China’s History of Leadership

China’s History of Leadership

Q1.

The Chinese Communist Party was formed in 1921, following the end of the Russian revolution in 1917. Both international and domestic factors influenced the formation of the party and its nourishment to become an active party. For instance, after the fall of the Russian revolution and the CCP was the only remaining durable power that was consulted when it came to Communist ideologies, the nation began working on ways to improve their performance and administration. For instance, the nation’s government formulated policies such as the open-door policy that contributed to the development of the country through foreign investment. Ideally, understanding the formation of the CCP and its process of rising to power in its totality is likely to enhance our understanding of the domestic as well as the international factors that influenced the growth of the power of the CCP.

To begin with, the communist party gained its influence by using a soft power approach to widen its international relations. China has currently made several alliances with different nations, where both parties gain. Through this, the nation not only widens its scope of international business but also amass its power to influence other nations in the global economy. Esherick informs that “In economic history, it will not do to see China’s prerevolutionary economy as hopelessly trapped in the process of agricultural involution broken only by socialism and collective agriculture”. [1]China has currently widened its scope by investing in developing nations to gain from the government through generating revenue and, in doing so, uplift the country’s economy. Other than business, the nation has also shared aspects of its culture in the nations that it has invested. For instance, contemporary society has countries, where China has invested and has begun incorporating the Chinese language among the subjects that are taught in schools. There are also Confucian established institutions that are currently being set in various states of the globe, especially in nations where the Chinese are actively involved.

The end of the Japanese revolution is yet another factor that contributed to the ability of CCP to rise in power. According to Esherick, “There were important points of unity in the dialectic-areas where the Guomindang paved the way for the Communists, where the latter built on the foundations laid by the former” (48).[2] In other words, the Russian revolution paved the way for the Chinese communist party to land and rose from the foundation that the Russian government had established earlier. With an already established communist territory, it was not difficult for the CCP to increase, considering that it was next in line. With other nations looking up to it, the CCP had to work hard and establish better operations to keep them in power. Using its position, the CCP, ensured that they found order and discipline in the communist arena. Some of the factors that the CCP did in its early years of power include the stabilization of the currency. CCP also focused on creating favorable land reforms that would guarantee the citizens a free state to exercise authority. It also engaged in a rapid consolidation of the industrial sector, and this not only contributed to the development of the economy but also promoted the creation of employment opportunities.

Conclusively, the rise of the CCP in China was influenced by both domestic and international factors. Other than its population is large, and the Chinese communist party was able to rise following the end of the Russian revolution that was the most powerful communist state by then. Without any other threatening communist country, China had its way up the ladder quickly. Another factor that contributed is the country’s use of soft power to make foreign investment and, by doing so, influencing other nations to support its economy. Through these actions, China has managed to create overseas employment for both some of her citizens as well as for the foreign country. Through these endeavors, China is growing more powerful, and through its influence, it is getting a platform through which it is sharing its cultural values.

Q2.

Cold war Asia is the examination of the interactions between six powers and the ways that they saw fit to coordinate and exercise their control in their territories without creating reasons for war. Some of the nations that were involved in the cold war include the United States, the Soviet Union, China, Japan, and North and South Korea. Another critical communist figure during the cold war is Mao Zedong. He was known for contributing to the cold war through the development of various policies. He was not only a man of ambitions but also an influential communist leader. As much as other leaders are also seen in the history of the Asian cold war, Mao took an active role in influencing and fueling the offset of the Asian cold war. Typically, the evaluation of the role of Mao in initiating the Asian cold war enhances our understanding of the concept of the Asian cold war.

Mao was an active contributor to the Asian cold war. Most scholars argue that since he joined the government, Mao was always scheming ways that the Asian countries would revolutionize. Some of the actions that were taken by Mao during his rule were mainly directed towards prompting the cold war between Asian countries. This can be seen through the ideas that are written about Mao, in that it supports the concept of campaigns of mass mobilization and does not give many regards to other forms of attacks. Eshrick argues that “The problem is its failure to take due account of important continuities between the Guomindang and the CCP” (47).[3] Evaluating ways through which Mao instigates the cold war between the Asian countries to contribute mainly to understanding, instead of supporting that argument that Mao played an active role in the cold war.

First of all, Mao campaigned for bureaucracies, which entailed the transformation of private properties into public entities. Hao explains that “they contributed to particular problems of governance or society, but did not attempt to mobilize the social support or to change the behavior of relevant social groups” (897).[4] In other words, Mao was only focused on reforms that would make a difference nationwide without beginning by focusing on the needs of the individual social groups. As much as the nation benefited in different sectors, various small social groups were not included in the formation of the alliances. As such, there existed bad blood between these communities. Following this, most of these communities begun retaliating through the creation of various reforms that would benefit them without focusing on the rest of the nation. Whether Mao’s actions were intentional or not, it does not fail to reveal the fact that it was among the factors that contributed to the beginning of the cold war among Asian nations.

Another instance that is seen in the initiation of the cold war between Asian countries by Mao is the effort to revolutionize and solidify the nation so that he can make the CPP secure in terms of its support. Mao became the central figure in the revolution, and he was the figure to look up to for the Chinese citizens. The revolution and solidifying China contributed to creating bad blood between China and other western nations such as the US and Japan. Some of the factors that influenced this include changes in the government and the policies, thereby making trade difficult. Some of the nations such as Japan had China as their primary market, and when the government changed, the plans changed as well, and this thwarted the operations of Japan in China.

Mao was also involved in instigating the Vietnamese war to benefit his nation and, by doing so, contributed to the formation of the cold war.  The heated sentiments that existed between the US and Vietnam were useful to Mao since he used them to mobilize the Chinese population for the cultural revolution (Hao).[5] This action destroyed the relationship that the Soviet Union, China, and Vietnam initially had. Through this, these nations have begun looking for ways through which they could attack one another indirectly. Ideally, the Vietnam government for long had been an independent government that relied on the support of China. However, since the involvement of Mao in the Vietnam war, the two nations become distant, and they began working towards harming one another.

All in all, Mao contributed to the instigation of the cold war between Asian countries. Through the actions he took intending to revolutionize the nation,  Mao instigated the cold war. For instance, he took part in the factors that led to the Vietnam war and, by doing so, destroyed the relationship that the nation had with China. Also, when taking over the country, Mao changed policies and reforms that made it impossible for foreign countries to penetrate China both politically and economically, making it impossible for nations such as Brazil to gain access to their economic power.

Bibliography

Hao, Sun. 2015. Evolution Of American Federalism: School Of Politics And the Public Administration China University Of Political Science And Law Beijing, China. Ebook. 1st ed.

Esherick, Joseph W., 1995. “Ten Theses On The Chinese Revolution”. Modern China 21 (1): 45-76. doi:10.1177/009770049502100103.

[1] Esherick, Joseph W., 1995. “Ten Theses On The Chinese Revolution”. Modern China 21 (1): 45-76. doi:10.1177/009770049502100103.

[2] Esherick, Joseph W., 1995. “Ten Theses On The Chinese Revolution”. Modern China

[3] Ibid 47

[4] Hao, Sun. 2015. Evolution Of American Federalism: School Of Politics And the Public Administration China University Of Political Science And Law Beijing, China. Ebook. 1st ed.

[5] Hao, Sun. 2015. Evolution Of American Federalism: School Of Politics And the Public Administration China University Of Political Science And Law Beijing, China.