Assess the extent to which a significant leader was effective in shaping the

society/region.

“Whether it is white or black, a cat is a good cat so as long as it catches the

rat.” The catchphrase of Mao’s successor, Deng Xiaoping’s leadership in the
post Mao era was perhaps the most significant force in shaping modern day
China. Representing a swing away from hardline ideological dogmatism,
Deng’s pragmatism defined him as leader and led to remarkable change in
China.

Although Deng Xiaoping never held executive power over China, his heritage
as a Long Marcher and Civil War veteran made him one of the most influential
and widely respected members of the communist party. Deng joined the CCP
in 1923, two years after its foundation, and spent much of the 1920’s studying
in France, and his pragmatism that would later characterise Dengism is
evident in his early involvement in the CCP. An effective military leader during
the Civil war, Deng’s assessment of the Chinese population, of which 90%
was peasants, allowed him to mobilise 2 million peasants into support forces,
playing a pivotal role in the CCP’s victory. Deng was also prominent during the
rule of Mao, especially in the reconstruction of China following the disaster of
the Great Leap Forward. Deng saw that farmers with their own private
patches were more productive than those who solely farmed for the state, and
encouraged a pragmatic approach to agriculture that challenged Mao’s pursuit
of socialist collectivisation. An immensely popular leader, Deng was purged
three times during the Cultural Revolution yet due to his pragmatics and
people skills bounced back to become leader of China after Mao.

In the early stages of Mao’s rule, he claimed that “dogma is of less use than
dog-shit”, however, dogmatic best describes Mao’s insistence on pure
socialism during the Great Leap Forward and the Culturlal Revolution. In a
blind pursuit of socialism, Mao had destroyed the China he had liberated on
1st of October 1949. However, upon his death and Deng Xiaoping’s
subsequent rise to power, Chinese leadership shifted from a dogmatic pursuit
of socialism to a pragmatic assessment of Chinese conditions. His most
famous quote, “Whether it is white or black, a cat is a good cat so as long as it
catches the rat” summarises his approach to leadership, allowing him to
gradually de-Maoify China and in the process culturally and economically
modernize the nation.

Officially implemented by Zhou Enlai in 1975, Deng Xiaoping brought the ‘four
modernisations to the forefront of China’s political agenda. Modernisations in
technology, science and defence, agriculture and industry represented the
beginnings of the process of moving China out of the Mao era. Experts and
planners were once again respected and trusted, education was prioritised
and monetary incentives were reintroduced. Econmically, as a part of the
modernisation of agriculture, communes and APC’s were disbanded and
although farmers still had to produce for the state, the “responsibility system”
meant each household had a quota to fulfil and any surplus produce could be
kept for personal gain or traded. Deng introduced elements of capitalism such
as monetary incentives, representing and end to the pursuit of pure
capitalism. Deng’s policies led to a popular joke, the “Three Highs” – a high
salary, high education and a height of at least 5’6’’, perhaps encapsulating the
capitalist tendencies of Deng, and the capacity for his leadership to move
China away from Maoism.

Deng not only brought about change within Chinese society, but he opened
China up to the world. Although this process had already been set in motion
by Mao in the later part of his rule, with landmark visits to China by British
Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery and US president Richard Nixon in 1972,
Deng further economically and diplomatically opened China up. For example,
China began importing and exporting with many western nations as well as
the old enemy, Japan, with $29billion worth of production equipment being
imported from Japan and western countries such as USA. In a landmark
event that represented how far Communist China had come from the Cold
War Era, in 1979 Deng Xiaoping visited the USA to discuss diplomatic
relations between China and the great capitalist power that was the USA with
President Carter. On the international stage, Deng had transformed China’s
identity from a xenophobic inward facing nation to a viable force on the
world’s economy. In particular, China’s new relationship with the USA
represented the shift from ideology shaping international relations to the
economy.

Deng’s pragmatism gradually led to the rise of a capitalist economic system in

a communist nation, known as ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’. The
shift towards the China we know today began in 1979 with the introduction of
Special Economic Zones. As massive amounts of foreign investment poured
into China, Deng sought to capitalise through these Special Economic Zones,
which were allowed to operate in a capitalist market-style fashion,
encouraging foreign investment in China. Initially, Deng implemented four
Special Economic Zones along China’s coastline, in Shenzen, Zhuhai,
Shanton and Xiamen, however the market economies soon spilled out into
mainstream China. Foreign investment in China was popular given its
massive population and capacity to produce goods for a fraction of the price
of western nations. As a result of the push towards a capitalist economy, the
Chinese people increased their spending on consumer goods by 470% from
1978 to 1990. By 1978, only 54% of Chinese industries were state owned,
and Chinese enterprises were often told they would be shut down if they failed
to make a profit. Deng saw the potential for wealth through a capitalist
economic system, and the pragmatism that defined his leadership allowed this
to happen.

In a sense, the limit of Deng’s pragmatism was reached on 4 th June 1989 in

the Tiananmen Square Massacre, perhaps revealing the true nature of Deng’s
leadership. Despite Deng’s willingness to comply with the desires of the
population, it must be remembered that he was a leader that grew out of the
Warlord Era with the experience of the Long March. Deng had witnessed what
democracy looked like, and to him it looked like disunity; a fractured China. In
1978, student Wei Jingsheng proposed a fifth modernisation on Democracy
Wall in Beijing – Western style democracy. 11 years later, the conflict between
the push for genuine democracy and Deng’s insistence on a centrally
controlled nation came to a head in Tiananmen Square. On the night of the 3 rd
of June, 1989, Deng controversially turned the People’s Liberation Army on
peaceful protestors in Tiananmen Square, killing between 2000-3000 people.
The seemingly brutal attack on peaceful protestors tarnished Deng’s legacy;
however, it represents a vital aspect of Deng’s leadership. One of the few
traits Deng and Mao’s leadership shared was a heritage in the Warlord Era,
the Long March and the Civil War. Deng’s roots effectively shaped his
leadership in 1989, with a call for democracy pushing the boundaries of his
pragmatic leadership style. Perhaps Deng was indeed a traditionalist rather
than a reformer, balancing economic reform with a communist government in
a Yin and Yang fashion and enforcing the Confucian values of respect for
authority, for harmony over chaos and for unity and balance.

Deng Xiaoping will be forever remembered as the Chinese leader who turned
the People’s Liberation Army on the people in Tiananmen Square. Despite
this, his leadership is perhaps the most significant force in taking China from
the Mao Zedong era towards modern day China. The pragmatism that defined
his leadership saw China develop into an economically unique nation; a
capitalist economic system operating under a communist government. Deng’s
focus on the economy rather than ideology saw China find economic
prosperity and forge new relationships with the western world. However, a
democratic system of government was apparently beyond the limits of Deng’s
pragmatism, resulting in the Tiananmen Square Massacre, the event that
tarnishes his name and overshadows his many positive accomplishments.