China 1949–2019: From Poverty to World Power

348 Pages·2019·3.653 MB·English

by  Paolo Urio

Paolo Urio
China
1949–2019
From Poverty to World Power
–
China 1949 2019
Paolo Urio
–
China 1949 2019
From Poverty to World Power
123
PaoloUrio
Department ofPolitical Science
andInternational Relations
University of Geneva
Geneva, Switzerland
ISBN978-981-13-8878-1 ISBN978-981-13-8879-8 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8879-8
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Preface
This book analyses China’s long march from poverty to world power. In 1949
China had just emerged from one century of foreign aggressions, a three-
decade-long civil war, and a dramatic decline in economic, political, cultural and
militaryresources.WheninOctober1949Maoproudlydeclarestotheworld:‘Ours
willnolongerbeanationsubjecttoinsultandhumiliation;wehavestoodup’,the
country is in no position to compete with foreign countries on any of the above-
mentioned resources. But the Chinese leadership had the will to make the China
dream, of becoming again a great power, come true. By building upon its
plurisecularlonghistory,itsfundamentalvalues,andbyintegratingintoitsthinking
the Western values that were compatible with its culture, China has succeeded in
realizing that dream, little by little, following its traditional way of conceiving and
implementing the strategy.
InordertounderstandChina’sstrategy,itisimportanttorecognizethatwhereas
its civilization developed outside our language, outside our history, independently
from us, indifferently from us, China’s strategy to escape from poverty and to
reclaim world power status, needed to develop within the international world the
West made, first by European powers in the nineteenth, then by the US in the
twentieth century. In analyzing China’s strategy to reclaim world power status in
thetwentiethcentury,ithasbeennecessarytoanalysetheUS’sforeignpolicyinthe
FarEast.BydoingsoinChap.6,Idiscussandcriticizetheimperialforeignpolicy
the US has implemented since the foundation of the First Republic (1912–1949).
Ibelievemycritiqueiswelldocumentedandhasledmetofindingsthatareshared
bymanycriticalAmericanscholars,whowillbedulyquotedinthetext.American
mainstream scholars, journalists, and think tanks’ researchers may be offended by
such a strong criticism. To this reaction I can only reply by quoting Alexis de
Tocqueville, who has praised American democracy more than any other European
thinker: ‘The American, used to participating in everything that takes place within
this country [i.e. America], believes he has an interest in defending everything
which is criticized, for it is not only the country that one is thus attacking, but
himself: consequently one sees his national pride resorting to all the artifices and
stoopingtoall thepuerilities of individualvanity.Thereis nothing more annoying
v
vi Preface
thanthisirritatinghabitoftheAmericanstofeelobligedtoexercisetheirpatriotism
at all times. The foreigner would agree willingly to praise a great deal in their
country,buthewouldliketobeallowedtherighttocriticizesomething,andthathe
is absolutely forbidden to do. America is a country of liberty where, however, in
order not to hurt anyone’s feelings, the foreigner must not speak freely either of
private citizens, or of the governing powers, or of the governed, or of public
enterprises,orofprivateenterprises,oranything,infact,thatoneencountersthere,
except perhaps the climate and the soil; and you even find Americans ready to
defend one or the other of those as though they had contributed to the making
ofthem.’(AlexisdeTocqueville,DeladémocratieenAmérique,Paris,Gallimard,
pp. 353–56, my translation from the French).
Inthisbook,ItakestockoftheresearchIhaveconductedontheriseofmodern
China,withemphasisonstrategicpublicmanagement.Itisbasedupontheresearch
I have conducted in China since 1997, the analysis of several important works of
Western and Chinese scholars, official documents published by the Chinese and
Western governments, discussions with Chinese senior civil servants and intellec-
tuals, as well as more than 30 visits to mainland China, covering 16 provinces.
Moreover,IhavebeeninvitedtogiveconferencesinChinaonpublicmanagement
topicsbyuniversitiesandpartyschools;therebyIhavebenefitedfromthequestions
andremarksputforwardbytheaudience,professorsandresearchers,post-graduate
students and senior civil servants.
Ihavepublishedmyfindingsinfivebooksandfourarticles.TheycoverChina’s
reformsandtheirpositive andnegativeconsequences,thecomparisonbetween the
WesternandtheChineseNewPublicManagement,anevaluationofPrivate–Public
Partnerships for in-transition countries (including China), the development of
NGOs in China (both Chinese and Western), and China’s strategy for reclaiming
worldpowerstatus.Thesebooksandarticlesconstitutethebasisforthisnewbook,
to which I have added several updates and new analyses and perspectives. Having
coveredseveralimportantaspectsoftheChinesestrategicpublicmanagement,Ifelt
the need to put some order into my ‘Chinese construction site’, to give some
rational and documented meaning and coherence to the ‘material’ collected on
variousaspectsoftheChinese modernizationprocess.Thisistheoriginality ofthe
book.Ofcourse,Ihavetakenmanypassagesfrommypreviousbooksandarticles,
often in summary or in another wording. But I have not hesitated to take several
passages as they are in the original publications, whenever the original is exactly
whatIwanttotransmittodaytothereader.Inthesecases,Iconsideredthatitwould
have been ludicrous to paraphrase the original for the sake of avoiding asking
permission from the publishers concerned. Of course, I have asked permission
whenever necessary.
Many contradictory analyses have been put forward, especially by Western
scholars (but also by some scholars of Chinese origin living in the West) on the
very nature of the Chinese political system, the market or non-market character
oftheChineseeconomy,therolethatthegrowingChinesemiddleclassmayplayin
the political system (will it demand political freedom in addition to economic
freedom?), the role that the so-called “Chinese red capitalists” may play (will they
Preface vii
favour a regime change?), the role of China’s growing power in the international
system dominated until recently by the West, and especially the US.
Basedonthesepreliminaryconsiderations,thebookproposesananalysisofthe
contradictions that have developed within China since 1949, and the positive and
the negative consequences of the public policies implemented to overcome these
imbalances.
ThestartingpointofthebookisChina’swilltorecoverworldpowerstatus.This
fundamental objective, already put forward in my first book on China and further
developed in my other books, has been the basis of the strategy of all Chinese
governmentssincethelatedecadesoftheQingImperialDynasty.Itisofparamount
importance for understanding the policies implemented since 1949, their rationale,
content, implementation and consequences upon Chinese society and economy, as
well as their sequence in time, i.e. the underlying grand strategy.
In writing this book, I have tried to avoid a too technical approach. While I
addresstheresultsofmyresearchtoanacademicaudience,Ipresenttheminaform
accessibletoawiderpublic.Thechoiceofthis“intermediate”approachstemsfrom
the fact that too many unbalanced accounts on China are being published both in
academic writings and in newspapers and magazines accessible to the general
public. My aim is to present here a documented view of the Chinese situation,
avoidingthecatastrophicpredictionsofsomepeople,1aswellastheover-optimistic
views of those who see China as a territory to be conquered, which is, in fact, the
view of many Western businessmen.
In organizing the six chapters, I tried to present them according to a sequence
thatshouldmakethereadingaseasyaspossible:(1)inChap.1,Iputthedynamics
of China’s development in the context of Xi Jinping’s slogan about the ‘China
Dream’,andexplainunderwhatconditionsthisdreammaycometrue;(2)Chap.2
presents an analysis of Chinese culture in order to understand the fundamental
valuesofChinesesocietythatorientbehaviourinthepublicdomain,(3)inChap.3,
IanalysetherationaleofDeng’sreformsandtheirpositiveandnegativeimpacton
Chinese society; (4) Chap. 4 analyses the policies adopted by the Chinese
Government in order to correct the negative consequences of the reforms; (5) in
Chap. 5, I analyze the innovations introduced in the management of the relation
between State, society and economy, the opening of the decision-making process,
the freedom given to NGOs and the resort to technologies and management tech-
niquesimportedfromtheWest;(6)inChap.6,IanalyzeChina’sstrategytoreclaim
worldpowerstatusandtheconsequentrestructuringoftheinternationalsystemthat
puts an end to the world America made. In the conclusion, I develop some con-
siderationsaboutthefutureofChinaanditspositioninthenewinternationalorder.
As all the dimensions dealt with in the six chapters are linked to each other
withinakindofstructuralinterdependency,therewillbemanycross-referencesthat
havemaderepetitionsnecessary.Thesinologistmayfindthiswayofpresentingmy
1See,forexample:GordonG.Chang,TheComingCollapseofChina,NewYork,RandonHouse,
2001; Thierry Wolton, Le grand bluff chinois. Comment Pékin nous vend sa «révolution»
capitaliste,Paris,Laffont,2007.
viii Preface
argument rather tedious. My purpose in doing so was to facilitate the reading for
laymen, so that each chapter may stand on its own. Each chapter can be read
independently of the others, and should the reader wish to find more detailed
explanations, he may refer to the other chapters as suggested in the text.
Geneva, Switzerland Paolo Urio
April 2019
Acknowledgements
First of all, I should like to thank Prof. Hu Angang, Founder and Director of the
Institute for Contemporary China Studies of Tsinghua University. Prof. Hu
encouraged and helped me in my quest for understanding China’s development
strategy, by sharing his knowledge, providing his writings before they were pub-
lished,appointingsomeofhisassistantstohelpmecollectdataanddocuments,and
introducing me to Chinese intellectuals.2
I also benefited from the profound knowledge of China from my other col-
leagues at Tsinghua University, Cui Zhiyuan, Wang Hui, Li Xiguang, and Liu
Qiushi; as well as from Dong Keyong (Renmin University); Chen Dongqi, Sun
Xuegong and Zuo Chuanchang (National Development and Reform Commissions
—NDRC); Harry Liu Genfa (Party School of Shanghai Pudong); Su Wei
(Chongqing Party School).
Wang Qizhen, of Tsinghua University, provided invaluable support already in
2016whenIstayedatTsinghuatocompletetheinformationIneededforthisbook.
Once I was back in Switzerland, she continued to help me, sending me the most
recent data and relevant publications I needed for organizing and presenting in a
meaningful way the material I had been collecting for over a decade. I am also
indebtedtoHeShan,alsoatTsinghua,whosteppedinwhenWangQizhenwason
leave.Moreparticularly,WangQizhenandHeShangavemeinvaluablesupportby
updating the tables I used in my 2010 book, and by adding new data and tables
kindly provided by Prof. Hu Angang. Chen Yali, a Ph.D. Chinese student at
GenevaUniversity,whohasbeenworkingwithmesince2012,alsohelpedmewith
analysis of articles and papers from mainland China.
As usual, my British wife has helped me to put my English into a form
acceptable to an international audience.
2A complete list of the persons (colleagues, assistants, civil servants, students) to whom I am
indebted,withoutwhomIcouldneverhavebeenabletowritemybooksonChina,canbefound
under‘Acknowledgements’ofmybooks.
ix
x Acknowledgements
Last but not least, I should like to thank the publishers of my books for giving
me permission to use parts of my previous publications. This book is based upon
revised, updated and expanded versions of my writings on China published by
Routledge:
(cid:129) Reconciling State, Market, and Society in China. The Long March Towards
Prosperity, 2010;
(cid:129) China, the West, and the Myth of New Public Management. Neoliberalism and
Its Discontents, 2012; and
(cid:129) China reclaims World Power Status. Putting an End to the World America
Made, 2018.
University Press of America:
(cid:129) Public Private Partnerships. Success and Failure Factors in Transition
Countries, 2010 (editor), with a chapter on China.
Peter Lang:
(cid:129) L’émergence des ONG en Chine, Le changement du rôle de l’Etat-Parti, 2014
(written with Yuan Ying).
Geneva, Switzerland Paolo Urio
April 2019