China After Mao: The Rise of a Superpower

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A central theme of the first three chapters is that paramount leader, Deng Xiaoping (1978–1989), representing the “opening up” initiative, is not deserving of his reputation in China and abroad as a pathfinding reformer. In particular, chapter 5 on Tiananmen in 1989, and then chapters 6 and 7 on the relatively attenuated rate of growth during the early period of reform, should temper the positive assessment of these years. While per capita GDP marked a steady progress from 1976 to 2001, China’s ranking internationally actually dropped seven points, from 123rd to 130th (234). The limited and highly constrained application of free market mechanisms—China basically remained a planned command economy—accounts in large part for the unevenness of mobility nationwide. As the author argues, top-down control by the same Communist Party that had perfected the dictatorial system from 1949 to 1976 held up progress economically and nullified any advance in political opening. The purge of Mao’s inner circle, following the tyrant’s death, amounted to a strictly surface-level show-trial outcome. Spears’ vulnerability shines through as she describes her painful journey from vulnerable girl to empowered woman.

Christopher Marquis: You've talked about how with Deng, some of the Maoist structural features that were retained which many observers in the West may not have really appreciated. When looking at China’s contemporary problems, it seems many of these long-standing structural issues may be the cause, or at least impeding reform. For example you write about how debt and unemployment, significant issues today, have long roots. So dealing with them is a more significant challenge than many realize because of these structural issues such as CCP monopoly over power, control the means production and others. Can you say a little bit about how some of these longstanding structural features act as a real challenge or constraint to deal with issues today. The book became riveting in recounting the events leading up to the massacre at Tiananmen Square; there were uprisings in other cities as well. All were ruthlessly suppressed.Zhao Ziyang seen supporting Tiananmen protests, supporting thesis that popular discontent only poses a real threat if used for intra-elite conflict Essential reading for anyone who wants to know what has shaped today's China and what the Chinese Communist Party's choices mean for the rest of the world' New Statesman This book is a definitive guide of what's happening in contemporary China. It will be a difficult read for pro-CCP admirers and the like. The book “China after Mao: The Rise of a Superpower” traces the rise of China as a superpower in the post-Mao era. It is the third major work by Frank Dikotter, a Dutch academic based in Hong Kong. Earlier, he had authored influential works like The Discourse of Race in Modern China and the award-winning People’s Trilogy. Dikotter is currently Chair Professor of Humanities at the University of Hong Kong.

Frank Dikötter: If you look at the civil war between the KMT and the CCP from 1945 to 1949, you will not find a single example of refugees going towards a Communist occupied territory. Refugees move to KMT areas. It may be a very distant example, but I am simply not very sure that there are a great many people keen to emigrate to the People's Republic of China if given the chance. From the award-winning author of Mao's Great Famine , a timely and compelling account of China in the wake of Chairman Mao As a side note, the audio version of the book thoroughly butchers Chinese names, and I had a hard time recognizing even the most prominent figures based on the narrator’s pronunciation. In the absence of a bilingual reader, simple pronunciation training and practicing a dozen Chinese names could go a long way to improve the quality of this audiobook. The city is symbolic of recent Chinese history scattered with internal paradoxes. Recounted in China after Mao: The Rise of a Superpower , historian Frank Dikötter examines how the People’s Republic surged from stifled economic growth into a dominant global superpower, under the spectacular illusion of ‘reform and opening up’ – a so-called ‘economic miracle’. The conventional story follows that China moved from an economy built on state ownership and central planning to one that allowed individual enterprise to thrive. On the surface, the results were dumbfounding; with annual GDP growth averaging at over nine per cent since 1978, China was dubbed ‘the fastest sustained expansion by a major economy in history’ by the World Bank . But some 600 files collected from a dozen provincial and municipal archives – including the secret diaries of Li Rui, Mao’s personal secretary for industrial affairs – reveal a more complex story. The epilogue has some of the best writing in the whole book, following are some direct quotations from it:A skilled writer, Dikotter is accessible to both expert and lay readers alike.”— The Washington Examiner

Dikotter’s latest work is highly recommended for those who want to make sense of the intriguing developments and develop an informed understanding of China’s political and economic evolution in the post-Mao era. Dikotter has done a commendable job of unearthing some archival and other relevant primary sources (including party and other official documents in Mandarin) to uncover some of the most critical periods.

Reviews

A special economic zone in Shenzhen, near Hong Kong, was blessed by Deng during a 1984 visit, becoming a center of foreign investment and technology. Cheap labor imported from the hinterland fled to the bright lights and higher pay across the bay. To counter the exodus free trade areas were established where local authorities made decisions on foreign trade and provided better working conditions. While industry didn’t take hold import/export business did and opportunities in coming computer technology were taken. Sixteen new free zones were created with the provision they wouldn’t be run or funded by Beijing. Cases proliferated of stolen chemical and pharmaceutical formulas and led to counterfeiting of household appliances, office equipment, industrial and agricultural machinery in a wild east of trade. The recently concluded twentieth party Congress has evinced an unprecedented interest in China. The emergence of China in the post-WTO accession era and its complex political and economic structure in the name of ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’ has been an enigma to even those who have a keen interest in current political developments. The country was still struggling badly in the early 1990s when Deng made his famous “southern tour” and it later sailed dangerously close to the wind after both the 1998 Asian economic crisis and the global one in 2008 – the latter a point that is largely absent from most appraisals of that particular event.