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Changing Nature of Elite Conflict in Post-Mao China: The Limits of Ideology and Leadership
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14273 |
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Section : |
MODERN THOUGHT
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| Issue
Date : |
7 / 1988 |
6,433 Words |
| Author
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Parris H. Chang
Parris H. Chang is professor of political science and director
of Asian studies at Penn State University; he is the author of
Power and Policy in China, Elite Conflict in the Post-Mao
China, and scores of articles on Asian affairs. |
The abrupt dismissal of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) General Secretary Hu Yaobang in January 1987 and the drive against "bourgeois liberalization" have once again highlighted the leadership conflict and issues of contention inside the party. As the CCP Congress scheduled for October 1987 approached, rival leadership groupings intensified their political maneuvers and actively jockeyed for position in anticipation of a showdown. Despite the appointment of Zhao Ziyang as the new general secretary and the endorsement of a new policy and ideological platform for reform, the struggle continues. This essay assesses the leadership changes before and following the Party Congress, the issues of contention in the leadership, and the changing nature of elite conflict in post-Mao China.
To be sure, the rise of Deng Xiaoping as China's most powerful leader and his crusade for China's modernization are some of the most salient political developments of the past decade. Not long after he was reinstated as party vice chairman, vice premier, and Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) chief of staff in July 1977, Deng mounted a series of political offensives to challenge the leadership of Party Chairman Hua Guofeng, who had staged a coup in October 1976 and inherited Mao Zedong's mantle. By December 1978, Deng and his allies had managed to neutralize Hua's influence and had captured control over the policy councils, although they allowed Hua to keep the title of party chairman until June 1981. In order to consolidate his control and cement support for his modernization programs, Deng has initiated reforms and fashioned bold measures designed to speed up economic growth. To facilitate these tasks, Deng has strived to remove from key leadership posts remnant Maoists as well as those officials opposed to his programs, while forcing many inept or old cadres to retire.
Moreover, in order to ensure leadership stability and policy continuity, Deng has groomed younger and likeminded officials as possible future leaders to continue the efforts to reform and modernize China. In September 1980, he nominated Zhao Ziyang, a talented provincial leader of Sichuan who had distinguished himself as a reformer, to the premiership when Hua was forced to resign. A few months later, Deng picked his protégé Hu Yaobang to replace Hua as party chairman.
Deng could have kept these positions for himself, but he did not have to--he was already China's most prominent and powerful leader after December 1978. Thereafter he has become the chief architect of China's reform and open-door policies and the prime mover of China's foreign relations. The Twelfth CCP
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