Why Is Mao Zedong Making A Comeback In China?

November 24, 2009

Martin McCauley writes: When the father of Chinese perestroika, the late Deng Xiaoping, had won the struggle to succeed the late communist leader, Mao Zedong, in 1978 he ordered the removal of statues and mementos of the Mao period. Deng wanted to demonstrate that the era of dead pan communism was over. Policy was supposed to be decided not by the whims of the leadership but on the basis of hard facts and figures. Mao was probably turning in his grave in those days.But now it is time for Deng to start doing the same: Mao’s legacy is enjoying the great revival and statues to the Great Helmsman are once again being erected in China. Why is this? In cities and provinces which President Obama or other foreign dignitaries do not visit, the symbols of the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) are beginning...

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Category: Around The World
Tags: China, CPC, Hu Jintao, Mao Zedung

Is China Heading For A Diarchy?

September 27, 2009

Martin McCauley writes: The recent plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) did not go as expected. Analysts inside and outside China expected Xi Jinping to be made a member of the Central Military Commission (CMC). This would have signalled that the transfer of power from Chinese President Hu Jintao, who also holds the post of General Secretary of the CPC, to Xi Jinping in 2012 was on track.Does this mean that Xi is no longer the favourite to succeeded Hu? Does it presage a power struggle at the top? Hu is the most powerful comrade in China. Apart from the two posts mentioned he is also the President and head of the CMC. At a plenum in 1999 or three years, before he succeeded Jiang Zemin, Hu joined the CMC. He then headed the Fourth Generation of leaders. Most...

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Category: Around The World
Tags: China, CPC, Hu Jintao, Xi Jinping

The Chinese Leadership Is Anxious. What Will The Future Bring?

March 24, 2009

Martin McCauley writes: The recent National People’s Congress in China turned out to be a strange affair: the Chinese people were told to work harder to achieve an economic growth rate of 8 per per cent this year. To keep the economy going. However, the Communist Party of China (CPC) leadership banned any discussion of the fiscal stimulus package that is supposed to achieve this goal. (If only President Barack Obama could do the same! Think how much easier his life would be.)The lack of any serious debate at the National People’s Congress, though, raised more doubts about the efficacy of the huge injection of 4 trillion yuan ($588 billion) into the economy. Would it be enough and would it help to kick-start the ‘engine’ that has powered China for the last two decades? One...

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Category: Around The World
Tags: CPC, Economy, People's Congress

Will 2009 See China Transformed?

December 30, 2008

Martin McCauley writes: Chinese citizens are being advised by their government not to splash out too much over the festive season which culminates in New Year celebrations in February. This is a stark reminder that Beijing expects 2009 to be a very harsh year in economic terms. In other words, the boom times are over and it is time to face stark reality. The Communist Party of China’s legitimacy has always rested on its ability to improve the living standards of the population. Political freedoms have been sacrificed for prosperity in an unwritten deal between the government and the people. The CPC, it has to be said, has been extraordinarily successful over the last thirty years. The problem for the Party is that everyone expects the good times to last eternally. They never do. History...

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Category: Around The World
Tags: Changes, China, CPC