Written by: Waseem Abbas
Posted on: September 30, 2022 | 
| 中文
Mao Zedong proclaims the founding of the People's Republic of China at Tiananmen Square, Beijing on the 1st of October, 1949
China with a GDP of 17.3 trillion USD is fast moving towards becoming the next superpower, that is likely to overtake the US in the coming decade, with most of the economic indicators like inflation, unemployment, and GDP growth rate doing better than the United States. China has stunned the West with its economic resilience, even during the taxing times of the Covid-19 pandemic. China's growth, after pursuing free market economic policies formulated by Deng Xiaoping, is a case study for the developing world. With the People’s Republic of China turning 73 on October 1, it is important to understand China's modern history and its phenomenal progress.
President Xi Jinping portrait with Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping's portrait
Imperial China under the Qing dynasty was a weak monarchy that was often invaded by foreign powers, like Japan, and later by the United Kingdom and France during the Opium Wars (1839-1860). The magnitude of China’s weakness was such that it could not even protect its territorial sovereignty and had to cede Hong Kong to the UK in 1841. Shanghai, China’s biggest city, a bustling metropolis, was divided up into different foreign enclaves, belonging to the U.S., UK, France and Germany. That ‘Century of Humiliation’ finally ended in October 1949, with the liberation of China under Chairman Mao’s leadership.
The destruction during the Opium Wars
The 1911 Revolution toppled the Qing Dynasty and paved the way for the establishment of the Republic of China under Dr Sun Yatsen, who headed the Chinese nationalists of the Kuomintang (KMT) party. The Republic was unable to consolidate control as China was then a weak and divided country torn by turmoil and warlordism. In July 1921, the Communist Party of China (CPC) was born, when 13 young, idealistic revolutionaries including Mao Zedong, gathered in Shanghai with a dream of a better tomorrow for the Chinese people. The CPC and KMT initially enjoyed a collaborative relationship but the KMT, then under the leadership of Chiang Kaishek, was determined to dominate China and exterminate the CPC, hence the civil strife that followed. At one stage, it seemed the KMT would prevail as the CPC was on the run, although it’s most difficult moment, the retreat of the Long March, eventually became the cause of its survival and revival. And during the Japanese Invasion of China (1937-45), the KMT and CPC joined hands to jointly counter the common external enemy.
Communist forces march into Beijing in 1949
After the Japanese defeat in 1945, the Civil War resumed, culminating in the KMT forces being driven out of the mainland to the Chinese island of Taiwan and the proclamation of the People's Republic of China under the CPC led by Chairman Mao Zedong on the 1st of October 1949, when he declared ‘today, the Chinese people have stood up’. A new era in China’s chequered history had begun.
(L to R) An edited picture of Zhu De, Zhou Enlai, Chen Yun, Liu Shaoqi, Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping
With the emergence of a unified China on the global stage, the difficult task of liberating the Chinese people from the yoke of feudalism and backwardness began. China was then poor, weak and isolated. Conversely, today, China is rich, strong and a leader of globalisation, fuelling 30% of global growth, a frontline country in the battle against climate change and poverty alleviation. Out of 193 members of the United Nations, 130 have more trade with China than they have with the United States.
Deng Xiaoping and Henry Kissinger in 1974
New economic policies that helped uplift China’s economy owe their origins to the great visionary leader, Deng Xiaoping, who played a pivotal role in course correction of policies. In 1978, Deng Xiaoping initiated the ‘Reform and Opening Up’ in China, which allowed the creativity, hard-work and resilience of the Chinese people to blossom, removing unnecessary governmental regulations on business activities and slashing bureaucratic red tape. The introduction and implementation of the 'four modernisations' was the centrepiece of Deng's plan to rejuvenate China's economy, underpinned by his famous slogan ‘Getting Rich is Glorious’. The ‘four modernisations’ on which Deng pinned hopes for China's future included agriculture, industry, defence, and science and technology. These policies paid off, and now China is leading in all these sectors, as the Harvard University study of November 2021 ‘The Great Tech Rivalry - China versus the United States’ aptly testifies. The West, especially the USA, is now mulling on finding ways to halt or slow down China’s technological advances, trying to counter through an ideological Cold War mindset of presenting it as a ‘democracy versus autocracy’ struggle.
Deng Xiaoping (left) and Mao Zedong (right)
China was not even amongst the top eight economies of the world in 1978, and now it is only second to the USA. The success was not overnight but was the result of an arduous and tiring effort. The laws, customs, lifestyle, working habits, and economic and political institutions all have evolved in China to suit the changing demands of the world. Changing modes of celebrating National Independence Day is one such example. In the first ten years of the Independence, military parades were held regularly on this occasion, but are now held after every ten years. The success of the Beijing Summer Olympics in 2008 and the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022, despite the US-led boycott in the latter event, testify to the resurgence of China in the 21st, the ‘Asian Century’.
The cultural and social importance of Independence Day, however, remains intact. The week-long holiday has made this occasion an appropriate occasion for not just a national celebration but family reunions, marriage ceremonies, tourism and shopping. Tian'anmen Square, where the proclamation of Independence was made by Chairman Mao on October 1, 1949, is usually beautifully decorated with flowers every year, giving the historic place a festive look.
The giant flower basket at the iconic Tian'anmen Square, Beijing
While Chairman Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping were instrumental in putting China on the path of progress and prosperity via a socialist free market economy, it is President Xi Jinping who has been instrumental in leading China into the 21st Century with his Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), probably the single most important diplomatic and developmental initiative of the contemporary age. Learning from successful economic models from around the world and following a non-interventionist peaceful foreign policy, China, at 73, has lifted 800 million people out of poverty, which is an incredible feat, unprecedented in human history. China had a GDP of $ 18 billion in 1948 with a per capita income of $ 50, the GDP now stands at $ 56,264 billion, and the per capita income is $ 12,556. China’s stupendous success and progress in every sphere of life is a beacon of light for the developing world to come out of poverty, corruption, illiteracy, and embark on the road to peace, progress and prosperity.
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