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system should be gradually replaced by one based more on the "law of value" (still a Marxist concept).
6. Difficulties remain. Inside China (as well as abroad) the reforms have provoked suspicions that China's socialist system was straying onto a capitalist road. These ideological criticisms would gain more weight were the programme to falter. They have already induced obstruction by many middle and lower level officials who see their positions threatened by the new policies.
7. Even at the top, Deng is far from having things his own way. His economic initiatives have been criticized by some older and more conservatively minded senior leaders. He has still been unable satisfactorily to integrate the armed forces' leadership into his plans for the future. They are both suspicious of the new policies on ideological grounds, and have derived little compensatory benefit from them. In the absence of a successor acceptable both
to himself and to the military leadership, he has had to remain Chairman of the Military Commissions in charge of the armed forces. In some provinces too, there are signs of opposition. There are also wider and more intractable problems. China's vast population acts as a tremendous brake on any attempt at rapid development. There is a desperate shortage of trained managers, engineers and scientists to administer the new policies. If these are successful rising expectations may outpace the capacity of the economy to
deliver.
The reforms may also create problems of rising inflation
and unemployment.
8. Deng's policies still depend considerably on his authority. The longer he stays, the better are the prospects for his protégés. However his presence has inhibited the expressions of resistance to his ideas. Last year's campaign against "spiritual pollution" (the spread of unhealthy manifestations of Western culture) for a short time appeared to threaten crucial aspects of Deng's policies, showing that the "left" wing of the Party was not dead.
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