Why Has Communism in China Succeeded For So Long?



Why Has Communism in China Succeeded For So Long?

Introduction

Communism as a political and economic ideology dominated the 20th century. In one way or another, it has affected nearly every nation and institution in the world—and it persists in some nations today. Horvat (2002) mentions communism claims that a materially abundant and peaceful world can be created by abolishing private property and allowing the collectivity, through the mediation of the state, to plan and direct all aspects of society along scientific and rational lines. It is a Utopian idea that sacrifices individualism for the collective good. Ideologically, it is the antithesis of individualism and laissez-faire economics. During the preceding century, communist regimes arose in Russia, China, North Korea, Cuba, Vietnam, and elsewhere, capturing nearly one half of the world's population and landmass (Horvat, 2002). This paper discusses why communism has succeeded in China for so long.

Why Has Communism in China Succeeded For So Long?

The most important deviation from the Soviet model occurred in China. The Communist Party emerged victorious in the civil war in China and by 1950 the communists came to control the most populous nation in the world.

The issues of personal rivalry between Chinese communist leadership under Mao Zedong and Stalin, who was more interested in exerting Soviet primacy than in building socialism in China, led to a split between the Soviet Union and China (Horvat, 2002). Ideological differences between China and the Soviet Union became increasingly apparent in the 1960s and culminated in several border skirmishes in 1969 that brought both countries close to war.

In the early 1960s, Chinese socialism exhibited even harsher totalitarian features than the Soviet system. Mao's radical rhetoric against the West, the experiments with the Great Leap Forward, and the Cultural Revolution led to the China's isolation and serious economic challenges. Despite the successes in industrialization (Pipes, 2001), the Chinese economy greatly suffered during the period of Cultural Revolution, when terrible losses occurred because of the ill-devised ideological paradigm according to which human resources were interchangeable across various economic sectors.

The death of Stalin in 1953 led to the relaxation of the Soviet model, and at the 20th party congress in 1956, Premier Nikita Khrushchev denounced the methods of Stalin and called for a return to the principles of Lenin. Khrushchev's erratic economic policies were followed by the period of Great Stagnation under Leonid Brezhnev, who was the leader of the Soviet Union for almost two decades (Pipes, 2001). Brezhnev's economic policies were characterized by slow-paced reforms aimed at improving the cumbersome central planning and the efficiency of state-owned enterprises. Despite the partial reforms, the Soviet political system was unable to address issues coming from the growing demand in the consumer sector or the notorious inefficiency of the agricultural sector.

The death of Brezhnev and the advent of Mikhail Gorbachev as leader of the Soviet Union led to the introduction of deep and sweeping reform policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring). Reforms were aimed at democratizing both ...