The Nature of Chinese Communism and the Prospects for Teng’s Reforms

Abstract

This chapter seeks to evaluate the question of what Teng Hsiao-p’ing’s reforms are likely to bring by comparing mainland China to the well-established Communist regime in the Soviet Union. It illustrates the nature of communism in mainland China, the strategies of Communist regimes for retaining power and creating popular allegiance, the role of communism in promoting economic modernization, and what these factors suggest about the probable outcomes of Teng’s reforms. The chapter describes the Soviet Communist system and analyses the system of Chinese communism by comparing it to the Soviet model. It argues that the Chinese Communists suffer several distinct disadvantages compared to the Soviets. The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution represents a watershed in the politics of mainland China. The Cultural Revolution resembles the period of collectivization and the great purge under Stalin in the 1930s.