Exploring China's own path of development

Stalin forbade any criticism of the Soviet Union's experience. He regarded the Soviet experience in building socialism as the only model, and copying the Soviet model as the standard of judging whether or not socialism was being practiced. As it

was unwilling to imitate the Soviet Union, the Yugoslav Communist Party, which was under the leadership of Josip Broz Tito, was expelled from the Soviet-led Comintern.

After the Cold War started, in order to counter the US-led capitalist camp, the Soviet Union held the socialist countries in Eastern Europe in a tight grip, and socialism there had to be pursued in accordance with the Soviet model. Theoretical conservatism and pressure from the Soviet Union made the Eastern European countries unable to break out of this mold, so bad old practices, like deeply embedded illnesses, were hard to get rid of, and those countries eventually fell apart.

Compared with the Eastern European countries, China broke away from the influence of the Soviet model earlier, and explored its own road. China's First Five-Year Plan (1953-1957) was completed with the help of the Soviet Union, but Mao Zedong said, "After liberation, during the three-year recovery period, we were unclear about construction, so we could only basically copy the methods of the Soviet Union. But I never felt comfortable about that."

Stalin passed away in 1953. In February 1956 Nikita Khrushchev, his successor elected by the Twelfth National Congress of the Soviet Communist Party (SCP), published the "Secret Report," which revealed Stalin's mistakes of personal dictatorship and personality cult. This sent a huge political shock wave through the socialist camp.

The "Secret Report" appeared to address the issue of Stalin specifically, but in fact it was about the problems of the Soviet Communist Party and the Soviet model as a whole. Since the Soviet Union admitted itself that it had so many problems, how could it require the Communists in other countries to copy it? So, on April 25, 1956, at an enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Mao Zedong made a speech titled, "On the Ten Major Relationships," which clearly stated, "Recently some shortcomings and mistakes of the Soviet Union in its process of building socialism have been exposed. Would you like to follow the roundabout course they have taken?" This rhetorical question clearly indicated that a road suitable for China's own national conditions should be explored with regard to the issue of socialist construction.

Since then, the CPC has never slowed its pace of exploration. During the period from the end of the 1950s to the 1980s, the "honeymoon-like" Sino-Soviet relations deteriorated into estrangement, and then to freezing point. But from another perspective, China broke away from the control of the Soviet Union, which had always regarded itself as a socialist "big brother," and gained the initiative in building socialism independently. Of course, during the process of exploring its own way for socialist construction, China suffered such setbacks as the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. But after the setbacks, the initiative in this exploration still lay in the hands of the CPC. This was different from the situation with the communist parties of Eastern Europe.

In the parties of many Eastern European countries there had always existed a struggle between the "Domestic Faction" and the "Moscow Faction," and there had always existed a debate about whether to take the Soviet road or the national one. Due to holding the so-called position of "nationalism," leaders of the "Domestic Faction" were often purged, persecuted and even executed. Every move of the people of the "Moscow Faction" had been controlled by the Soviet Union. These people were profoundly dogmatic. Worshiping the experience of the Soviet Union, these people lacked the spirit of independent exploration and almost had no leverage for reform.

The Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the CPC, which was held in December 1978, was the starting point for the CPC's exploration of the road of the new "Long March." At the central work conference in preparation for this session, Deng Xiaoping pointed out, "If everything of a party, a country or a nation starts from books, with rigid thinking and blind worship, it will not be able to move forward, its life will terminate and it will perish." Sure enough, ten years later, the prophecy of Deng Xiaoping came true. The Soviet Union and the socialist countries of Eastern Europe became fossilized in their thinking, and blind worship of the Soviet Union prevailed there.

In view of realities at home and abroad in the 1980s, Deng Xiaoping clearly put forward for the first time the brand-new proposition of "construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics" in his opening address to the Twelfth National Congress of the CPC in September 1982. He said, "Our modernization construction must proceed from China's reality. No matter whether it is revolution or construction, we should learn from foreign experience. We shall pay attention to learning and drawing on the experiences of other countries. Copying the experiences and models of other countries can never lead to success. We have had many lessons in this regard." He added, "We should combine the universal truth of Marxism with China's specific conditions, take our own road and build socialism with Chinese characteristics.

These are the basic conclusions we have drawn after summarizing our long-term historical experience." He continued, "No foreign country should expect China to be its dependency, nor should it expect China to swallow a bitter pill that damages the interests of our country." Deng Xiaoping's speech was concise and to the point. His remarks were mainly aimed at the Soviet Union, warning it not to interfere in China's construction.

As a witness to the twists and turns in the development of Sino-Soviet relations, Deng Xiaoping was indeed prescient in his warning. Soon after the expression "Chinese characteristics" was put forward, it drew the Soviet Union's attention. On June 21, 1984 Pravda , the official newspaper of the CPSU Central Committee, published an article titled, "The Dominant Factor in the Process of World Revolution," expounding at great length on the "world socialist system and its solidarity," particularly pointing out, "including the People's Republic of China."

The article said, "A phenomenon has occurred that an attempt has been made to explain the socialist system of ownership as well as the relations between social production and private production from the revisionist position. Some scholars advocate reducing the leverage of state regulation on economic development by first weakening the role of central planning, promoting market competition and expanding the proportion of the private sector of the economy. This 'exploration' does not take into account the main point, that is, the expansion of the private component will give birth to serious economic, social and ideological consequences, of which, the first would be the shaking of the foundation of socialist management."

Obviously, this kind of comment was aimed at the development of a variety of economic sectors being implemented by China at that time, and at China's market reforms.

The article further said, "Pursuit of national uniqueness, and mechanical imitation or ignorance of economies of other countries are equally dangerous." This was clearly aimed at the "Chinese characteristics."

Clearly, the CPSU was still stuck in its rigid mode of development and perspectives. In 1986, when President Mikhail Gorbachev announced at the twenty-seventh CPSU National Congress that reforms were to be conducted to realize a new "renaissance" for the Soviet people, China's reform had already achieved remarkable results; "taking the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics" had become the united will of the CPC and the people's government under its leadership, and gained general support from the masses.