76-02-A3
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Mao's China
TranscriptFor 27 years Mao Zedong kept the mainland of China in a state of perpetual revolution, but did it really work? I'll be right back. Though it had been expected for months, the death of Mao Zedong when it came was a profound event, not only for China and Asia but probably for the world. Mao was an overpowering figure in China where he ruled for 27 years. He kept his country in a state of constant turmoil, for it suited his theory of permanent revolution. Thus when he died he left behind uncertainties and the possibility of much political intrigue by those who would succeed him. Mao's brand of leadership was unique not so much because his dictatorship was so personal or because he schemed endlessly against friend and foe alike but because of his basic conviction that the revolution never ends. His political career began in 1920 when he attended an organizational meeting of the Communist Party of China in Shanghai. Back home he formed his basic ideas of the perpetual revolution of the peasants, a strategy he held till the day he died. By 1934, Mao had managed to build a military force of nearly 100,000. That year his Communist Army was almost eliminated by Chiang Kai-shek's government army, but he managed to break away, and at the cost of 80% of his troops, reached distant Yen'an Province after a celebrated long march of 6000 miles. His base remained there until after World War II when the United States attempted to use shuttle diplomacy to mediate between the Nationalist and Communist groups and influenced the Nationalists to make concessions which led to their undoing. In the civil war Mao's forces won in 1949 and Chang fled to Taiwan. Through a succession of purges to eliminate potential rivals, Mao kept an iron grip as the mainland's ruler after a series of six different revolutions. The leadership of the Communist Party still revolved around Mao and Zhou Enlai, who died earlier this year. Administrative continuity and economic progress suffer of course when leadership is unstable. The mainland's relatively poor industrial production level and agricultural output especially contrasted to Taiwan's free economy seemed to be directly related to Mao's perpetual revolution strategy. Mao had wanted to destroy the ancient Chinese system which was based on the family as the center of political and social relations. He wanted to replace this and Confucian philosophy with a new collective concept of leadership and a revolution of the masses coming from the bottom up. He died without realizing this goal. In his last poem to the dying Zhou Enlai he wrote, "We will go, our mission unfinished, may take a thousand years." A guerrilla fighter to the end he launched one campaign after another. Retreating if he had to, attacking again and again often without regard for the cost. Through the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution and this year, the Campaign against so-called Capitalist Roaders, the job remained unfinished. For human nature, it seems, yearns not for permanent revolution but for stability. When Mao came to power, he eliminated the specialists and technocrats, but new ones came to take their place. Mao's perpetual revolution swept his temporary successors, such as his widow and Hua Guofeng to the surface, but ironically it's just as likely to sweep them away. It may be quite a while before stable leadership comes to the mainland of China. This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening. |
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