Frenemies by Mark L. Haas;

Author:Mark L. Haas;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lightning Source Inc. (Tier 3)
Published: 2021-10-29T00:00:00+00:00

IDEOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN THE PRC AFTER MAO’S DEATH

It was not immediately obvious that Mao’s death would result in substantial ideological shifts. Mao in February 1976 designated Hua Guofeng to be his successor. After assuming power, Hua based his legitimacy on his dedication to Maoist thought and the continuation of the chairman’s domestic and international policies. This dependency was officially articulated in the “Two Whatevers” mantra, expressed in a People’s Daily editorial on February 7, 1977: “We shall resolutely defend whatever policy Chairman Mao decided upon; steadfastly abide by whatever decisions Chairman Mao made.”130 Mao’s doctrine of “self-reliance” was a particularly important one in the wake of his death, with some Chinese leaders regarding it as an “absolute virtue.” In January 1977, the People’s Daily declared that China must always insist on self-reliance and thus “never depend on or have blind faith in foreign technology, never act like the Soviet Union in allowing foreign capitalists to exploit the country’s natural resources, and never accept foreign loans.”131

The Two Whatevers and the principle of self-reliance promised stasis in all the key ideological and policy issues that were described above, including relations with the United States. As Ross explains regarding cooperation with the United States as a potential balancing force against the Soviet Union, “there may have been relatively conciliatory tones in [Hua’s US] policy, but the shift was incremental, reflecting a marginal change within established policy, rather than the adoption of a new policy seeking a different US role in the Sino-Soviet conflict.”132

This situation began to change over the course of 1977 and radically so in 1978. In these years, the PRC experienced major ideological changes. In May 1978, the People’s Daily printed an article that criticized the Two Whatevers and thus blind loyalty to Mao’s thought and policies. In a November 1978 Central Committee meeting, the Two Whatevers doctrine was discarded as the litmus test for decision-making, and those who had supported it were criticized.133 The following month, the Third Plenum of the Eleventh Central Committee (December 18–22) adopted policies that “represented a radical turn from the previous decade.”134 The plenum repudiated one of Mao’s core ideological assertions by declaring that “the massive class struggle” in China to be over.135 Mao’s belief in the continuation of the class struggle, especially within the CCP, had created the need for the Cultural Revolution. The Central Committee’s December 1978 announcement essentially declared the end of this need.136

Ideological changes in the economic realm, both domestically and internationally, were also remarkable. Although Hua had declared his loyalty to Maoist beliefs—including that of self-reliance—with the articulation of the Two Whatevers doctrine, his views on these issues shifted over time. Beginning in 1977 and accelerating in 1978, Hua moved away from Mao’s doctrine of self-reliance and pushed for the importation of advanced technology and capital, while advocating that China learn from foreigners. Hua encouraged numerous visits by Chinese leaders to other states, including to capitalist countries.137

Deng Xiaoping’s rise to power accelerated and deepened these trends. Deng had been purged for a second time by Mao in the spring of 1976.

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