Comparing China and Vietnam
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Transforming Asian Socialism: China and Vietnam Compared Anita Chan, Benedict J. Tria Kerkvliet, and JonaÍhan Unper @ Aaita Chan, Benedict J. Tria Kerkvliet, and Jonathaa Unger, 1999 Contents This book is copyright under the Berne Conveffion. No reprcduction without pemissiotr. A1l rights resewed. Contr¡bators First published ia 1999. Acknowled,gements vii Alleu & Unwin Aust¡alia Pry Ltd. 9 Atchisotr St, St Leona¡ds, NS1V 2065, Australia. CHAPTER I Deparftìent of lûtemational Relations, RSPAS, Compa¡hg Vietnam and China: A¡ Intoduction Australiar Natiotral Uûiversity, Canbena ACT 0200, Aust¡alia. Benedict J. Tria Kerkvliet, Anita Chan ar'd Jonathan Unger Natioual Library of Ausfalia Cata.loguing-i¡- Publicatìon eutry: CHAPTER 2 Exalting the Latecomer State; Intellectua.ls and the State Anita Chan, Benedict J. Tria Kerkvliet, and Jouathan Unger. During the Chinese and Vietnamese Reforms Tmnsfoming Asian Socialism: ALexander Wootßrde i5 China ard Vieharrì Compared ISBN 1 86508 096 9. CHAITIER 3 F¡om Plan to Market: The Economic Traûsition in Vieham j 1. Communism - China.- History 20ù centuxy- 2. Communism - and China Compared Vieham - History - 20' centu¡y. 3. China - politics atrd govemment - Adnm Fforde 197Ç . 4. Vietnam - Politics and govemnent - 1975- . 5. China - Economic conditions - 197Ç . ó. Viettram - Economic couditions _ CIIAPTER 4 20ù century. I. Kerkvlier, Betredicr J. tr. Unger, Jonathaa. Ill Chan, Anita. W. Aushaliaû National University. Dept. of Intematiotral Asian Socialism's Open Doors: Guangzhou ald Relatiors. V. Title. (Sedes: Studies it world affairs; no. 20). Ho Chi Mhh City Wíllíam S. Tarley and Brantly Womøck 320.53230951 CHAPTER 5 Unless otlrerwise stated, publicatioqs of the Deparhleut of Intemational AgËrian Transfomations in China and Vietnam Relations are prcseuted without eûdorsemelÌt as coutributiorìs to ùe public Benedíct J, Triø Kerkvliet ard Mørk Selden rccord and debate. Authors arc responsible for their own analyses aud couclusions. CHAPTER 6 'Wealth Power and Povefy in the Transition to MaJket Series editor: Robit Ward Economies: The Process of Socio-Economic Differentiation ONE Comparing Vietnam and China: An fnftoduction Ben Kerkvliet, Anita Chan and Jonathan Unger* Close to a decade after the collapse of the Communist states in Eastem Europe and almost as ma¡y years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Communist Parties in China and Vietnam arE not only suryiving; they are 1,. firÍúy in the saddle and can look with some satisfaction to thei¡ ¡ecent ¡eco¡ds ,:.of economic performance. While their e¡s¿while European counterDa1ts have .':],çucceeded in establishing flew political institutions and systems oi electo¡al and aje eager to adopt a capitaljsl economic structure, almost alL of rcmain mi¡ed in economic difficulties: living standards are generally than in the 1980s, and the economies of severaÌ of them are in ã Paradoxically, China and Vietnam, the two maiû Asian socialist )s - without undergoing sirnilar political upheavals and without admitting that they welcome capitalism (as opposed to welcoming dir€ct inyestments) have been enjoying a period of well-publicizeã ìc boom which even- the cu¡¡ent Asian crisis has not, to date, seriouslv China, in parricular, with a¡ indusr¡al growrh rate uru-ivalled in the this past decade, has beer touted as a successor to the so-called East mi¡acle economies. Vietnam's economy has similarly ,,takerl off,, with 'essive growth ¡ates since the late 1980s. In certair significant respects, they can be regarded as a pair. Both rtries, after all, have charted broadly parallel paths in their eco;omies anding agricultural collectives in favour of family farming; moving away- ltle command economy and toward a market economy in ttÌeir p;blicly. ed industrial sectors; allowing private entelp¡ises to emerge in atmost á[ s of the economy; tuming vigorously toward the wo¡ld market and towa¡d indust¡ial drives; and successfully opening their doors to by foreign firms. Politically, both countdes have shifred quietÌy wish to thank Alìison Ley for helping to find some of the publications we refer ro ìn ; cbapter and David Mân, Målk Selden and Bill Turley for comments ând sìrggestions BEN KERK\,'LIET, ANITA CHAN ând JONATHAN UNGER COMPARING VIËTNAM ANÌD CHINA: AN TNTRODUCfiON . away ftom Maüist ideology and rhetoric; have witnessed a progressive retreat Unge¡, turning attention once again to the countryside, , analyse the immediate in the ambit of what their Paties attempt to control; have shorrn tolerance fo¡ causes and the ¡amihcations õf sc . a limited degree of interest-group politics and yet at the same time, both peåsanrry in the wake or tn" -,àr .'""rlo.,il:i"#;,tii:Ë:Hj*":":i::å persist party- 'impact of the poliricâ.I :l: countdes in a Leninist stmcture of dominance. reforms on Dotiri"u_r iortirotion, uoã It is time to ask, then, whethe¡ the¡e exists an Asian socialist reform iÍr.both countuies. David fàl;;;;;-iä""y Mar¡ and' Stantey R";;;.;*p;;"'*;i;i_"åiü ur" model. Beyond the broadest of generalities, to what extent and in what Dew developmenrs in ¡he educarional sysrems and in ìhe atüt;des ol- vouth. specific areas are China and Vietnam indeed followirg similar paths to And Anira Chan and trene Nørtund. Ëxptore ir,. ìÀpå.i"i-,Ë *"í"",t" modemization and similã reform agendas? Are they carrying out their * the ope¡ations of i¡ade uDrons and indust¡ial ¡elations in the two economic rcforms in the same sequence; is the¡e a common logic to their í.fgy- programs? In the political sphere, where political refo¡ms have bee¡ announced in tandem wilh economic reforms, to what extent are the two Party ê Limitations of the Extant Liferature, regimes reshaping the political systems and the bases of thei¡ political and a New Departure legitimacy in sirnilar ways? And perhaps most importantly, within the b¡oad typ€. of compararive rcsearch. Atthough a similadties of what is occuüiûg in China and Vietnam, what are the :T:::.f ^1-l i:* diffe¡ences? This last question takes on a special importance in that may *r,-;:::t*l¡*i"1,:xiri-x"rËi:{".:lï:irei!Tåå: it *u' a.re in anv wav point to new insights about each country's recent experience insights that ,rry *r.",iîià,¡. qi";ä#::i;ïiåjlT:' would not be evident if a schola¡ were to focus only on one country.- wririns abour rhe rwo countries has Any such comparisons between the rcform programs io Vietnam and ä";flÏ;: ?::i"r;j,"¿i,iî:ff China also raise historical questions. To what extent a¡e arìy simila ties today qov€n hisrories. rrú, i;;;ì-å;;;:åiä i,ff:1*;i: å'l^:":i a consequence of simil historical traditions and mind-sets and ish-language scholarly literature that predispositions that st¡etch back into earlier centuries? To what extent do any present-day similarities ¡eflect similü histories of Cornmunist ¡evolution in *',r*tr"J:nil1,,."';,;ij;li:"''xå:i,Ëåi"i:.i|"ö the two countdes in €arlier decades? s*,i,.*í Àii- ä"t.iÌ'ff ii 6';"""" ri,i:n'#iff .:iì'åil:.':i The contributors to this book va¡iously delve into these dive¡se qìlestions. In Chapter 2, Alexande¡ Woodside examines the poÌitical and administrative !iJ: ;i:",ii"fi3,x?iï ;:ï:J:ïff .î:[';t; il."""!ffi:,:iilj legacy of rule by maûdarins in both countdes and its present-day implicatons. jh:::i:f This mandarinate today's intellectual rnanagerial elite has been ffi rffi : Tîïf,",5ï11ïå,',i J:xîffii' j*":,* instrumental in promoting- the need for a catch-up mentality in today's- global economy, and Woodside looks backward in time to the roots of this mind-sçt. The next three chapters compa¡atively examine the p¡ocesses è,:vi{elc: for this is rhat compure¡ized of refolm a sublecr search for holdings rhe iåli--3¡ Nationat in t¡ansition away from the two countries' recent histories of Leninist socialism. University s tibråry catrtogue turned up 95 ritles with -C;in;:. -Yietnam .,Ch-;nâ.. borh- Adam Ffo¡de compales the chronologies in China and Vietnam of this shift , bìrL onty 3ó wirh both and .thaitan¿,, nn. n"*, ¡¡"i"., tE). 35 for "Ch¡na' ..Indonesiå", ,,China..and I ftom planned to market economies and shows how simiÌafities and diffe¡ences and 2O for rhe efr;ììoo;..:.,';";"* al¡wâr.d number. For "Vietnâm'- in the two countries' expedences of the socialist period have shaped somewhat 'n and orher Sourheasr,l.iun ri. :sl D¿rmber was 78 with ..Cambodia'., _Laos,, rhen down shårply ro J wirh "ountl-i.r, diffe¡eni pattems of economic ¡eform. Williar¡ Turley and Brantly Vy'omack ."fÍailand". I and 7l Counts with orher Asian countrìes were seven ,,Korea,, examine this p¡ocess of t¡ansition iû two industuializing urban locations, Ho .Tapan,,, each with ând ffiipÞines", five wjrh four wirh .M¿laysia,,, (formerly Saigon) and (Canton), they an¿ so on do*n th" liã Chi Minh City Guangzhou and , fiom relations in rhe disranr pâsr, mosr norâbly Keith Taylor,s emphasize the effects of local afld central gove¡nment interactions throughout tíno-Vietuamese The Birth of Reta¡ions to tie Tenth Century ana ùe Orign" ofVuno."rL the decades of Party rule. Ben Kerkvliet and Ma¡k Selden focus on the (Bïkeley_'--Ylversrry press, 1 of Catifornia 1983) to ,ä." agra¡ian seclor and reveal how the Chinese govemment's more extensive t.such as Wjlliam J. D¡)1ket, China and Vieham: The Roots"o","rnfo,:o.y of Clonfliit penetration of China's rural economy a¡d society du ng the period of I¡s¡ìtute of Easr Asian S¡udie\. Universiry of Catifomia, fOSO.¡. ú;";roí io collectives is reflected today in greater government influence in the villages ot Hrslory.in Hanoi can gcr a quick sense ot the tong periods of even after EÐcu¡¿¡rlyIïlT rn the middle the retum to familv farmins cenLurjes of lhe second millennium.