The Beginnings of Reform under Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang (胡赵新政启示录) by Hu Jiwei
The interest in China has been rising rapidly in the last decade or so. One cannot understand China by reading books published in China where there is heavy censorship. One may think that books by Western Sinologists are the best alternative. That was what I thought until I realized the limitations of Western works on China. After reading a few books by prominent American Sinologists, I realized how shallow and biased they are. A recent article on National Review has confirmed my speculation that many American Sinologists are spineless. The following is quoted from the article:
“Western scholars who keep their head down, says Nathan, are not all “lily-livered liars and knaves.” He suggests that there are three groups. There are scholars who hold “the perfectly respectable view” that the U.S.-China relationship is too important to be disturbed in any way. We must have a dialogue with the Chinese Communists, find out what makes them tick, and get along with them. Then there are young scholars who have careers to make and simply cannot do without access to China. And the third group? Well, “the lily-livered liars and knaves.”
If an American scholar receives warm welcome from the Chinese totalitarian regime consistently, his books on China can automatically be assumed biased. If one tells the truth and the whole truth about China, he is unwelcome by the regime, and usually denied a visa to China.
The best books about China are written by Chinese who were a part of the regime knowing all the ins and outs, and have the conscience and courage to reveal the system honestly. This book is exactly that type, and one of the best.
Hu was the editor-in-chief of the major mouthpiece of the CCP – People’s Daily, the newspaper with the largest circulations in the world due to forced subscriptions - in 1980s. He joined the CCP in 1937 and has essentially witnessed the entire history of the CCP which was founded in 1921. Unlike books by scholars, the statements and stories in this book are mostly based on his own experience instead of literature research. The author is well known for his integrity, wisdom and courage.
The analysis of New Democracy is also a political confession of the author who candidly describes how he learned about the New Democracy, Marxism. He joined the CCP primarily for its advocacy of democracy and anti-Japanese unity during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
The New Democracy was actually practiced quite well by the CCP, and it helped the CCP attract a lot of intellectuals, and gain wide support in contrast to the Nationalist government that was eventually driven to Taiwan. The author puts it simply that the CCP did not defeat the Nationalists, but the Nationalists defeated themselves by rampant corruptions and their one-party, one-leader dictatorship.
The description of the CCP’s governing in the Northwest Region in early 1950s is intriguing. The author worked under the second-ranking leader of the region – Xi Zhongxun who is the father of the coming Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The top leader was Marshal Peng. The governing body was quite democratic. Its senior officials include people of other parties and those with no party affiliation.
Soon after the CCP took over China, Mao started a 180-degree turn from the New Democracy he advocated when he was trying to defeat the Nationalists. He essentially duplicated the collectivization that Lenin experimented and failed miserably in 1920s. The 27-year rule of Mao in the PRC was a dictatorship that was more brutal than the one of the Nationalists that Mao attacked before the CCP took over China.
The most intriguing and educational part of the book is its detailing of how Hu and Zhao played the central roles in Chinese reforms during the spectacular 12 years after Mao died. In contrary to the public perception and the CCP’s propaganda, the architects of the reform are Hu and Zhao, not Deng. Hu was exceptionally courageous and instrumental in the political reforms that, though limited, resulted in the fast economic rise lasting for decades. Deng was undoubtedly critical in all the reforms because the reforms met tremendous resistance from old guards whom only Deng had the power to overcome. On the one hand, Deng helped Hu and Zhao carry out their reforms; on the other hand, Deng constrained the reforms to a boundary set up by him guaranteeing a totalitarian regime under the CCP’s dictatorship. It was not surprising at all that Deng used the PLA to crush the greatest Chinese prodemocracy movement in history – the June 4th Movement.
If Hu and Zhao had been able to carry out their reforms without Deng’s hindrance, China would be a more prosperous country with a balanced economy and a free and stable society by now. The rampant corruption, severe pollution and inequality are the results of lacking political reforms since Deng purged Zhao in 1989.
Since the book is a collection of articles by Hu, it has many duplicate points. The author argues the same points from different angles under different occasions, hence making them more plausible.
Hu has passed away without writing an offcial emeoir. In some sense, this book can be regarded as a memoir, one of the few by veteran senior CCP officials not endorsed by the CCP. Only such memoirs tell the revealing truth about the CCP. Unfortunately, most veteran senior CCP officials have left and will leave the world taking with them many valuable untold stories that we will never know. This makes Hu’s book and its likes even more precious.
Every student of modern Chinese history should read this book which reveals more truth about modern China than the works of prominent Western Sinologists.