The Chinese take the first week of October off to celebrate the creation of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949.
The establishment of the PRC was the fruit of years of armed and political struggle on an epic scale under the incomparable leadership of Mao Zedong. Few, if any, foresaw at that time that the emergence of the PRC, then one of the poorest and most impoverished countries in the world, would turn out to be the most impactful event of the century.
The 20th century has been called the age of revolutions. Starting with the 1917 Bolshevik or socialist revolution in Russia, revolutionaries toppled erstwhile, seemingly impregnable regimes across the world. The changes were not merely political, but also economic and, in some cases, cultural. With a couple of exceptions, all the major 20th-century revolutions were inspired by Marxism, which sees history and social evolution in terms of an irreconcilable conflict between those who own the means of production – landlords or capitalists – and those who operate them – landless farmers or workers.
The preceding century also saw the breakdown of imperialism in a number of Asian and African countries. As a result, several independent states emerged, some of which, notably India and Pakistan, have played a significant role in shaping international events. That said, the establishment of the PRC remains the most impactful event of the 20th century. Let’s first glance at some comparable events of the past century.
The 1917 Russian Revolution inspired several other socialist or communist revolutions in different parts of the world, including that in China. Notably, it ushered in the creation of a multinational, continent-sized Soviet Union or the USSR in 1922. For nearly half a century, the USSR shaped half of the world – politically, economically and ideologically – and became one of the two superpowers on the globe. However, the once mighty USSR ceased to exist after December 1991. Its global influence was already on the wane. The USSR has no legacy into the 21st century.
Fidel Castro spearheaded the Cuban Communist Revolution of 1958. The Cuban Revolution was significant in several respects. One was Cuba’s proximity to the US, the chief adversary of communism. The revolution also became a symbol of resistance in Latin America. But where does Cuba stand today and what is its impact on the contemporary world? Cuba is one of the poorest countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Its influence even in Latin America is at best nominal.
Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution came about in one of the most serious flashpoints in the world. The revolution scrapped the world’s oldest monarchy. The most singular feature of the Iranian revolution was that it redefined the role of religion as a catalyst for sweeping changes and resistance. The images of Ayatollah Khomeini triumphantly returning to Iran, having forced a mighty tyrant to abdicate, gave a new life to Muslim resistance movements in the Middle East and elsewhere.
At the same time, the revolution reversed the process of modernisation in Iran. Post-Revolution Iran’s confrontation with the US and its allies, notably Israel, has come at a great expense to its socio-economic development. A crumbling economy and the recent decimation of Hamas and Hezbollah have divested Iran of much of its regional influence.
Coming back to China, Mao Zedong led the communist revolution in one of the most backward and poorest countries. Contrary to the basic tenets of Marxism, Mao foresaw farmers as the source of China’s regeneration. He also had the genius to foresee that political power grows out of the barrel of the gun – all else is wit and gossip. That’s the reason Mao made farmers and armed resistance the vanguard of his political struggle.
China has the distinction of being the oldest continuous civilisation in history. The Chinese essential values and way of life have persisted over centuries. Not only that, China was the most advanced of all ancient cultures. It remained so until the mid-19th century. Then followed a century of decline and decrepitude, as the Chinese found themselves ill-equipped to face Western, and later Russian and Japanese, onslaught. Starting with England, Westerners initially came to China for trade, but, as in the case of India, they soon began establishing their foothold in the country. It was only after the 1949 revolution that China gained freedom from foreign control.
It's customary for Western writers to flay Mao and the Communist Party of China (CPC) for their ‘despotism’ and allege that revolutionary ‘excesses’ had brought China to the brink of collapse. The truth is that it was the revolution that made the Chinese a resilient nation after decades of humiliation at the hands of England, the US, France and Japan. Mao and his comrades also set the stage for China’s subsequent economic development.
The PRC inherited a war-torn economy characterised by rampant poverty and a lack of infrastructure. A massive but unskilled workforce, mostly living in villages, was China’s only asset. The government laid the foundations of economic turnaround through meaningful land reforms and labour-intensive industrial development.
As a result, from a modest average annual economic expansion of 3.4 per cent in the 1960s, the growth of the Chinese economy more than doubled to 7.4 per cent in the 1970s. This is before the market-oriented economic reforms were introduced in China. Thus, the stage was set for China’s high growth rate of around 10 per cent in the following three decades.
Today, China is a world power both economically and militarily: the second largest economy in the world; the globe’s largest manufacturer, accounting for 30 per cent of all manufacturing; the second largest consumer market; accounts for the globe’s largest middle class; the largest exporter, the second largest importer, and the top trading partner of more than140 countries and regions. It is a nuclear power and the People’s Liberation Army is the world’s largest armed force. It is also the only Asian country that is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and the only nation that presents an alternative to the American-led world order.
As the growth of the Chinese economy has sputtered in recent years, there’s no dearth of comparisons between the former USSR and PRC, leading to the conclusion that the latter’s fate may not be different from that of the former. Such views overlook the fundamental differences between the two.
Unlike the USSR, China is a civilisation. While accepting foreign ideas, the Chinese adapt them to the local conditions. The most obvious example is ‘Socialism with Chinese Characteristics’, which represents a blend of a market and a planned economy. Second, whereas the USSR comprised some 100 distinct nationalities, the Chinese, despite ethnic and religious diversity, are one nation. Nationalism is the strongest creed in China.
Finally, the Chinese don’t believe in imperialism. Therefore, unlike the USSR, China doesn’t waste its resources on costly overseas adventures, such as the decade-long Afghan War (1979-1989). Hence, peaceful socio-economic development remains the absolute principle in China.
The writer is an Islamabad-based columnist. He tweets/posts hussainhzaidi and can be reached at: hussainhzaidigmail.com