Despite the high costs the Four Modernizations implied, China succeeded to enter "into the milieu of international bank loans, joint ventures, and whole panoply of once-abhorred capitalist economic practices."
As it might be inferred from above, this task was not an easy one, and China's officials had first of all to convince the rather-conservative part of the population of the necessity of these reforms and of the continuity of the Four Modernizations program. Similarly to the case of other communist movements, the changes had to come from above, so the unity among the mentalities needed firstly to e achieved at the top-level and only afterwards should the belief in newness be spread among the population.
Deng's attempt in this perspective seem to have succeeded, or at least this was the common feeling in the 1980s, when improvements in both rural and urban life became obvious, and the replacements of new methods of decision-making, analyzing and thinking within the boundaries of the political system had been completed. The improvements started to be noticed on the international plan as well and, as a consequence, Chinese products were traded more freely and the commodity market was improved. The prices were calculated with the help of rationale methods, the wages as well and the tax system was changed. These steps in the economic domain remodeled the world's perspective on China, which had the chance to remodel its international position.
Moreover, the cultural life was as well reinvented, some reforms occurring in the scientific, technological, and educational domains. Moreover, the regime tended to legitimize itself by using "a rational body of law and a carefully codified judicial system."
One Country, two systems
Besides the reforms in the economic cultural and political domains, Xiaoping attempted first of all to pay attention to the people's desires, and that is why he allowed Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan to respect the capitalist principles, whileas the rest of china would have at its basis the communist ones. In his own words, "the concept of "one country, two systems" has been formulated according to China's realities, and it has attracted international attention. China has not only the Hong Kong problem to tackle but also the Taiwan problem. What is the solution to these problems? As for the second, is it for socialism to swallow up Taiwan, or for the "Three People's Principles" preached by Taiwan to swallow up the mainland? The answer is neither. If the problem cannot be solved by peaceful means, then it must be solved by force. Neither side would benefit from that. Reunification of the motherland is the aspiration of the whole nation. If it cannot be accomplished in 100 years, it will be in 1,000 years."
This decision is surely unique in the entire communist history: Deng has been the only totalitarian leader who accepted a part of his country to run according to the enemy-capitalist principles. Even though, his logic might have a relatively philosophical background in the writings of Marx, who believed that capitalism could only be defeated through its own means, namely by using its own system. What it should not be forgotten is the fact that at that time the Chinese authorities were able to accept anything in order to reach their goal, that of totally transforming china from an economic point-of-view until the beginning of the 21st century.
Moreover, it should not be forgotten that national security has been a main aim of the whole Chinese communist regime, ever since 1949. Even though it was perceived as not having a great importance for the Four Modernizations, it has been avoided its neglecting, and this because of the continuous concern China had with being surrounded by enemies -the Soviets, the Vietnamese and the Indians -. In the Chinese conception, the...
Thus, by having a liberalized economy and a communist regime, China has entered the World Trade Agreement in 2001, after signing some economic concessions. Moreover, this country has become a great attraction point for foreign investment, due to its cheap workforce. And the roots of these changes have been put by deng and his liberalizing reforms.
Nowadays, the great importance of China in the international trade is a fact. Even though, "what will happen to China in the 21st Century will depend upon the interplay of events inside China and internationally. On the one hand, China is currently more dependent on the world economy than any other recently developed nation at the same point in its development. On the other, internal problems are awesome: the future of the transformation of the state and bureaucracy; the social and economic fragmentation of society as the market creates both winners and losers"; it has many times been assumed that the proper solution for its problems would be for China to adopt a democratic political regime as well. On the other hand, it is still hard to imagine China as working according to the rule of law and having at its basis democratic principles instead of authoritarian ones. Even though, the economic prosperity the country faces from the 20th century onwards might be a sufficient reason to convince its leaders to act according to the international current tendencies.
Bibliography
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Exploring Chinese History: Culture, Philosophy, Maoism, at http://www.ibiblio.org/chinesehistory/contents/02cul/c04s07.html#Introduction
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Great Leap Forward, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Leap_Forward
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Ibidem 2
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Ibidem 5
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Ibidem 9
The people's republic of China IV, at http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/prc4.html
Ibidem 11
Ibidem 8
Ibidem 11
One Country, Two systems, at http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-02/19/content_1322435.htm
China after Deng Xiaoping, at http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/55/850.html
