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Report: Deng was rethinking policy that put economic development first
By Wang Yong |
July 3, 2009, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A leading Communist Party journal revealed on Monday that late in life Deng Xiaoping began to rethink his past policies focusing on economic development.
"In the past, we talked about (economic) development first," Deng was quoted as saying in 1993 in a signed article published in the Study Times on June 29. The Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China launched the Study Times in 1999.
"Now, (it's clear that) China has no fewer problems after development than before development," Song Fufan, author of the article, quoted Deng as saying in 1993. Deng passed away in 1997.
Deng was the architect of the epic economic reform and opening-up in China since the late 1970s.
One problem associated with economic development is the income gap. "Deng Xiaoping used to stress that economic development was a 'big issue'," Song wrote.
"But in September 1993, he further realized that, in his own words, 'wealth distribution after development' was also a 'big issue'."
Song's article, published in such a high-profile Party journal, signals the Party's and the government's determination to stick to the socialist ideal of common prosperity - a concept that is by no means a return to the utopian egalitarianism as evidenced in the "big rice bowl" phenomenon about 30 years ago.
Deng did advance the idea of "letting some people, some regions get rich first," but, according to Song, Deng maintained that "common prosperity is the biggest advantage and a fundamental feature of socialism."
Song said "economic development first" was necessary at a time when people lived in poverty, but by the 1990s, China had largely lifted itself from subsistence and should have had a balanced strategy of growth.
Song was candid in his criticism: "Although China was no longer a country of subsistence, we had continued to develop our country as if she were still in subsistence."
The result, he said, was a strong leg in economic development and a weak leg in political, cultural and social development, hence "a huge hidden risk" for China's future development.
"He (Deng) used to think that once economic development goes well, other problems in China would fall into place," Song said. But in 1993, "he keenly understood" that this would not be the case.
"In the past, we talked about (economic) development first," Deng was quoted as saying in 1993 in a signed article published in the Study Times on June 29. The Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China launched the Study Times in 1999.
"Now, (it's clear that) China has no fewer problems after development than before development," Song Fufan, author of the article, quoted Deng as saying in 1993. Deng passed away in 1997.
Deng was the architect of the epic economic reform and opening-up in China since the late 1970s.
One problem associated with economic development is the income gap. "Deng Xiaoping used to stress that economic development was a 'big issue'," Song wrote.
"But in September 1993, he further realized that, in his own words, 'wealth distribution after development' was also a 'big issue'."
Song's article, published in such a high-profile Party journal, signals the Party's and the government's determination to stick to the socialist ideal of common prosperity - a concept that is by no means a return to the utopian egalitarianism as evidenced in the "big rice bowl" phenomenon about 30 years ago.
Deng did advance the idea of "letting some people, some regions get rich first," but, according to Song, Deng maintained that "common prosperity is the biggest advantage and a fundamental feature of socialism."
Song said "economic development first" was necessary at a time when people lived in poverty, but by the 1990s, China had largely lifted itself from subsistence and should have had a balanced strategy of growth.
Song was candid in his criticism: "Although China was no longer a country of subsistence, we had continued to develop our country as if she were still in subsistence."
The result, he said, was a strong leg in economic development and a weak leg in political, cultural and social development, hence "a huge hidden risk" for China's future development.
"He (Deng) used to think that once economic development goes well, other problems in China would fall into place," Song said. But in 1993, "he keenly understood" that this would not be the case.
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