CONFIDENTIAL
THE POLITBURO AND "DEMOCRACY WALL". THE CHINESE INTERNAL SITUATION
SUMMARY
1.
Recent developments in China i.e. the criticism of Mao, the attacks on certain current leaders, the rehabilitation of many of Mao's victims, the outcrop of posters, some seeking liberty and democracy, raise questions about internal stability and the future. (Paragraphs 1 - 2)
Background
2.
For over a century China has been trying to come to terms with a more advanced outside world. The philosophical basis of the old China crumbled in the 19th century and nothing was put in its place. Mao and his local brand of Marxism eventually filled the gap. (Paragraphs 3-5)
3.
In its early years the new Communist state enjoyed considerable goodwill but trouble began in the mid-50s and continued with Mao's disastrous adventures, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. Revolutionary romanticism failed and left an impoverished country. Only Mao's death in 1976 gave an opportunity for a sensible change of course. (Paragraphs 5 9)
4.
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The present juncture, with China under Hua and Teng seeking modernisation and opening to the West, is thus the most
But this is still a Communist state. hopeful moment for many decades.
economically backward, lumbered with Mao's legacy and with a dangerous tradition of political in-fighting.
(Paragraph 10)
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