Changes of the Chinese Communist Party’s Ideology and Reform Since 1978 Author Zhou, Shanding Published 2013 Thesis Type Thesis (PhD Doctorate) School Griffith Business School DOI https://doi.org/10.25904/1912/3255 Copyright Statement The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise. Downloaded from http://hdl.handle.net/10072/366150 Griffith Research Online https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au Changes of the Chinese Communist Party’s Ideology and Reform Since 1978 Shanding Zhou Master of Asian Studies, Griffith University International Business & Asian Studies Griffith Business School Griffith University Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 2012 i ii Synopsis The Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s ideology has undergone remarkable changes in the past three decades which have facilitated China’s reform and opening up as well as its modernization. The thesis has expounded upon the argumentation by enumerating five dimensions of CCP’s ideological changes and development since 1978. First, the Party had restructured its ideological orthodoxy, advocating of ‘seeking truth from facts.’ Some of central Marxist tenets, such as ‘class struggle’, have been revised, and in effect demoted, and the ‘productive forces’ have been emphasized as the motive forces of history, so that the Party shifted its prime attention to economic development and socialist construction. The Party theorists proposed treating Marxism as a ‘developing science’ and a branch of the social sciences, but not an all-encompassing ‘science of sciences.’ These efforts have been so transformative that they have brought revolutionary changes in Chinese thinking of, and approach to Marxism. The Party has also changed the role that ideology plays in the Chinese policy process while remolding its doctrine. Second, the CCP has redefined Mao Zedong Thought, which is now regarded not only as a sinification of Marxism, but also a collective wisdom of the Party. While the CCP’s 1981 Resolution reaffirms that Mao’s thought remains ‘the valuable spiritual asset of our party’, it stresses that the Party must acknowledge that Mao made serious mistakes, especially in his later years, and that some of his ideas were simply wrong. Mao was thus ‘de-deified’, and the new official line is that Mao Zedong Thought refers to accumulated wisdom through the whole process of the Chinese revolution. This approach was in fact redefining and revising the Party’s doctrine, thus it allowed two further important steps in framing a new orthodoxy. One was the selective use of Mao; the other was the flexibility allowed to developing of the official ideology. Third, the CCP has been promoting Deng Xiaoping Theory as the Party’s new doctrine, which has been enshrined into the CCP’s constitution, along with Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought, as the Party’s guiding ideology. Deng picked up not where Mao had left off when he died in 1976, but where he had gone wrong, beginning in the mid-1950s. It provided the CCP with the theory to re-defining the notion of socialism and how to build socialism with Chinese characteristics. Thus, Deng‘s Theory has been said to be the ‘developmental theory of Marxism.’ Fourth, the successive Party leaders, such as Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, continue ideological innovations to adapt Marxism to changing situations. Jiang’s Three Represents (whereby the Party represents the advanced productive forces, advanced culture and the fundamental interests of the vast majority of the people) indicated a significant shift in party philosophy, party iii organization and party orientation. Jiang argued that Communism, in its industrial age formulation, was not viable as a contemporary economic system, but the Communist Party, by ‘representing’ these three powerful principles, would be modernizing Marxism, advancing with the times, and securing its place at the vanguard of society. Fifth, Hu’s notion of Harmonious Society, rooted both in traditional Confucian concepts like Datong (Great harmony) and in more contemporary socialist precepts, presents a programmatic solution to China’s ‘performance dilemma’ and an innovative model of political legitimization, emphasizing ‘Scientific Development Concept’, a new model of modernization. It also includes how to build a harmonious world, and take advantage of globalization to promote peace, development and common prosperity. Thus, instead of declining, the CCP’s ideology has been revitalized and reoriented, guiding the Party to undergo a profound transformation in its adaptation to rapid changes of socioeconomic situations, both internally and externally. Also, the Party has revitalized itself, involving from a ‘revolutionary party’ into a more modern ‘governing party’, capable of uniting China, maintaining stability and generating significant degrees of regime legitimacy. But the mainstream scholars in the West still assume that Marxism in China is dead, ‘the Party is over’, China’s one-party political system will inevitably collapse; and that political legitimacy in contemporary China is precarious and the current regime suffers from a legitimacy crisis only superficially covered by economic development and nationalist politics. While a strong case can be made, and, indeed, studies have been done, that Marxist ideology and its Chinese permutations have little analytical or policy relevance in today’s China, this thesis focuses on a newly emerging approach that studies the CCP’s ideological adaptation and innovation, rather than exclusively looking into atrophy and decay. Its primary objective is to undertake a systematic and comprehensive analysis of what and how the CCP has changed its official ideology, and it converges with a new approach to China studies as proposed by scholars such as Kjeld Erik Brodsgaad, Zheng Yongnian, Bruce Gilley, Heike Holbig and Gunter Schubert. iv Statement This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself. Signature: v Acknowledgements I would like to express my deep gratitude to my Principal Supervisor, Professor Ronald Keith, for his intellectual guidance and invaluable advice throughout the preparation of this thesis; and to my Associate Supervisor, Professor Leong Liew, for his moral support and encouragement. I would also like to thank Dr. David Schak, the Independent Assessor of my Confirmation seminar, for his excellent comments and suggestions. I should thank here again Professors Guo Jianning, Huang Nanping, Sun Xiguo and Sun Daiyao at Marxism College of Peking University for their friendly and scholarly exchange of views on the topic of my studies when I undertook research in China in 2010. vi List of Tables and Figures Figure 4.1 China’s Trade Surpluses, 1997 – 2009 168 Figure 4.2 China's Foreign Trade, 1980-2008 169 Figure 4.3 China’s Nonfinancial Outbound Investment, 2003-2008 170 Figure 5.1 The Growth in Membership of the CCP, 1956 – 2007 206 Figure 5.2 The Occupational Composition of CCP Members ( 2007 ) 206 Table 4.1 China’s Economic Growth in the Wake of Deng’s Nanxun 153 Table 4.2 Selected Indicators of China’s Global Integration, 1978 – 2008 167 Table 5.1 The New Politburo Standing Committee at the Sixteenth Party Congress (2002) 181 vii Abbreviations APEC Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations CAC Central Advisory Commission CASS Chinese Academy of Social Science CC Central Committee CCP Chinese Communist Party CMC Central Military Committee CDIC Central Discipline Inspection Commission CPD Central Propaganda Department CPS Central Party School CPSU Communist Party of Soviet Union CPPCC China People’s Political Consultative Conference CYL Communist Youth League DPP Democratic Progressive Party GATT General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs GLF Great Leap Forward KMT Kuomintang NPC National People’s Congress PBSC Politburo Standing Committee PFP People’s First Party PLA People’s Liberation Army PPOs Primary Party Organisations PRC People’s Republic of China PSS Primary stage of socialism SARS Severe acute respiratory syndrome SCO Shanghai Cooperation Organization SEM Socialist Education Movement SEZs Special Economic Zones SOE State-owned enterprises TVEs Township and village enterprises’ viii VC Villager’s committees Xinhua New China News Agency WTO World Trade Organization ix Selected Concepts in pinyin and Chinese Characters aiguo zhuyi 爱国主义 patriotism baihua 白话 vernacular Baijiqaxing 《百家姓》 a book of common Chinese surnames bianzheng weiwuzhuyi 辩证唯物主义 dialectical materialism budu buwu 不独不武 no independence, no war dangde jianshe 党的建设 Party building dangde zhizheng nengli 党的执政能力 Party’s governing capacity dangde xianjinxing 党的先进性 Party’s advanced nature dangnei minzhu 党内民主 intra-party democracy’ Datong 大同 Great harmony de zhi 德治 rule by virtue Deng Xiaoping lilun 邓小平理论 Deng Xiaoping Theory duoji shijie 多极世界 multi-polar world fazhi 法治 rule of law gebie yuanli 个别原理 specific principles gongchan feng 共产风 communist wind guoxue re 国学热 Chinese/Confucius learning fever hefaxing weiji 合法性危机 legitimacy crisis Heshang 《河殇 》 River Elegy He er butong 和而不统 harmony with differences heping fazhan 和平发展 peaceful development x heping gongchu wuxiang yuanz 和平共处五项原则 five principles of peaceful existence heping jueqi 和平崛起 peaceful rise he wei gui 和为贵 priority to peace jiaomin