominance of public ownership would ensure that the country's socialist essence is preserved.

On March 25, 1988, talking to 7th National People's Congress (Parliament) claimed that the country's economy was excellent. However, he admitted that inflation had been an outstanding problem. Rising prices had "affected the improvement of the people's livelihood".

 

In defence of stock market

By 1989, the leaders of CCP described Chinese economy as the elementary stage of socialism in order to defend the stock markets, business in bonds and sale of lands to private individuals. As if all these practices are inevitable since it is an elementary stage in socialism. They said that this stage continues for 50 years and all these practices would continue. (Later, there won't be any need for 'socialist guise'! It means that they would remove it!)

They also said: This market system and stock exchanges come under commerce and they are neither socialism nor socialism. Any society can use these systems. (If these systems can be followed in any kind of society, why did they say that the stage in which these systems are followed is the 'elementary stage' and they are inevitable in this stage? They said so because there is no one to question them. They did not find it necessary to talk little cautiously while taking such gibes.)

China's second stock exchange officially opened in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone on July 3, 1991 following the opening of the Shanghai exchange in December 1990.

On August 9-11, about 1,000,000 people arrived in Shenzhen from all over China to purchase application forms to buy shares. Applicants queued for two days for a total of 5,000,000 application forms. Only one in 10 applicants would be eligible to buy up to 1,000 shares in 14 companies. People in the queues protested that forms were sold at 8 times the original price and accused officials of reserving share applications for family and friends. Protestors attacked police, one vehicle set on fire. Raised the slogan: 'Down with corruption!' Police used electric batons, sticks and tear gas to disperse the protestors. One killed, 200 hospitalized and 20 arrested. Chinese media ignored the incident describing it as "slight disruption of sales".

 

Call for 'socialist market economy'

The CC of CCP met on Novermber-14, 1993 and released a document on the establishment of socialist market economy. This document called for better conditions for the development of a market economy. (Which means, they want to develop better conditions based on 'competition' and not on 'socialist planning'!)

 

Inflation and public order

Speaking at the second session of the eight NPC, Premier Li Peng expressed his concern over 'public order' problems due to wide gap between urban-rural living conditions, inflation and corruption. (This is tantamount to admitting the disastrous consequences of capitalist economic maladies.)

 

Rise in cost of living

According to figures issued in mid-June (1994), the overall cost of living in the country's 35 major cities had risen by 23% in the preceding 12 months. More particularly, there was a sharp increase in the cost of many staple foodstuffs.

At the National Conference on Price Monitoring held in the same month, the State officials warned shopkeepers and factory managers against unauthorized price rise. (It was the State, which talked about 'price reform'! That is freedom to fix prices according to market! The same State is warning against price rise! The first act is true while the second one is false. This is a drama to deceive people!)

 

Deliberate destruction of state owned enterprises

According to the official conception, reform of State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) takes place through a variety of means: reorganization, merger, leasing, contract operation, joint stock partnership or sell-off. All these reforms are obviously intended to destroy SOEs deliberately and convert them into Privately Owned Enterprises (POEs).

The State official who explained the nature of reforms also uttered some more great words. According to him, laying off of workers is an inevitable part of the reform process but this would be "good for economic development and the long term interests of the Working Class". (Removal of workers is good for workers, says he! This is true in a sense! If workers, due to removal, are subjected to more sufferings, and revolt against officials and drag them from their seats of power, it will do god to workers, isn't it? This official has a very good foresight!)

 

Privatization of land

All land in China, by June 2002, is nominally owned by the State but land use rights can be purchased by private individuals or organizations for up to 70 years for the construction of residential property and up to 50 years for industrial and 40 years for commercial use. At the end of the contract, one can enter into new contracts. One need not give up the land or enterprises. If they don't need them they can transfer (sell) them to others.

Beijing, according to a detailed report in the Far Eastern Economic Review, is mandating public auctions for the transfer of most types of commercial land. It is introducing other reforms that should make it easier for outsiders to get into real estate in China. As the correspondent of the magazine rightly observed, the reform came at a time when large western institutional investors and developers from USA and Netherlands are making first investments or expanding their China portfolio.

(The Chinese revisionists are describing all this as Socialism. They argue like this, 'These properties will be in the possession of private individuals temporarily for about 50 or 70 years only. But the State possesses the actual rights; that is people possess them. Hence this is Socialism'. But, if a contract is extended for 70 more years after the initial period of 70 years, that property will continue to be in the hands of the private person. Or, if it is transferred to others it would be in somebody else's hands. By means of this, the State would only get some 'tax'. Workers must always be under the private masters. Yet, they say that all the means of production belong to people.)

Growing unemployment and plight of the workers

According to Labour Ministry statistics published in Xinhua on August 16, 1993, the number of unemployed would reach 5,000,000. (We need not believe these figures to be true. The number of unemployed must have been many times more than what they say!) The cause attributed to this is cuts in the work place of SOEs. (But these cuts would be far greater in privately owned enterprises,)

On January 7, 1994, the government announced a minimum wage scale in urban areas to be implemented in July 1994. The provincial and municipal authorities should guarantee each worker at least a half of the average wage in a given region. ('Minimum wage' means ¾ according to the government ¾ half of the 'average' wage! And the government is asking the employers to pay at lest the minimum! This means, the employers were not paying even the minimum!)

On July 5, 1994, the eighth session of eighth standing committee of NPC announced some legislative measures for the welfare of the workers. It is said that it took 15 years and some 30 drafts to complete that legislation. Finally, at last, they have now agreed! The relevant laws would come into force on January 1, 1995.

Do you know what these laws are? Minimum wages to workers. Prohibition of child  labour. Eight hour working day. Maternity leave for women workers. Improvement of workplace safety measures. This is what they discovered after discussing it for 15 years! This is like, to use a Telugu saying, digging at the hill and catching a rat! Making legislation now means that relevant laws are either non-existence or non-operational. Even now, we should not hope that these law would be implemented. Those who sit in the legislature have to play some tricks and hence they play tricks like "workers' welfare".

 

Workers' struggles 

Workers do not exhibit resistance proportionate to their suffering. It is because they do not know whom, how and why they have to resist. The Communist Party has to educate them. If this does not happen, struggles of workers won't be strong. In such a situation, they try to adjust with the problems, however varied their problems are. Yet we can find some struggles in that ignorance as well.

In June, 1997, many workers held demonstrations at their workplaces in Sichuan province. According to the Far Eastern Economic Review, some 600 workers who had turned to driving pedicabs after being made redundant from SOEs protested outside government offices, demanding work.

Some 300 workers had staged protest demonstrations in Zigong of Sichuan province in support of their demand for the payment of wage arrears. Police had broken the protests. (We have to assume again and again that police are present wherever there is a protest demonstration.)

In September 1997, President Jiang Jemin, gave a call to accelerate economic reforms in SOEs. The result was millions of workers lost their jobs.

On October 13, People's Daily reported that 50,000 people in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province had lost their jobs in SOEs during the first half of the year.

The Independent of December 5, reported that hundreds of workers in the city of Zigong in Sichuan had recently organised a strike at the No.2 Radio Factory in order to protest about unpaid salaries. They were joined by fellow workers upset about several other state factories being declared bankrupt.

On December 8, in Hufei, the Capital of Anhui province, about 400 workers staged a protest outside the provincial government offices to complain about losing their jobs.  

Further protests during December were held at many places. On December 26, the State media reported that President Jiang Jemin had ordered police to step up efforts to safeguard social stability in the face of increasing labour unrest. (The president of a 'socialist' country is ordering the police to suppress the workers' protests!)

In 1999, in a speech to mark the 78th anniversary of the founding of CCP, President Jiang Jemin ruled out "full blown privatization". (As it was the foundation day of the party one should speak like that, shouldn't he?) He said that some officials had misinterpreted efforts at reform as a call for total privatization of State firms and he condemned those individuals who had sold off State assets to enrich themselves. At the end, he preached sermons to the Party members thus: Retain Marxist outlook! Don't lose faith in the "final victory" of Communism over Capitalism!.

On March 7, 2000, Minister of Labour and Social security informed that as many as 5 million state workers were expected to lose their jobs in 2000. This would add to the 6.5 million people already jobless and bring to a total of 11.5 million workers laid off from State enterprises.

During May 15-17, about 3000 workers surrounded their factory and government offices in Liaoyang and demanded the payment of wages and pension arrears. They dispersed after receiving guarantees from the officials.

The International Herald Tribune of July 19, reported news of agitation of various sections of people. For example, villagers in the drought stricken Shandung province had killed one police officer during riots which began over access to drinking water.

About 1000 workers surrounded a factory in Chengdu following rumors that the plant would be closed down. Police reportedly beat teachers from Jilin province when about 10,000 of them held a demonstration over potential job cuts.

On June 4, 2001, an official report of CCP publicly admitted that its rule could be undermined by social discontent over the implementation of the country's free market reforms. The report also admitted with unusual frankness that protests by up to 10,000 people had become increasingly common, especially in rural areas. The party report predicted that "massive grievances are likely to increase" during coming months.

The Far Eastern Economic Review of November 7, 2002 gave a detailed report on the conditions of unemployment and poverty in China. In Shenyang 70% of the workers were jobless.   

Steel workers, miners and oil men who received benefits like housing, health and education for 50 years are now deprived of all those benefits.

Hu Ming, a 63 year old worker who was laid off after working 40 years in a factory at Tiexi, said to the reporter of the magazine: "The cadres are eating and drinking in hotels and making stupid talk". Another worker commented: "This is not a socialist country any more¾the gap between rich and poor is very wide".

In Shenyang, once model workers now stand on roadsides seeking work with signs around their necks saying, "I am a carpenter!" "I am a plumber"! "I am an electrician!" The magazine carried the photographs of such workers in its issue of November 7, 2002.

The reporter observed that workers with grievances ¾ late wages, pension payments or redundancy  ¾ are no longer just getting mad but they are organizing. For the workers in the first half of 2002 launched a series of apparently coordinated strikes and demonstrations in several old industrial centers ranging from Northeast to the southeast. But the protests petered out because the party officials told the local government authorities to settle them quietly before they could mar the 16th Congress to be held in November.

Another significant news was that rather than being organised by a few intellectuals or political activists, the protests were about bread-and-butter issues and had large-scale support.

According to the Hongkong based China Labour Bulletin, the mass workers' protests, which took place, were all economically driven and work-place based.

In 2002, the life of workers in China is one of low wages, few benefits and short term contracts and a far cry "from the cradle to grave" security promised to earlier generation of factory workers. In this context, just before the party congress, a worker said to the reporter of the Far Eastern Economic Review: "It doesn't matter whether Jiang steps down or goes up. It's useless."

(Fights among bourgeois leaders do not interest workers, do they? This worker indeed is right in his thinking.)

 

Politics of single party dictatorship

In this section, we can see how changes in economy influence politics. First let us see the attitude of Chinese Revisionists toward Marxism and what they are saying to people about it.

According to the Chinese Revisionist Party, Marxism is not relevant to the contemporary problems. Even if it is relevant there is no much use.

Don't worship Marxism 'dogmatically'. Abandon Marxism and follow Deng's theory ¾this is what they preach to people.

In the party's constitution, they still retained the old formulation that Marxism-Leninism-Mao's thought is the basis for the ideology of the Communist Party. Whenever party congresses are held, they raise slogans like 'Retain Marxist outlook!' They do so in order to give an illusory impression to people that the party is committed to the proletarian interests. The Chinese Revisionists still find the utility of citing Marxism. They are praising as well as criticizing it. Only when they are fully confident that the label is no longer necessary, they would give up the very name of the party as 'Communist' party. Then they would abandon chanting mantras of 'socialism'. All their attempts and hopes are harbored on such a 'holy day'!

Besides creation of aversion toward Marxism, another important need of the Revisionists is to root out the positive attitude of people toward Cultural Revolution. For this purpose, they initiated certain campaigns in the form of purges in the party.

 

Repudiation of and revenge against Cultural Revolution

On October 11. 1983 the CC of the CCP decided to sort out and expel those who rose to prominence during the Cultural Revolution. It also decided to expel from the party those cadres who resist the policies of the CC adopted since third plenum of the eleventh CC (that is, when the Revisionist line led by Deng emerged as the strongest in 1978!)

We may recall that in 1976 the Revisionists arrested 'Four' leaders who organised Cultural Revolution and sentenced them in 1981. Again, they conducted fresh trials in a Beijing court and commuted death sentences into life sentences of 18 years each.

On October 28, 1983 the London based human rights organisation Amnesty International wrote a letter to the then Chinese president Li Xiannian calling for an end to executions carried out as a result of the major anti-crime offensive launched in August.

On November 2, the Chinese foreign minister rejected  Amnesty's appeal saying, 'Criminals should be given the punishment that they deserve in accordance with the law. This is routine work to maintain the public security of a country. It is the internal affair of a country".

Beijing Review of November 7, 1983 carried an article on capital punishment in which its political editor said, "Death penalty will not only give the law breakers what they deserve but also serve as a warning to other offenders". (But why there is no end to crime despite many hundreds of executions? Why the same kinds of crime are taking place repeatedly?)

On April 12, 1984 Nanning Radio reported that three people who had "formed factions during the Cultural Revolution, risen to power through rebellion and committed serious violations of law and discussion" had recently been expelled from the party and arrested. (This means purges in the party have been continued since 1976).

On May 29, Guangxi Radio called for the elimination of remaining leftist influence during the current party rectification campaign.

On June 24, 1984 a report of Amnesty International revealed that so far 700 persons were executed recently.

In July 1984, in Henan province a trial was conducted against 18 people who were described as supporters of the 'Gang of Four'. They were accused of having formed what was described as a counter revolutionary clique called the Chinese National United Front with the aim of promoting and reestablishing the ultra-leftist policies of the Cultural Revolution. Three of the group were sent to prison for 15 years and deprived of political rights for a further five. The others received prison sentences of between five and 13 years.

Arrests and trials of this kind continued for some more time. The main charge in all these cases was that the accused either participated actively in the Cultural Revolution or attempted to reestablish it.

On September 26, 1984 Amnesty International published a report alleging that China was mistreating an unknown number of political prisoners by detaining them without trial and in some cases sentencing them to terms of forced labour. It also demanded an end to the mass execution of criminals adding that there were crimes in China punishable by death. (It follows that not only certain specified crimes but also nonserious crimes were also considered punishable with death sentence!)

In October 1984, shortly before the publication of the details of 'economic reforms', the People's Daily had printed a first page commentary calling on all party members to renounce the policies of the Cultural Revolution. (This means, there had been stray attempts, here and there, to restore policies of the Cultural Revolution!)

On November 25, People's Daily published details of a CC directive to "earnestly carry out organization work for re-registration" of leading party members, in the coming rectification campaign, launched in October 1993. (This is another way of removing many members from the party. When a member applies for re-registration, he would be taken in only if the leadership believes that he is not a revisionist. This is a kind of expulsion, which does not appear to be so!)

The CC also directed that the political records and ideological conduct since 1979 (when the revisionist economic reforms began under the leadership of Deng) should be scrutinized before giving membership or re-registration. According to the official New China Agency, Xinhua, "those considered unsuitable for membership can be expelled and if crimes are exposed under the reassessment, the guilty party members could even end up in gaol"

 

Abandoning Marxism

On December 7, 1984 People's Daily observed, in its front page editorial, that many of the ideas of Marx and Lenin were outdated and "one cannot take a dogmatic attitude towards Marxism". (Marxism is outdated but capitalism would never become outdated! It is ever green!). It also said, "One cannot expect the works of Marx and Lenin to solve today's problems". (True! One can expect that Deng's writings alone solve the problems. In other words, flow of capital solves the problems!)

On December 10, however, the Chinese officials told foreign correspondents that this last passage was a mistake and should have read "…to solve all of today's problems". (This amounts to saying, "Marxism may solve some problems but not all! What ism will solve the problems, which Marxism cannot solve? What else? Can't we grasp this point? We have Dengism, don't we?)

Many 'blatantly heretical statements' implying the abandonment of Marxism appeared in the party press.

"Marxism has remained a closed ideological system for a long time"¾ Statements of this type appeared many a time. Criticism of Marx's 'Capital' appeared in Social Scientist (No. 7, 1984), published from Shanghai. (The theory, which showed the proletariat the path of its liberation from the class exploitation by the propertied class ¾ is "a closed ideological system"! Whereas the theory ¾ which defends profits by means of exploiting the proletariat ¾ is a novel theory! The theory of grabbing 'profits' is a continually progressing theory because 'profits' also continually progress!)

On April 30, 1985 the Acting editor of Red Flag informed that the journal would cease publication in June and a new journal 'Seeking Truth' would begin publication on July 1. (Red Flag is a symbol for the class consciousness of the proletariat, isn't it? But one class is afraid of 'red'! So it wanted to remove it. In its place, these Chinese capitalist communists (the 'Red Bourgeoisie') wanted to seek truth afresh! As if Marxism is not 'truth' and they have to discover it afresh now! In fact, even according to them, there is nothing to be discovered. Profit alone is truth! Capitalism is the means to seek profit! They know this path very well! But they can't say that 'profit alone is the actual truth', can they? Hence they say, they are yet to seek truth!)

In a speech on economic progress, published in February 1985, Hu Yaobang, the party general secretary commented that "20 years beginning from Great Leap Forward in 1958 to Mao's death in 1976 ¾ wasted because of "radical leftist non-sense". (This means, had the party followed Deng's path during those 20 years since CCP came to power in 1949, that period too would have been very fruitful! So much 'interest' in 20 years! So many profits! Haven't they been lost or not? How wasteful that period was!)

On November 25, 1985 the People's Daily announced the extension of the party rectification campaign to the 20,000,000 members of the CCP's rural branches since "a good number of rural party organizations have not kept up with the deep changes in the rural economic system". (Which means, there was some such situation in which party cadres are not functioning with enthusiasm to implement new reforms by abandoning commune system in rural areas.)

By 1985, the total estimated party members were 40,000,000. About 60,000 officials had been expelled or had retired from the party since the rectification campaign.

In 1985, anti-Japanese student demonstrations severely criticized China's growing international dependencies fostered by the open door policy. Nongmin Ribao of May 27, 1986 warned that the country was "selling its soul" to foreign influence so much so that students asserted the "price of reform is too high".

On September 28, 1986 the CC of CCP resolved to continue reform of China's political and economic structures in order to build "Socialism with Chinese characteristics" and to make China a modern socialist country. (We will see later what do they mean by 'Socialism with Chinese characteristics'.)

The CC criticized that the party's previous adherence to the principle of class struggle at the expense of educational, scientific and cultural understanding was a 'serious miscalculation' which had resulted in the Cultural Revolution of 1966-76, a 'decade of domestic turmoil'.

The CC defended open door policies of encouraging foreign investment and justified it as a "basic unalterable state policy". It said that Marxism-Leninism-Mao's thought is the ideological foundation of the State. But it had specifically rejected the concept of Marxism as a rigid dogma on the grounds that it was only natural that differences of opinion should often arise in both theoretical and practical work. (To say that differences of opinion arise in theoretical work means, that if one holds Marxism as his theory, others may hold capitalism. So differences of opinion exist, don't they? All kinds of opinions should find place, shouldn't they? Who want capitalism ¾ capitalists or labourers? This means, under the slogan that 'we must give space to differences of opinion', the proletariat has to allow the capitalist class to sit on its head! This is what 'giving space to differences of opinion' means! Then, capitalists too should give space to differences of opinion, shouldn't they? Will they give space to Marxism? Will they give up exploitative property rights, interest, profits, masterhood, domination and begin to live on their own labour? When will they give space to this kind of differences of opinion?)

 

Fight for bourgeois democracy

After economic reforms began in the name of 'Socialism with Chinese characteristics' and bourgeois liberalization, the beneficiaries of these reforms began to demand political reforms as well. This demand implies that China must allow capitalist parties to exist and function just as other capitalist countries do, that those parties must participate/contest in elections and that all bourgeois democratic procedures be allowed.

Their line of argument is: when you are allowing capitalist forms of economy why don't you allow similar forms in the sphere of politics?

Bourgeois democracy does not simply means the right to form bourgeois political parties. It is only a political meaning of the term bourgeois democracy. The economic implication/meaning of bourgeois democracy is that one should have rights to occupy all means of production including land as private property and to hire workers. Just as slave masters had rights to own slaves in the slave-owning society, the employers will have rights to hire workers. Right to hire workers means, right to exploit some portion of the labour of labourers. That portion, however, does not appear to be 'a portion exploited'. It exists under the names, 'rent for land', 'interest' and 'profit' for land and capital. The employers would have the rights to receive these incomes.

In fact, it is neither the land that yields 'rent' nor 'capital' that yields 'interest' and 'profit'. All are parts of 'labour'. If workers perform that labour, the said parts are also grabbed from the workers. (Marxism discovered the secret truth and revealed it to the world. The class of masters also knew this secret. But it has not reached the proletariat!)

When human beings are split into two different classes: 'Workers and Masters', there won't be any democracy that is identically useful to both the sides.

If bourgeois democracy is the democracy of Masters, social democracy is proletarian democracy.

Another name of Socialist Democracy is 'Dictatorship of the Proletariat'.

Assuming that a proletarian party, whose theory is Marxism, has seized political power and begun its rule in a given country, then there won't be property rights that facilitate exploitation. There won't be 'Master-Worker relationships' in which workers alone perform labour. The class of former masters too would have to do labour and live on its own labour. Then land rent, interest and profit disappear.

All means of production would belong to all people. When all human beings in a society perform labour, some of them do not constitute 'masters' and others do not constitute 'workers'. These names would become meaningless and all  would uniformly become 'producers'. Such a society would be 'communist' society.

It is the responsibility of the working class to establish communist society. It ought to do so not for the sake of any 'ideal'. Emancipation from 'slavery' and 'hardships' is not for the sake of an ideal. It is for the sake of self-protection! For the sake of its own liberation from the exploitation of labour.

When a proletarian party begins its rule, it has to remove the rights of the Master class to exploit labour. Hence, it is obliged to proscribe bourgeois democracy, the freedom of the Master-class to exploit and the bourgeois political parties.

Proletariat would not permit any theory, any freedom and any political party which asks for the rights to exploit others' labour, namely, 'Right to receive interest and profits' and 'Right to occupy means of production' and so on.

Dictatorship of the Proletariat is the sum total of all the measures and restrictions to be imposed in order to remove exploitation of labour.

To say that 'everybody must do labour and no person has any right to live on the labour of others' is the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. To say that all human beings are equal and nobody has any right to be the Master and nobody has any duty to be a Servant' is Dictatorship of the Proletariat;.

All the measures that remove the relations of domination and subordination in any aspect of any sphere of social life constitute Dictatorship of the Proletariat.

This Dictatorship demands the class of masters to live on its own labour! If the class of Masters understands what is 'justice' and what is 'truth' and agrees voluntarily for all the changes, there won't be any Dictatorship over that class. As the class of Masters does not change voluntarily, the Proletariat has to wage a struggle. Restrictions imposed by the proletariat on the class of Masters, rules which it formulates for its own development in the course of class struggle ¾ all those constitute Dictatorship of the Proletariat.

This Dictatorship is not similar to the Dictatorship of the Bourgeoisie. While the Dictatorship of the Masters is to oppress others (Workers), the Dictatorship of the Proletariat is meant for protecting from the oppression by others (Masters). This in fact won't be a Dictatorship if viewed from the point of view of 'truth' and 'justice'.

Different sections exist within the Proletariat. The interests of these sections remain somewhat different until bourgeois division of labour is transformed into Socialist division of labour. Hence, these sections will have different political parties. As all these parties represent different sections of the Proletariat, all of them oppose exploitation of labour.

The Proletarian State would not ban the political parties of the various sections of the Proletariat just as it bans the bourgeois political parties. Like Communist party, the parties, which represent different sections of the Proletariat, too can participate in the Government.

If the Communist Party intends to implement Dictatorship of the Proletariat in its right spirit, it ought to reject bourgeois political parties which demand 'right to exploit the labour of others' and permit the political parties of the sections within the proletariat to function.

According to "China: Facts and Figures" (2002), besides Communist Party, there are eight 'democratic parties'. (What is 'democratic'? There must be clarity with regard to the nature of that democracy. Calling these parties 'democratic parties' implies that the Communist Party is not a 'Democratic Party'. But Communist Party subscribes to 'socialist democracy' as opposed to Bourgeois democracy). These eight democratic parties declared in their manifestos that they would follow the leadership of the Communist Party. The members of these parties find place at all levels (including parliament) in the State. But either these members or members of the Communist Party do not enter the State by means of 'elections'. It is the Central Committee or Polit Bureau of the Communist Party that selects and appoints delegates of those parties. This is how they come into various governmental positions. (They are selected and appointed but not elected!) This is not even bourgeois democracy. This is simply feudal authoritarianism or Monarchy. Revisionists interpret the Dictatorship of the Proletariat in this manner and retain their hegemony by not allowing elections through secret ballot. (It appears that the practice of elections by secret ballot was absent during Mao's period either).

Wherever and whenever there is an election ¾ including when only one person files nomination ¾ election by secret ballot is the essential and the correct practice. The rule that representatives of the former class of exploiters are not entitled either to stand in elections or exercise their right to vote for some specified period of time is a separate question.)

The Chinese Revisionists are not observing correct principle in any matter. They, in fact, transformed the principle of 'Dictatorship of the Proletariat' into 'the Dictatorship of the People'. By 'people' they don't mean 'working people'. The entire population constitute people. It is because, Revisionists wanted to abandon the term 'classes'. Hence, they lumped Masters and Workers together and called them 'people'. The Revisionists wanted to abandon the term 'proletariat' and retain 'Dictatorship'. Finally, they transformed 'Proletarian Dictatorship' into 'People's Dictatorship'.

But when all are considered 'people' what is that Dictatorship meant for? Where is the other class? When there is no other class why is Dictatorship needed?

Well, when we speak of Dictatorship of the Proletariat, this Dictatorship is aimed at the bourgeois division of labour and bourgeois relations of production as represented by the effective controllers of means of production. The objective of the Proletarian Dictatorship would be to liberate itself (the Proletariat) from the shackles of bourgeois relations of production, bourgeois division of labour and bourgeois forms of management.

But, what is the objective of 'People's Dictatorship'? When we don't have another class or group, who is not, called people, what would be the task of this Dictatorship of the People? Nothing. Hence, in the context of present day China where the means of production are leased to and effectively controlled by private as well as State bourgeoisie, the phrase 'Peoples' Dictatorship' is meaningless.

The Chinese Revisionists need the word 'Dictatorship' for some time just as they need the word 'Socialism'. But, it should not be exercised over the class of owners. Hence 'People's Dictatorship' replaces the term 'Dictatorship of the Proletariat' so that it won't hurt the feelings of the class of owners. Of course, Masters are aware of the fact that it won't harm them since it won't impose any restrictions on them.

In the actual fact, this Dictatorship of the People involve Dictatorship of 'Master-people' over the 'Working-people' in the daily life. In this manner, the Chinese Revisionism welcomed bourgeois democracy into their 'Dictatorship of the People' and accordingly wide opened the door of the economy. In other words, they gave away all the rights to carry on exploitation of others' labour. But they still kept the doors of politics closed. Which means, they are not permitting other parties to grow! This policy brought them a new problem from the other parties.

Although CCP has become fully capitalist, there is no unanimity among its members on the issue of dealing with (other) bourgeois parties. Majority of the members are opposed to bourgeois parties. Group led by Deng is also opposed to it because bourgeois parties would become their rivals in elections if they are permitted. The new bourgeoisie, which emerged as a result of contract system and other forms of privatization will join (other-) bourgeois parties. And there is no guarantee that the Communist Party would win such elections. It won't be a clever action on the part of a party, which has been ruling the country like a monarch, to invite such threats from other bourgeois parties. If other bourgeois parties and elections by contest and secret ballot were not there, the Communist Party leaders can rule the country for the largest possible time under the banner of Communist Party. (If God blesses, their children would rule, and then, the children of their children!) This is such an opportunity, which is not possible in any capitalist country. They should not lose it. If (other) bourgeois parties emerge, the sun called Deng may sink into oblivion and disappear. How can the revisionists invite such a danger?

The leaders of the CCP, therefore, are not inclined to introduce bourgeois democracy into the political sphere; even if they do they are not favorable to introduce it so quickly. But, an opinion to permit bourgeois parties is not completely absent in the party. Such leaders are, however, in minority. The intention of such leaders is (or might be) that once bourgeois parties begin to function, they can slowly jump from the Communist Party to the other side. Or the leaders themselves may quit the Communist Party and form other bourgeois parties. This is why, some leaders within the CCP are in favour of permitting bourgeois parties to form and function. But, the group led by Deng has majority.

According to Deng's group ¾ All economic relations must transform into capitalist but political relations must be under the domination of a single party with the labels "Socialism" and the "Dictatorship of the People". And that single party must be under their control. All this is nothing but "Socialism with Chinese characteristics".

In September and December 1986, Mr. Deng expressed some invaluable views. Internal documents of the CC contained Deng's views which the CC's general office circulated to senior CCP members in January 1987 and to the representatives of the foreign press in February ¾ Democracy can only be achieved step by step because the adoption of "western ways" would lead to "chaos". (This means, he was appeasing bourgeoisie, 'Don't be in a hurry. If you want bourgeois democracy we will get it as well. Why are you in a hurry?)

Who would ask Mr. Deng thus, "If western ways lead to chaos why have you initiated them in the economy?" If some one asks him this, the reply would be 'execution'! Yet we have to assume that there were people who asked like this. When so many executions were taking place daily, won't there be political opponents?

Democracy, according to Deng, should be achieved step by step! But, some sections in the Chinese bourgeoisie were impatient.

Students' protests had already begun demanding the introduction of bourgeois democracy. Referring to these protests, Deng praised the manner in which the Polish had dealt with the unrest arising from the Solidarity Labour Movement in December 1981 and had maintained that similar "dictatorial methods" were essential in China as well if the student protests were to be continued.

The main demand heard in the students' protests was: "more liberalization and more democracy".

From December 5, 1986 onwards students held demonstrations in Beijing. Their demands included 'greater popular participation in the selection procedure for candidates for election to provincial people's congresses; Democratic elections, Freedom of the press. (at some places, demonstrations were held against proposed tuition fee increase).

On December 19-20, about 70,000 students held demonstrations in Shanghai demanding for greater democracy.

CCP's propaganda director warned students not to adopt "western bourgeois" democratic ideals.

People's Daily commented: A handful of people with ulterior motives were trying to vilify the party leadership and socialist system and confuse people. Demand for democracy was only a pretence.

On January 1, 1987 several thousand students broke police cordons and demonstrated in Tiananman square. They marched to the home of the vice chancellor of Beijing University chanting their support of Deng's reform and their opposition to "reactionaries and conservatives". (In the view of these students, Deng is not a reactionary!) Although students declared their support to Deng, the news media condemned students since they demanded "greater democracy". For instance, Beijing Review, published by Beijing Municipal Committee of the CCP, denounced students for "using bourgeois liberalization to advocate anarchism".

People's Daily called upon the authorities to adopt a clear cut stand in opposing bourgeois liberalization and criticized unnamed intellectuals and CCP members for their failure to combat the trend. Observers interpreted that the criticism is aimed at Hu Yaobang, the General Secretary and some other leaders. (So, the doomsday of the General Secretary is approaching!)

On January 13, 1987 Deng said to the visiting secretary-general of the ruling Japanese Liberal Democratic Party that recent protests were unrepresentative and not worthy of serious attention. Bad elements within the party and irresponsible intellectuals misled the students.

On January 14, the Party expelled Wang, a well known Marxist intellectual and a popular writer. Because Wang described the party leadership and Socialism in China as "feudal or semi-feudal in essence and coated with Marxism-Leninism".

On January 16, Xinhua reported that the Hu Yaobang submitted his resignation after making self-criticism in Polit Bureau that he violated the principle of collective leadership. (Pity that he made self-criticism and yet rendered resignation! Poor fellow, why resignation when he admitted his mistake?)

Enlarged meeting of Polit Bureau of the Party's CC accepted Hu's  resignation and elected Premier Zhao as the Acting general secretary.

Deng's statement on January 20, 1987: China's open door policy encouraging overseas investment would not be adversely affected by the leadership changes. (This is tantamount to giving courage to bourgeoisie "Don't worry! Reforms will continue! Invest your capital!)

On January 22, 1987 a new "Media and Publication Office" was established. It was empowered to exercise supervision and control over newspaper, magazine and book publishing with a view to eliminating trends towards 'bourgeois liberalization'. (It was they who introduced bourgeois liberalization! Again it is they who are warning not to write in favour of creation of other bourgeois parties!)

On January 23, another supporter of Hu Yaobang was expelled from the party. At that time, Hu was expected to meet the then visiting Japanese delegation. But he did not meet them. The party officially informed the delegation that Hu was "too exhausted from over work" to meet the delegation. (Perhaps, the delegation pretended as if they believed the Chinese explanation. Did they know/guess that Hu was not in his post of general secretary?)

The thirteenth Congress of the CCP began on October 25, 1987. Zhao, who was until then an 'acting' General Secretary, formally became the general secretary. He acknowledged that the economic reforms raised demand on political reforms and it was high time to put political structural reform on the agenda of the whole party in order to facilitate the achievement of the economic goals. However China would not indiscriminately copy the western system of separation of the three powers (Party, Government and Parliament) and the system of different parties ruling the country in turns. (He meant, "We will rule the country without giving a chance or turn to any other party!")

 

Strikes

Workers facing unemployment in many nearly bankrupt State Owned Enterprises resorted to agitation like strike or slow down of the work.

In 1987, 97 strikes were held. In the first six months of 1988, 49 strikes were held. According to one survey in Jiangsu province, there occurred 381 incidents of the masses taking revenge on village cadres during May '87 and May '88. The village cadres connected these incidents with birth control policies, requisitioning and purchase of farmers' produce, property disputes, reform of fuel customs and new duties of tax collection.

 

Discovery of mistakes in Marx !

Guangming Daily of February 29, 1988 published an article in commemoration of 140th anniversary of the Manifesto of the Communist Party. It pointed out a number of "mistakes" in the works of Marx, Engels and Lenin and called for a "restudy" of capitalism. (Which means, we have to arrive at an understanding that "exploitation is right. It is wrong to say that exploitation should not take place"!)

 

Students' movement for bourgeois democracy

Analyzing the situation in 1989, a China observer commented: "Deng's attempt to maintain open door policy and continue the reform of the economy while implementing regime of political repression is inherent contradiction. If the economic reform policies continue, the reforms will generate and sustain their own interest and a demand for reform of the political institutions will arise". (John Burns, in The China Quarterly, 119: 486).

In April 1989 massive demonstrations by students started, opposing corruption and nepotism. (In any society, if a person does not do any labour and lives on the exploitation of others' labour, such conditions constitute real corruption. From this fundamental corruption, there arise the other, secondary forms of corruption. In the course of exploiting workers, it becomes an imperative on the part of the capitalists to bribe the State officials for several needs. If the corruption called 'appropriation of surplus value by the capitalist' were absent, corruption in the form of bribing would also be absent.

What moral right do the agitators have if they defend the corruption called 'exploitation' and invite the creation of bourgeois parties (which render such exploitative rule) on the one hand and fight against corruption only in the form of bribes, on the other?

It is those capitalists who benefit from the economic reforms and their followers who were demanding the political reforms.

Majority of student demonstrators might not be aware of the meaning of the demand for greater democracy. They might have thought that they were demanding democracy only!

According to an analysis of the subsequent period (which the new General Secretary of the Party Jiang Zemin made on October 1, 1989), there were two opposing views in the party regarding reforms.

(1)  One that defended economic reforms, leadership of the CCP and Dictatorship of the People.

(2)  The other demanded total westernization in all walks of life. In other words, it defended the creation or existence of bourgeois parties.

(This analysis is correct. But both the kinds of views are bourgeois in nature. The advocates of the first view represent 'single party capitalism' while the advocates of the second view represent 'multi-party capitalism'. This is the only difference between the two! None of these two is a communist conception.)

Scholars who watched China with special interest observed that there were two views in the party regarding the student movement. The leader of the group that supported students' demands was the general secretary of the party Zhao. The leader of the second group was Premier Li Peng. (Deng supported the second group.)

On May 4, 1989, marking the May Fourth Movement, about 50,000 student demonstrators marched in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities.

On May 13, Zhao made the first public remark on the students' movement. On the one hand he stressed the importance of stability and on the other hand he said that "reasonable demands from students should be met through democracy and legal means".

On the same day about 1000 students sat on hunger strike. Many government employees and others visited the hunger strike tents and supported their struggle. On May 14, about 1000 teachers expressed their solidarity. On May 16, about 10,000 journalists too marched in support of students. Also doctors, lawyers and miners as well as civil servants, police and even members of Beijing security forces. The protestors raised slogans like "Overthrow Li Peng and Deng!"

At that time, the Soviet leader Gorbachev was present in Beijing for talks with Chinese leaders.

Students gave a letter to the Soviet Embassy in Beijing inviting Gorbachev to address the demonstrators.

The CCP and the State Council (the Govt.) appealed to students not to do anything harmful to national dignity and interest.

The police whisked away 500 students who were on hunger strike to hospital. The same day, the Standing Committee of the Polit Bureau met. In that meeting, in which Deng was also present, Zhao called upon the party to enter into serious discussions with student leaders. He had also proposed: the withdrawal of People's Daily editorial of April 26 in which it criticized the students; establishment of a parliamentary body to investigate alleged corruption of high-ranking government and party officials and publication of financial accounts of leading officials. Four Standing Committee members (that is majority members) including Li Peng rejected Zhao's proposals.

The next day, that is on May17 Zhao issued a statement praising students struggle for democracy and law, opposition to corruption and promoting reform. (Why has Zhao ¾ who said earlier that there was no question of other parties ruling the country ¾ changed like this? This means, he has separated from Deng!)

On the same day, the full 16-member Polit Bureau met and voted to remove Zhao and appointed Li Peng as the new general secretary. (It may be recalled that Hu Yaobang was removed and Zhao was made secretary earlier since Hu supported the students' movement. But Zhao too has done the same thing and lost his position.)

The same meeting approved Deng's decision to begin the movement of military units from the provinces to Beijing.

On May 19, student demonstrations and hunger strikes continued. Zhao met students at Tiananmen Square for the first time, apologized for not visiting them earlier, but pleaded to end the hunger strike. The student leaders announced the end of hunger strike by that evening, but said that sit-in at Tiananmen Square would continue. Zhao's visit, the Far Eastern Economic Review commented, is an open announcement that he broke with his most important mentor Deng.

On May 20, the government declared martial law officially in Beijing; banned all demonstrations, strikes and distribution of pamphlets and imposed restrictions of movements. on journalists. Deng was at Wuhan, meeting with China's seven regional military commanders.

Large numbers of Beijing residents converged on six or more points around the capital and successfully halted the progress of the troops convoy toward Tiananmen Square. There were about 100,000 students and their supporters present at that time. People also appealed police to join the pro-democracy protestors.

On May 21, student demonstrators remained in Tiananmen Square. Large anti-Deng and anti-Li Peng protests were reported in Shanghai, Nanking, Changsha, Canton, Wuhan and other places.

Large demonstrations were held in Beijing on May 23 also.

By the end of May, whereabouts of Zhao were not known. (Subsequent reports indicated that he was kept under house arrest! Hu Yaobang died of illness in April.)

On June 3, around 2 p.m. about 10,000 unarmed troops in civilian clothing and another group of armed soldiers entered the square. Just before midnight tanks also entered.

At 1 a.m. on June 4, the 27th Army Convoy and the foot soldiers moved in. By 3 a.m. troops fired. At 4 a.m. lights in Tiananmen square extinguished  without warning and large convoy of military vehicles moved in. At 5 a.m. they fired at those who were trying to leave the square. After two hours crowds gathered at the square.

On June 5, soldiers roamed in the city and attacked the crowds of angry civilians. There were similar reports from other provinces as well.

According to the estimates of western diplomats and journalists, the casualties (including both civilians and soldiers) were about 2,000-5,000. But the government spokesman said that only 300 died, out of which 23 were students.

On June 9, Deng addressed the military commanders but the text of the speech was not released until late June. Some points of Deng's speech: The crux of the current incidents is the confrontation between "bourgeois liberalization" and the four cardinal principles: (1) Socialist system, (2) Dictatorship of the Proletariat, (3) the leadership of the CCP and (4) Marxism-Leninism-Mao's Thought. The goal of the counter-revolutionaries had been the overthrow of the Communist party and the establishment of bourgeois republic entirely dependent on the west. There was nothing wrong with the basic concepts of reforms and openness; China should never be changed back into "a closed country". The leadership must persist in the co-ordination between planned economy and a market economy ¾ there cannot be any change in this policy. ¾This is the summary of Deng's speech.

He pretended as if his government was following Marxism and trying to establish Socialism but the counter-revolutionaries were attempting to restore capitalism!

The group led by Deng ¾ which itself introduced bourgeois liberalization on the ground that Marxism is not relevant ¾ claims, whenever necessary, that it is following Marxism and the opponents are obstructing them. In such contexts this group uses the phrase 'Dictatorship of the Proletariat' instead of 'Dictatorship of the people'. But, the Chinese working classes do not grasp all this. Those cadres who read news papers may believe that "Comrade Deng said very well!" But there won't be any one who could question Deng immediately. No newspaper publishes criticism against the leaders.

How cruel is it to send military troops and fire at the unarmed demonstrators! How undemocratic it is! But, these revisionists are not going to allow other bourgeois parties to function. But the protestors demanded the same. The rulers answered the demand with guns!

The defect of the students' movement is this: Movements must always be based on work place. The impact of a movement would be unimaginable if main spheres of production, especially transport activities, are at standstill and if other important spheres of activities also join it.

If all the activities at work places are carried on smoothly; if the pockets of the capitalists are filled with surplus value day and night and if days pass without any problem anywhere, what will be the loss for the government even if the students ¾ who are unconnected with any work place ¾ organize procession, demonstrations and hunger strikes for any number of years. In fact the government remained unperturbed even though such demonstrations went on for about five years. The government would lose nothing even if those demonstrations continued for ten more years. However, the State ¾ following the principle that 'one should kill the snake, however small it may be, with a big stick' ¾ attacked the unarmed demonstrators cruelly.

A movement of nearly five years period died out with gun fire in a single night! Without achieving any political reform! Not even the demand of conducting an inquiry into corruption! Everything ended up without achieving any thing!

Thus, 'Socialism with Chinese characteristics' which Deng discovered could breathe more clearly despite such movements by students!

Such cruel attacks as these had never happened before the revisionist rule; that is, never happened in the past during the Communists' rule.

On June 24, Zhao was formally dismissed from 4-5 posts: as the general secretary, as Polit bureau member of the standing committee, as vice-chairman of the central military commission etc. He was dismissed from these posts since he supported the movement for political reforms. The Polit bureau 'elected' Jiang Jemin as the general secretary.

In the subsequent period also, dissidents were arrested and jailed on the charges of attempting to establish bourgeois democratic parties.

After the Tiananmen square incident, America, as a mark of protest, broke its relations with China for some time. But gradually it resumed all its relations. Well, it has many advantages from its relations with China.

On November 9, 1989 Deng resigned to his last, topmost, official party post of chairman, central military commission. (Perhaps due to old age but not due to loss of majority support).

On November 12, Deng met the high ranking military commanders and said that he would continue to concern himself with party, state and military affairs.

Chiang ching passes away

On June 4, 1991 'Xinhua' (New China) news agency reported that Jiang Jing (Chiang Ching, one of the four leaders of the Cultural Revolution and Mao's wife) committed suicide on May 14. She had been sentenced to death in 1981, but her sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 1983. According to the report, she killed herself in the Beijing villa where she had been allowed to live since 1984.

Wang dies

On August 3, 1992 Wang, one of the 'Four' leaders died in the prison serving a life sentence. He was 58 when he died.

Fourteenth congress praises Deng

In October 1992 Fourteenth party congress was held and Deng's followers were in majority in the Polit bureau. The congress confirmed abolition of Central Advisory Commission headed by Chen Yun, an opponent of Deng in certain matters. Presenting his 'Work Report', the general secretary of the party, Jiang Jemin praised Deng for his theory of 'Socialism with Chinese characteristics". He described Deng as "the chief architect of our social reform, of the open policy and of the socialist modernization program". He set the deadline to achieve "socialist modernization" by 2050. He assured foreign capitalists that more areas would be opened up to foreign trade and investment. He stated categorically that the goal of the reforms is to build a socialist democracy but absolutely not a western, multiparty parliamentary system.

On February 9, 1994 Deng appeared for the first time in more than a year. He was then 89. It is his new technique not to appear in the public for some time. Once, he did the same thing in March 1986. He stopped appearing for some time in public and suddenly appeared on March 25, 1986 and explained his absence as the product of a desire to demonstrate that the continuation of the reform program did not depend upon the work of any single individual.

In October 1994, there were rumors that Deng was dying, or had actually died. (This means people were not aware whether that man was alive or dead!). These rumors caused sharp stock market falls during October, but at the end of the month, the prices remained stable when fresh news came in that Deng was alive and well. (It might not be true. Deng must have died by that time. He might have come into existence once again in order to increase share prices? Can't we imagine this much. Should we believe rumors as they come into circulation?

In March 1996, some deputies of the parliament called for a new law to protect trade unions from harassment by employers particularly those in foreign funded and private enterprises. But no such law has been made.

 

Widespread use of death sentence

On March 13, 1996 Amnesty International released its report in which it stated that despite increased economic freedom, torture remained common in detention centers and thousands of political dissidents and members of religious and ethnic groups were in prison. It also criticized the widespread use of capital punishment, pointing to 2,000 summary executions in 1994.

According to the report the number of crimes carrying the death penalty had risen from 21 in 1980 to 68 by 1995.

Media clampdown

The Economic Work Monthly, a journal based in the southern-western Guizhou province published an article which advocated a return to class struggle and opposition to the expansion of the private sector. Following the publication of this article the publication of the magazine was suspended. (Is it necessary to say about this? If the Revisionists do not stop the publication of the magazine, then they are not revisionists!)

Communist values vs. 'Reforms'

The sixth plenary session of the fourteenth CC of the CCP was held on October 7-19 in 'customary secrecy' in Beijing. The CC stressed the party's commitment to economic development but not at the expense of orthodox communistic values. However, the supporters of the Jiang Zemin expressed concerns that the social and political effects of economic reforms had weakened the party's grip on ideology, its members and the population at large.

Yao released

On October 7, 1996 the authorities announced that Yao Wenyuan, the sole surviving member of the so-called "Gang of Four" had been released after serving a 20 year prison. He was 64 at the time of his release.

'Real' death of Deng!

Deng died (really!) on February 19, 1997 at the age of 92. (Real death of Deng might not be true. His intention was to abstain from the public view and observe the progress of the reforms, isn't it? Now his thought must have improved itself further. He might have thought to die for some period of time and check the progress of the reforms! Deng must have had some doubt that everything that he introduced would be reversed after his death as it had happened after Mao's death! Deng must have died in order to see the same. He might have thought to introduce reform even in the matter of his death! But, the other leaders were not as clever as Deng and hence declared that Deng had really died, without grasping Deng's intention! They had also chalked out funeral program! But Deng might not have died with an intention to die really!)

President Jiang Zemin headed a 459-member funeral committee.

On the day of the funeral (February 25), Zemin eulogized Deng as a "great Marxist". He spoke for about 45 minutes while frequently wiping away tears. He said that without Deng the Chinese people would not live a new life like today's and there would not be today's new situation of reforms and opening up and the bright prospects of modernization. (True, without Deng, Jiang Zemin would not have become the party's general secretary. It seems he used the word 'Chinese people' instead of 'Chinese bourgeoisie' due to slip of the tongue in these sorrowful moments!)

He pledged that China would continue the reform policies of Deng

That day, all the newspapers reminded their readers Deng's famous quotation: "It doesn't matter whether it is a black cat or a white cat; as long as it catches mice it is a good cat: (This great Marxist built socialism based on cat and not on Marxism! So we have to now apply this axiom to the contemporary society. "It does not matter whether a capitalist is of native origin or foreign origin. He is a real capitalist as long as he can exploit labourers! Deng passed away after teaching this principle to the bourgeoisie. China is still following his path even after his death. The cat that catches mice and the capitalist who catches labourers ¾ both are same!)

Assurance to Bourgeois Hong Kong

On July 1, 1997 Britain handed over Hongkong to China. Hongkong once was part of China. Britain leased Hongkong from Chinese rulers in 1898 for a period of 99 years. After the completion of the lease period China regained Hongkong. But as per the agreement between Britain and the Revisionist China in 1984, the Chinese Revisionists guaranteed the continuation of Hongkong's capitalist economy and life styles for 50 years after 1997. Tun Chee-hwa, a former shipping magnate became the chief executive of Hongkong under the auspices of the CPC.

Fifteenth congress eulogy to Deng  

Fifteenth congress of CCP was held in September (12-18) 1997 and Deng group was in majority.

Jiang Zemin, the general secretary of the party dumped tons of praises on Deng in his political report: 'Hold high the great banner of Deng theory and push forward the cause of building socialism with Chinese characteristics to the 21st century in all spheres'.

He described Deng as one of the three great men (the other two were Sun Yatsen and Mao). Deng theory alone could settle the issue concerning the future and destiny of socialism, he added. (This gentleman is eulogizing Deng in so many ways. We can't say whether 'house arrest' is waiting or 'death penalty' is waiting for him!)

Underground workers union

On April 2, 1999 workers in the northern city of Tianjin announced the formation of an underground workers union dedicated to helping Chinese workers regain their place as the masters of the nation. They named it, "Chines Association to protect Workers' Rights". They declared that they formed this association because the government backed "All China Federation of Trade Unions" was not serving interests of the workers.

There had been numerous demonstrations in China during the early months by angry workers because State-owned enterprises did not pay their wages.

In March 2002 a wave of unprecedented street protests by tens of thousands of disgruntled workers were held in Liaoning. Authorities deployed thousands of additional military police to the region. In the city of Daqing, 5000 demonstrators clashed with military police. Reports said that as many as 86,000 laid off in Daqing since 1999. (Note that these workers' struggles were not aimed at any bourgeois parliamentary reforms. Merely for the sake of their livelihood. For the sake of work and wages! But no reforms would fulfil these demands except class struggle!)

The Far Eastern Economic Review of 15 August 002 described the worker protests in China from March to May 2002 as a turning point because of their size and organisation. ' The protests by laid off workers in Liaoning, Daquing and Fushun challenged the ruling party's legitimacy. It also informed that for the first time so many well organised laid-off workers and sympathizers ¾ in the tens of thousands ¾ took to the streets simultaneously and sustained their protests for weeks rather than days".

New heir of Deng

As the sixteenth party congress was approaching there were indications that the time had come for Jiang Zemin to relinquish the post of party's 'chief'. Jiang was 76 at that time and 59 year old Hu Jintao was waiting to occupy that seat. Deng, it was reported, picked Hu to be groomed as Jiang's successor making him the youngest member of the Polit bureau standing committee in 1992. He was promoted to the post of state vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission in September 1999. In 2001, he was sent to meet leaders in Russia, Britain, France, Spain and Germany. In February 2002 an unusual meeting with the U.S. President Bush was arranged at Beijing Tsinghua University.

Specialty of sixteenth party congress

As expected, Hu Jintao became the general secretary of the CCP at its sixteenth congress held in November 2002.

Jintao determined to excel Jiang Jemin, the former secretary, in eulogizing Deng.

So far, the earlier general secretaries used the phrase Marxism-Leninism-Mao's thought, didn't they? Now Jintao put Deng's name beside Marx and began to use the phrase "Marxism-Leninism-Mao's Thought-Deng's theory" and declared that the theme of the congress is to hold high this phrase.

The specialty of this congress is to invite "private sector tycoons" to a 'communist ball' as a correspondent of the Far Eastern Economic Review of November 21, 2002 aptly put it. One of the capitalists is a tycoon in power cables. Another fellow is a capitalist specialized in sewing machines industry and racked up to 100 million dollars in exports in 2001.

One of the private capitalists was made CC member while another was made alternate member of CC. Of course many more capitalists were admitted as ordinary members.

(Capitalists in the Communist Party! Capitalists in China are any way demanding separate capitalist parties, aren't they? So the Communist Party accommodated them thus, "why separate parties. Join this party".)

According to a report of the Far Eastern Economic Review of November 28, 2002, 2, 114 delegates of this congress pledged to achieve the following objectives: "Private capital will be allowed into more sectors. Discriminatory regulations on investment, financing taxation, land use and foreign trade will be over hauled. Private property will have fuller legal protection.

Culture of capital(-st) punishment

(In the previous section, we have seen how capitalist economic policies led to the demand for bourgeois reforms in the sphere of politics. Similarly, let us see how changes in the economy influenced the cultural life.)

As the capitalist property rights were permitted, property disputes gradually began to surface, also. Many kinds of crimes cropped up. Along with them, different forms of punishment increased, too. Murders and suicides increased. Owing to the abandonment of socialist policies, safety measures decreased and accidents at work places as well as outside increased. The number of orphan children increased. Superstitious beliefs became widespread.

All the problems of this kind were very common and natural in societies based on exploitation. These problems which were prevalent in pre-1949 China gradually decreased since the rule of the Communist Party. But the same old kind of problems again emerged during the revisionist rule. The reason for this is that conditions conducive to their (re-)emergence are existing in the revisionist society. We are going to see this fact now.

Property disputes

Cases and courts connected with property disputes, which were almost absent in the past have now reappeared. Courts established between 1980-83 tried 89,494 cases connected with business disputes. Out of these cases, 73,000 were contract disputes and involved properties worth of 2.9 billion yuans. About 400 million economic contracts were signed in 1982 and about 10% cases arose over these contracts.

Large scale executions

Unofficial estimates suggest that up to 10,000 people had been executed between August 1983 and December 1985. The accused persons were executed after being convicted of crimes including murder, rape and robbery.

Spread of pornography

The spread of pornography videotapes and unwholesome tabloids ¾ many imported from the west and Hongkong ¾ since 1984 encouraged sex offences such as abuse of young girls and day time and out door rape, even in rural areas where these crimes were unknown in the past.

"Spiritual pollution"

In the early 1984 the government launched a campaign against so-called "spiritual pollution". The party journals Red Flag defined spiritual pollution as including primarily decadent music, pornography and the expression of bourgeois individualism. This pollution, the journal felt, was the result of contacts with the west. The campaign resulted in a stricter censorship of books, ban on some plays and films.

The real motive, however, behind this campaign was not to oppose spiritual pollution. It was meant to deflect claims by 'leftists' in the party that Deng and his supporters were permitting China to suffer moral decay in the interests of modernization. The campaign was also initiated with an intention to make the forthcoming purge of leftists in the party more acceptable to its opponents in the army and among the party cadres.

Bourgeois entertainment

Beijing Review of August 6, 1984 reported favourably about the 'lively evenings' in big cities. It said, "Major cities are seeing more and more night life as shops introduce evening hours and restaurants and cultural centres organize concerts, tea parties and dances". It also informed that the recently opened Shanghai Hotel has extended its opening hours to 11 p.m. providing music, tea and closed circuit TV.

Beijing Review of August 15 enthusiastically depicted the changes in the fashions of young people's clothing. It reported that nowadays young people are no longer judging clothing based on its simplicity. They would like to look modern. The emphasis is on the beauty and the fashionable dress closely follows the lines of the body. Yong men prefer western style shorts and young women are fascinated by sleeved dresses, pure silk blouses, thin woolen skirts, especially shirts about 6.5 cms below the knee. The fashions begin at Shanghai and from there spread to other parts of the country. (Of all the bourgeois businesses, the business of modern fashionable dresses is the biggest one. If fashions are changed constantly, sale of new models and fashions is guaranteed. Boundless profits to garment capitalists!)

Domestic servants supplying companies

As a result of unemployment, the number of house workers increased. Beijing Review of June 18, 1984 was very happy to report the news that "China has begun to run companies providing housework services". It reported that 'The Chaoyang Housework Service Company' was the first of its kind in China. This company hires unemployed youth and retired workers, train them in various kinds of housework and supplies them to its customers. (A part of what the customer pays goes to the hired worker and the other part goes into the pocket of the company. What remains after deducting the office expenses is the profit of the company. It is workers who do the housework whereas profit goes to the company!)

According to Beijing Review of August 13, there were 30,000 housemaids and nannies in Beijing by July 1983. This numbers excludes those living outside their employer's household. Many domestic servants come from outside. Domestic servants (house workers) perform all kinds of work in the households of their masters. House cleaning, cooking, gardening, feeding and cleaning of dogs, caring of children and the old ¾ they do not one but all household chores!

If we consider the family of a master, it is the workers who do labour in the factory of that family; again it is the workers who do labour in the household!

What the members of that rich household do is killing their time with rest and recreation. The system of hiring domestic labour, which was absent before revisionists came to power, has now begun.

Higher crime rate in special economic zones

In its issue of August 20, 1985, Sociology, the generally pro-reform journal, admitted that violent crime was rare in Shenzhen and Zhuhai provinces before they became Special Economic Zones. Unsavoury elements here are imitating the underworld social organisation in Hongkong and Macao. Drug traffic, smuggling, abduction and sale of women and children had increased and on January 21, 1986, 18 people in Beijing were executed after being convicted of these crimes.

On February 19, two sons of leading party officials in Shanghai were executed after their conviction on 50 charges of rape or indecent behaviour.

On June 25, 1986 a mass execution of 31 convicted rapists, murderers and thieves was conducted.

On August 6, African students in China held a protest rally in Beijing demanding protection from further attacks (by Chinese students at Tanjin University) and an end to racial discrimination.

On October 10, 1986 Xinhua news agency reported that unauthorized production of police weapons was now common among criminals engaged in violence on a scale unprecedented in history. At the same time, Yunnan Daily contested the public security bureau's positive assessment of criminal activity and reported the recent sharp rise in the thefts and economic crimes. The newspaper warned of the crimes reminiscent of pre-liberation days such as murder, arson etc.

A study on the impact of introduction of the labour contract system observed that, in 1987, there were more prostitutes, more rapes and robberies. Unemployed young people have committed a large part of them. Many youths, according to this study, now dare to kill people, steal guns and even rob State banks!

By 1989, the public order problems in China grew more serious. For instance, big cities established mobile armed police forces.

Law as a full time profession

Before the triumph of Deng's revisionism, there were only 3,000 lawyers in China. Although population grew by more than 235,000,000 between 1957-80, the number of lawyers remained constant at 3000. Many of them were trained prior to 1949 and are in their late 60s. They pursued law as a part-time profession.

          As a result of bourgeois economic reforms like contract system and various forms of privatization, number of legal disputes increased and the government found it necessary to give licenses to more than 40,000 persons to practice in some 4000 law offices set up by government. There are about 32,000 (by 1990) legal service centres established in rural areas where about 100,000 persons are functioning as para-professional staff. There were also about 15,000 notaries available in about 5,000 law offices.

In 1992, President Jiang Zemin estimated that China needed 300,000 lawyers.

In 1993, the Chinese Law minister estimated that number of lawyers would reach 75,000 during the eighth Five Year Plan and by the end of this century the number of lawyers would reach over 150,000. (The Law Minister was not ashamed of the number of lawyers in China where the number of part-time lawyers had remained constant for about three decades ¾ which fact indicates that social contradictions were at least not bad for the last three decades!)

          Unsafe working conditions

On January 1, 1996 a fire in a Taiwanese-owned Christmas decoration factory killed 19 migrant workers and injured dozens more. This factory is, obviously, located in the export-driven southern Shenzhen Special Economic Zone where even the minimum government legislation safeguarding workers' rights including safety measures are commonly flouted due to widespread bribery and corruption among the officials.

Crime and punishment

On April 28, 1996 the government launched a national campaign against criminal gangs involved in drug dealing, prostitution and the abduction and sale of women and children. Needless to mention that such criminal activities were absent before the triumph of revisionists in the late seventies.

The official newspaper People's Daily of June 27, 1996 reported the execution the previous day of 231 people in nine provinces convicted of drug trafficking.

According to Amnesty International, some 650 executions had occurred after summary trials. Sentences were implemented publicly and crowds of up to 200,000 witnessed executions. (This means the people there have become so crude and cruel to witness death sentences as an entertainment.) Apart from serious crimes, executions for minor offences were also frequently reported.

In 1996,  4,367 executions were conducted. (That is more than 4,000 in one year! 12 persons per day!)

In 1997, China had executed 1,876 people. This is, according to a report of Amnesty International, more than the rest of the world combined. (All the types of crimes that occur in revisionist China also occur in all the capitalist countries. But we don't find so many death sentences in those capitalist countries. That is because, the governments in those countries have to face elections that take place among several political parties. Owing to that fear, they ignore certain crimes and try to be somewhat liberal. But in revisionist China, we find neither correct socialism nor liberal capitalism. There is a criticism that Deng's wrong policies destroyed socialist kind of relations and led to so many crimes. To counter criticism of this sort, Chinese revisionists are resorting to such severe punishments. Criticism will have no value if crimes occur less. If criminals are threatened with dire punishments, the number of crimes may decrease. Hence they argue that "it is good to have some people executed to educate others", as the Public Security Minister once said. On the one hand they created conditions that lead to crimes and on the other hand adopted a cruel means to reduce the number of crimes. They don't have the fear of facing elections since they rule like feudal monarchs. This is why the State in revisionist China is more cruel than other capitalist countries!)

'New' marriage law

In mid-October 1998, the government introduced amendments to the 1980 marriage law, under which extra marital affairs (adultery, keeping concubines etc) were to be made a criminal offence. In early November, a Party committee directive in Guangzhan of Guandong province said that married men who kept mistresses (!) or who frequent prostitutes could be sent to labour camps for up to 3 years.

Gender imbalance

According to the figures of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in early 1999 showed gender imbalance: male to female ratio 120-100. Gender imbalance is the result of one-child policy since 1979, which led to a massive upsurge in female infanticide and the abandonment of baby girls. (Authorities in Anhui province had to ban the use of ultra sound equipment to determine the gender of unborn children. Because some parents were resorting to deliberate termination of the fetus if the child was female.)

Suicide statistics

On November 12, 1999 the deputy Health Minister revealed for the first time that some 250,000 people ¾ mostly women ¾ committed suicide each year in China. The minister admitted that poverty, male chauvinism and overwork in the countryside are the causes for the high suicide rate.

 

 

Corruption

The official statistics for the period 1997-2002 revealed that 118, 692 cases were registered against State officials who were involved in embezzlement, bribery and misappropriation of public funds. (What about those against whom cases have not been registered?)

Accidents

Owing to poor safety measures on the part of the private owners and slackness on the part of government officials, accidents have been on the increase.

In November 1994, 233 people had been killed in a fire accident in a dance hall in Lianoning province. This accident showed inadequate safety standards in public buildings. Similarly, on December 8, at least 311 people, most of them school children were killed in a cinema fire in a town called Karamay. The cause for this tragic accident is the inaccessibility of emergency exits from the crowded building. In this fire accident, apart from those killed, about 200 people were seriously injured.

Some 5,000 mine workers died in accidents in 2000. In mid-November, 2001 in one week, 58 mine workers were killed in four mines in Shanxi province. All the four mines were designated as unsafe by authorities and should not have been in operation. It is reported that there are 23, 000 mines still operating despite having been designated as unsafe and earmarked for closure.

Religion restored

The day Deng's revisionism became active all religious activities too had become active. Since the third plenum of 11th CC in 1978 (when Deng's revisionism won complete victory), 1,000 mosques have been repaired or rebuilt in Ningxia, an autonomous region. In 1982, the State Nationalities Affairs Commission allocated about one million yuan for large scale repairs of a mosque in Tongxin of Ningxian.

Beijing Review of June 11, 1984 carried an interview with a Bishop on "Christianity in China". Some points in the interview: All churches were closed down during Cultural Revolution. Now at least 1,600 churches have been reopened or built so far since 1979. In the past four years (that is 1980-84) 1,300,000 copies of the Bible have been printed and distributed. The main source of income of the churches is the offerings and gifts of Chinese Christians. To a certain extent the churches still depend on the rentals that they are able to collect from church properties. The State exempts churches from taxes and give them the right to collect rentals, "quite an exceptional privilege within a socialist system." Number of new priests have been ordained and converts baptized. Local seminary to train young clergy under preparation. Ordaining of women priests began since 1979.

In December 1985, the Beitang Patriotic Catholic Association Cathedral, the largest church in Jeijing was reopened after 27 years for the celebration of midnight mass on December 24. The cathedral was repaired, using funds provided by the Chinese government.

According to Hunan provincial radio's broadcast on March 30, 1986 wealthy peasants purportedly raised funds for restoring demolished temples.

A report of Hongqi (Red Flag) on October 1, 1986 indicated that the evaporation of the CCP and the State administration apparatus in some areas had led to renew superstitious beliefs, clan associations, ancestral sacrifice and even secret societies that attacked Socialism. The party journal warned rural cadres against belief in demons and gods instead of Marxism.

Owing to the rapid evaporation of the accomplishments of the Communist Party and the consolidation of revisionism a sort of 'refeudalization' had begun. The 'new illiteracy' and the revival of extraordinary consumption such as weddings, funerals employing geomancers and having gambling sessions, evidence this. In Hebei, for instance, more than 50% of the people belonging to rich and specialised households (who take land and other means of production on lease or contract) have been involved in gambling.

Beneficiaries of the contract system in the rural areas developed an outlook to live on interest. They are resorting to tax evasion and arbitrary price increases.

Party officials in Tibet warned that the 'rapid progress of reform' had transferred 'unhealthy social practices' to their region in the form of religious revival.

On January 14, 1996, State Councilor for Religious and Nationalities Affairs, ordered al places of worship to be registered with government. He called for a crackdown on some followers of permitted faiths who were using religion to subvert the State. (This is not anti-religious action. What it says is this: Embrace religion of your choice, but give details of your religious organisation. Do whatever you want, but don't subvert the government.)

On October 16, 1997 the government released a white paper on freedom of religious belief. It lamented that Chinese religious communities had felt the "disastrous effect" of Cultural Revolution. But it expressed its satisfaction over the fact that there are more than 100 million followers belonging to over 3,000 religious organizations under the leadership of 300,000 clergy.

More bourgeois practices  

Return of advertising

Advertising as a business started from 1979. Both foreign and domestic capitalists were informed that they could place advertisements on radio, television, bill boards and in newspapers. This policy is contrary to what was practiced during Cultural Revolution. At that time, advertising was described as 'apotheosis of the capitalist religion of consumption'.

There was some criticism against advertisements of cigarettes companies but the State did not stop then. It gave full freedom to foreign cigarette companies for sponsoring sports events.

In 1997, a professor of Shanghai university defended the use of advertising thus: "Developed countries use advertising as a tactic to enter Chinese market; so Chinese too should adopt the same aggressive use of advertising."

Disappearance of rural education facilities and basic medical care

Since 1980, after the abandonment of Commune system, the bourgeois reforms had reduced the ability of local communities to spend funds on education and basic medical care.

Rural schools have poorer quality facilities and relatively higher fees than urban schools. As a result of new revisionist polices, 3.7 million barefoot doctors, midwives and rural medical workers left their jobs. Village level co-operatives that offered collective insurance for health and basic medical care had largely disappeared.

Most advanced resources are concentrated in the richest urban areas and are allocated free of charge to those occupy highest ranks of the party and military hierarchies.

Merchant of death

In the past China did not produce arms on a large scale. It used to send some arms gratis to some revolutionary movements in America, Latin America and some neighboring countries of its choice. This continued up to 1976. But commercialization  of arms industry began since 1978 as a result of triumph of revisionism. The chief motivation for Chinese arms sale is profit and nothing but profit. For example, it sold arms to both Iran and Iraq for about a decade and earned huge profits. It manufactures and sells various kinds of heavy weapons like ballistic missiles with largest range system, tanks, submarines, gunboats etc.

China's arms sale increased from 114 million dollars in 1977 to 3.5 billion dollars in 1988. It also held arms exhibitions abroad to attract foreign buyers. According to one study, there are many different arms export agents in China who compete and have a particular relations to the State council and People's Liberation Army. Profits from the arms sale are more likely to go into the pockets of a few high ranking officials.

Practice of gun salute

On April 26, 1984, when Regan, the then President of America arrived the Chinese government greeted him with a 21-gun salute. This bourgeois practice of gun salute was halted in 1966 during Cultural Revolution.

Reintroduction of ranks in the army

On May 15, 1984 the government passed the 'military service law' which included apart from other things, reintroduction of ranks in the army. Provisions were also made for the preferential treatment of the military personnel.

No ideals, only cash

Red Flag of June 16, 1986 expressed a little dissatisfaction over the destructive influence of market principles on party members. It said that party members now believe that ideals are far away, politics are meaningless, but cash is real. According to a study on the political reforms, large number of cadres supplemented their income through corruption. Some cadres also resigned their posts to enter into business.

Orphan deaths 

In January 1996, the Chinese government announced that it had conducted a careful and thorough investigation concerning alleged torture and abuse of children in a Shanghai orphanage and the investigation established that accusations were completely groundless.

The same day the New York based group Human Rights Watch/Asia released a 331-page report with several pieces of evidence. Based on its evidence, the report concluded that more than 1,000 orphans had died in the Shanghai Welfare Institute between 1986 and 1992 as a result of brutal treatment, including deliberate starvation, torture and sexual assault. The report called on the government to open all its orphanages to international inspection.

Corroborating the evidence of Human Rights Watch/Asia, which was largely based on photographs and detailed medical records, the British television screened a documentary film "Return to the Dying Rooms" on January 9. Zhang Shuyun, a medical doctor at the institute, supplied the relevant evidence in 1988-93.

On the same day when the U.K foreign secretary arrived in China for a three day visit, the Chinese officials informed him that the documentary film has caused a serious disturbance in bilateral relations.

The Chinese government released a lengthy paper on April 3, denounced claims of Human Rights activists but admitted that the government was struggling to accommodating growing numbers of orphans, many of whom were unwanted girl babies, handicapped, or seriously ill.

Low hygiene standards

The Far Eastern Economic Review of December 5, 2002 published some health related facts based on its own investigation as well as the reports of World Health Organization and United Nations Children's Fund. It informed that in rural areas of China, the level of potentially dangerous injections can be as high as 100% with hospitals not meeting basic hygiene standards and dirty and unsterilized syringes spreading disease.

Abandoning class struggle and embracing capitalism

The Far Eastern Economic Review of July 18, 2002 published an interesting interview with a Chinese author, Zhang Xianliang. The brief summary of the interview: Today this writer is a successful businessman, running a film-set theme park on the outskirts of Ningxia's capital, Yinchuan that attracts 300,000 visitors a year. (Like Ramoji Film City at Hyderabad!) He smokes 555 cigarettes and drives a BMW. He is head of Huaxia Western Film and Television City.

His past history: He was born in a wealthy family in the Kuomintang-ruled area but the family lost all its wealth after liberation. He wrote a poem that spoke of "yearning for freedom". Communist Party government used that poem, condemned him on five separate occasions, each time thrown into labour camps for three years each. His fate changed after the rule of revisionists. He joined CCP and became Chairman of the party-run Writers'Association in Ningxia. Thereafter he wrote his prison memoirs as novels. One of his books has been translated into 27 languages. This writer won comparisons with Milan Kundera, the Czech novelist who suffered State repression. Susan Lawrence, the reporter of the journal asked the writer, 'How do you reconcile your past life as a prisoner with your present party membership'? Then he said, 'Easy. I have not changed, the Communist Party has changed…It is still called Communist Party of China". Then he laughed sarcastically. "It was a big, throaty laugh and spills out without warning whenever something strikes him as absurd", described the correspondent. He further remarked, "Abroad people still use this name to judge the party. They don't know that this Communist Party and the Communist Party of 20-plus years ago are already very different."

To this remark of Zhang, Susan, the correspondent of the journal gave her interpretation to the readers as follows: "True, today's party is different. It has abandoned class struggle and embraced capitalism".

Thus freedom and liberty ¾ which this capitalist, who smokes 555 cigarettes and rents film sets, needs ¾ are flourishing in China, to use a Telugu expression, like a plant with three flowers and six unripe fruits.

 

 

 

Concluding remarks 

It is unbearable and unthinkable agonizing tragedy to see the degeneration of China ¾ the China which witnessed valorous struggles like Long March and Cultural Revolution! Yet we have to bear it and try to understand it.

A matter of justice, however true it may be, will inevitably face defeat if there are no people who grasp it.

Not only victories but also defeats will be invaluable experiences! All the experiences are lessons to be learnt!

In the past when socialist kind of relations emerged in the sphere of economy, political and cultural spheres also followed the same path. Similarly, as soon as anti-socialist relations emerged in the sphere of economy, the other spheres too took the same path. From the past to the present, China has been a great laboratory to prove that how economy operates as a primary motive force of the entire society!

In the human society, the entire past history is the history of class struggles, isn't it? So, as long as classes exist, the future history too would invariably be history of class struggles! That history will change only when classes disappear.

There has to be either a 'mode of production based on independent producers" or a "mode of production based on associated producers" if we do not want exploitation of labour or existence of classes in human relations. But mode of production based on independent producers keeps the producers as isolated and separated individuals without any connection with one another. It deprives them of cooperation from fellow human beings in sharing hardships or comforts. Mode of production based on associated producers will alone contribute to the development of  higher values and higher forms of existence.

Knowledge of theory alone is the path to protect our selves. If we know the correct solution for the problems of life, we can easily recognise the nature of solutions however varied wrong forms they may assume. We will be able to avoid repetition of defeats in our path of struggle.

Communist Party alone is the embryonic form of new society which the proletariat ought to build for its liberation. So, the newness and equality must begin from there. It must appear as an ideal force to the proletariat and 'a lion in the dream' of the exploiting class. It would acquire such capacity only when it retains Marx's theory as its weapon. It would achieve so much victory as much as it has class consciousness and as much as it can educate the proletariat with sincerity.

Revolutionary Communist Parties ought to know a lot! They ought to improve a lot! They ought to overcome a series of failures! 

[Frontier, dated February 8-14, 2004]

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