What would Mao say?

|
  • 0

What would Mao say?

Wednesday, 02 October 2019 | Pioneer

What would Mao say?

Mao Zedong, the founder of modern China as we know it, might not recognise the country he once controlled with an iron fist

Seventy years ago, the Chinese Civil War came to an end. The nationalist forces, led by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, fled from the mainland to the island of Formosa, or what we today know as Taiwan, and the rest of the gigantic country became the People’s Republic of China (PRC), led by the then Chairman Mao Zedong. The Chinese had been in a state of almost perpetual conflict with themselves, European colonial powers and the brutal Japanese imperial forces for almost three centuries at this point in time. Peace was hard-won but troubles for the country were not over as Mao set off on a Soviet-inspired rush to “modernise” his country and almost took it back to where it started centuries ago as a result.

Yet, today, the PRC stands as a shining example of how a country can, in the space of just four decades, radically transform itself from a peasant economy to a manufacturing and tech giant. The PRC, a nation very different from the one that Mao and his comrades in the Communist Party envisaged in 1949, is the success story of the late 20th and early 21st century. The Chinese economy was $30.55 billion in 1952 and as of last year is at $13.6 trillion. But today, it stands at the crossroads. The nation is again led by a strongman without the economic pragmatism of his forbears. It is facing a revolt in the “free” city of Hong Kong, its economic and multi-cultural hub, and brutally repressing minorities, from Tibetans to the Uighurs. It wants a new Dalai Lama to be reincarnated on its soil. It might be an economic superpower but China remains, as it has historically been, an extremely exclusivist society. Chairman Mao may not be terribly happy about some of the social and cultural changes that the PRC has undertaken. In fact, he would be shocked at the league of mega-rich entrepreneurs the booming Chinese economy has spawned as communism in China today is best described as quasi-capitalist. The party machinery might remain and has preserved the nation as an oligarchy until now but for how much longer is the question. The country has its own severe social issues. Its citizens are demanding more. The problems with Hong Kong are just a sign that things may not be moving in the direction that President Xi Jinping wants them to.They could even end up being early signs of a counter-revolution, one which will be fomented by Xi’s tough rhetoric that “no force can shake the great nation.” The trade war with US and the economic imperialism beyond borders are sore points with the world. However, none of these facts should take away from the basic idea that overall, the PRC has been a success. The very fact that leaders of that nation, notably Deng Xiaoping, have through their economic pragmatism lifted hundreds of millions out of extreme poverty is one of the most dramatic success stories of any modern nation. 

Sunday Edition

CAA PASSPORT TO FREEDOM

24 March 2024 | Kumar Chellappan | Agenda

CHENNAI EXPRESS IN GURUGRAM

24 March 2024 | Pawan Soni | Agenda

The Way of Bengal

24 March 2024 | Shobori Ganguli | Agenda

The Pizza Philosopher

24 March 2024 | Shobori Ganguli | Agenda

Astroturf | Lord Shiva calls for all-inclusiveness

24 March 2024 | Bharat Bhushan Padmadeo | Agenda

Interconnected narrative l Forest conservation l Agriculture l Food security

24 March 2024 | BKP Sinha/ Arvind K jha | Agenda