Word: deng
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Chinese agriculture has benefited dramatically from ten years of Leader Deng Xiaoping's "modernization" program. Beijing has abolished the commune system in favor of individual and family farming, and has introduced incentives for high productivity as well as a limited but thriving free market for produce. By contrast, Soviet agriculture is still mostly collectivized, centrally planned and inefficient. It is one sector of Soviet life largely untouched by Gorbachev's perestroika (restructuring...
...priority on domestic economic reform in both countries is the principal reason for the improvement in Sino-Soviet relations. Both Deng and Gorbachev are looking for a peaceful international climate that will make it easier for them to divert resources to the industrial, agricultural and consumer sectors. The Chinese welcome Gorbachev's declared willingness to rely less on the threat or use of force in Soviet foreign policy. Says General Wang Zhenxi, deputy director of foreign-army studies of the Chinese Military Science Academy in Beijing: "Should Gorbachev's domestic reforms be successful, it would be helpful for world peace...
...ranks and vestments are intended to enhance morale in an army whose power and prestige have been diminished by Chinese leaders determined to de- emphasize military might in favor of agricultural and industrial reform. After consolidating his power in 1978, Deng Xiaoping used a mixture of cajolery, cash incentives and hard-knuckle politics to oust military officers from top provincial and party posts. Since 1985, 1 million men and women, including 455,000 officers, have been mustered out. Though still 3.5 million strong, the PLA has lost its position as the world's largest military organization to the 5.2 million...
...reductions have been helped by Deng's successful economic revitalization. "Luckily, the army is not so attractive to the farm boys as it once was," says a Western diplomat in Beijing. "Today they are earning good money on the farms." To make ends meet, the generals have been forced to become entrepreneurs themselves, selling weapons to foreign countries to bring in extra cash. Western leaders have criticized them for selling Silkworm missiles to Iran and CSS-2 medium-range missiles, capable of carrying nuclear warheads, to Saudi Arabia...
China's top military leaders have not always gone along with Deng's changes. Last year Deng, 83, was forced to remove his chosen successor, Hu Yaobang, from his most important offices partly because he was seen as antimilitary. His successor, Zhao Ziyang, is also a reformer, but one who is apparently acceptable to the PLA. When the new ranking system takes effect in the fall, Zhao is considered a strong candidate for promotion to senior general, the highest military grade...