Rise of China - The Economic Revolution that made China a Superpower

[music] 1978 and China has a new leader, the 74year-old Dang Xiaoing. >> [music]

>> Dung's record as a reformer as well as his frank and avancular manner is a stark contrast to the memory of Mount Sidong. Dung is convinced that only the Chinese

Communist Party can lead China to prosperity. But he also believes major reforms are necessary to do it. His views are echoed by prominent supporters Hu Yaoang

and Chao [music] Zaang who Dang describes as his left and right hands.

Together they promote the four modernizations in agriculture, industry, national defense and science and technology.

>> [music] >> But there is also a growing number who question China's repressive system.

Encouraged by [music] Dong's talk of ideological liberation, activists stick up political posters along Beijing's Shidan [music] Street. It becomes known as the democracy

[music] wall. Many of the posters criticize Mao and the gang of four.

[music] wall. Many of the posters criticize Mao and the gang of four.

Dang Xiaoing tolerates this criticism [music] of his predecessors.

Even as so-called big character posters [music] spread across Beijing and other major cities.

[music] People have grievances and they should be allowed to express them. Dung

tells an American journalist. [music] Most posters are anonymous, but in December 1978, Wei Jing Chang, an electrician [music] and former Red

Guard, posts an essay entitled The Fifth Modernization. [music] Signing it with his real name and address, he [music] argues that democracy is essential for the welfare of the Chinese people.

Democracy, freedom, and happiness for all are our sole [music] objectives in carrying out modernization, he writes. Now the limits to the new spirit of openness are revealed.

[music] Way Jing Shang and 30 other activists are arrested and given long jail sentences. [music]

>> [music] [music] >> In March 1979, Dang Xiaoping introduces four basic principles.

One, uphold the socialist road. Two, uphold the dictatorship of the proletariat.

Three, uphold the leadership of the Communist Party. Four, uphold Marxism, Leninism, Maadong [music]

thought. Any misapprehension that Dung's reforms will include an end to one party rule

thought. Any misapprehension that Dung's reforms will include an end to one party rule are firmly laid to [music] rest.

Nevertheless, his planned economic reforms are ambitious and farreaching.

Dung signals his desire to strengthen international relations and expand trade during a landmark visit to the United States.

It's the first by a Chinese leader since 1943. [music] In Texas, his evident enjoyment of American traditions helps win over the crowds and underscores his pragmatic approach

to China's foreign relations. [music]

Dung's goal is to lift millions of ordinary Chinese out of poverty and into the middle class. The means will be a new economic system, socialism with Chinese characteristics.

For the first time, elements of market capitalism will be introduced into what has been a rigidly statecontrolled communist model. decisions will be decentralized,

industries opened to private enterprise and price controls loosened. [music]

However, the changes will be introduced cautiously, and all aspects of the economy will remain under close government supervision. [music] Special economic zones will be the

blazing [music] beacons of China's new economic era. Inspired by the post-war booms in Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Japan, the first SEZs are all on the

coast to facilitate foreign investment. They include Shanzhen, just 15 miles from Hong Kong, [music]

and Shiaman, opposite Taiwan. Many more will follow in the 1980s. >> [music]

>> The SEZs offer foreign investors access to China's plentiful cheap labor and raw materials with less regulation and lower taxes. They are touted as gateways to China,

ports through which a booming trade in imports and exports can be established.

The sezeds are a massive success, attracting huge amounts of foreign investment [music] new factories, and jobs.

In the countryside, Mao's mass collectivization programs are rolled back.

Rural households are allocated their own land [music] with more freedom in how they choose to farm it. [music] Over the next 6 years, 97% of [music] peasant households move from collective

farm it. [music] Over the next 6 years, 97% of [music] peasant households move from collective

to individual land ownership. [music] Agricultural output increases by more than 60%. [music]

Hunger and famine, which have haunted Chinese peasants for millennia, become a thing of the past.

Thousands [music] of students and officials who had been exiled to rural areas during the [music] cultural revolution are allowed to return to the cities and resume [music] their functions. Entrance exams to universities suspended

[music] during the cultural revolution are reintroduced in 1977 and academic [music] life resumes in universities across the country.

>> [music] >> Abroad, China continues to assert its influence as a major regional power.

[music] To the south, in Indo-China, it has supported two communist insurgencies in Vietnam and Cambodia. After long struggles, both have secured control in

their respective countries. But by the late 1970s, China's relations with communist Vietnam are deteriorating fast. After the Soviet China split,

Vietnam sides with its other backer, the Soviet Union. In 1978, Vietnam invades Cam [music] Rouge controlled Cambodia led by Paul Pot, threatening to overthrow China's other regional ally.

[music] Outraged, China launches a limited invasion of Vietnam the following year.

But it is a costly affair. Experienced Vietnamese forces inflict an estimated 20,000 casualties on the People's Liberation Army. Chinese military

deficiencies are exposed, leading to a thorough overhaul and modernization of its armed forces.

Attacking Vietnam, a Soviet ally, does no harm to China's relations with the West, however, which [music] continue to improve. Dang Xiaoing hosts state visits by the

prime ministers of Great Britain and Japan, the President of France, and Queen Elizabeth II.

[music] Dung is Time magazine's man of the year twice. [music] Dung even softens official language

toward the old enemy, nationalistcont controlled Taiwan. [music] Communist China's stated

strategy towards Taiwan becomes one of peaceful reunification rather than liberation. >> [music]

>> But Dung's offer to incorporate Taiwan into the People's Republic [music] of China under a one country, two systems formula is rejected by Taiwan's president Jang Jingu,

son of Jang [music] Kaishek.

[music] China's new confidence abroad is seen in its promotion of pin yin, the new phonetic system for spelling Mandarin Chinese using the Latin alphabet.

The international media finally learns to call Ping Beijing.

At home, however, the Communist Party's control over society remains as firm as ever. >> [music]

>> Since 1949, China's population has been growing at an unprecedented [music] rate.

This was the result of giant strides [music] in public health. While Mao and the government had encouraged and rewarded large families, in [music] just 30 years, China's

population has nearly doubled from 550 million to around 1 billion. [music]

It's a rate that many experts believe is unsustainable and harmful to prosperity. And so in 1980, China introduces a one [music] child policy. For most families, the second [music]

child will now lead to heavy fines and other penalties. In some cases, there are even forced abortions and sterilization. The consequence will be a generation of

single child families with a strong gender imbalance in favor of males.

Strict family planning laws are just one way that the Communist Party has transformed the roles and experience of women living in China. Mao declared that women hold half the

sky and in the 1950s he'd introduced laws to improve women's rights in marriage, divorce, and property.

By the late 70s, it is estimated that up to 90% of women based in urban areas are in work.

In 1980, China is among the first to ratify the UN Convention on the Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women. But ambitions and [music] declarations do not always match reality.

Women remain under [music] represented in China's political and economic leadership.

And as with much development in China, many reforms take much [music] longer to reach rural communities. Progress is being made, but for many, not quickly enough.

[music] >> [music] >> For many, China's economic reforms fuel hopes for political change, especially with the rise to [music] prominence of Hu Yao Bang, Dong's old ally, now

general secretary of the party, who is an unusually outspoken and open-minded member of the polic. bureau. He advocates greater openness and

challenges the privileges of the princlings, the children of senior communist party officials.

He is hugely popular with the people. Many reformers hope he will [music] in time succeed Dang as supreme leader. In 1986, popular discontent leads to

student protests across China with calls for greater openness and democracy.

When Dang Xiaoing orders who to break up [music] the student protests, he refuses.

Who is forced to resign and perform humiliating self-criticism [music] in front of his colleagues.

Two years later, in the midst of a pilot bureau meeting, he has a heart attack and dies.

The death of such a popular figure seen as unfairly treated by an outofouch party provokes a huge public reaction.

Thousands of mourers gather in Beijing. They gravitate towards Tanan Square [music] where mourning turns into protest just as it did after the death of Joen Lie. [music]

Exactly [music] 70 years after the iconic protests of 1919, 100,000 students take part in demonstrations once more calling for Mr. Democracy. On the 13th of May, hundreds begin a

hunger strike hoping to pressure the government into negotiations.

>> I want to say to the government uh what we are want what we are want is only the democracy only the freedom of the speech uh not overthrow the government. We are

support our government to go on the uh reform economic reform and political reform.

The new party general secretary is Jiao Zyang, another of Dung's protags. [music]

On the 19th of May, Xiao visits the protest camp, expressing concern and sympathy.

At 69, he is one of the younger members of the PID bureau and tells students,

"We are already old and do not matter." State Premier Lee Pong is a far more conservative figure.

He wins Dung's backing for a tough [music] response to the protests. There

will be no negotiations, [music] no concessions. Instead, martial law is declared.

[music] And on the night of the 3rd of June, troops and tanks are sent in to clear Tanan Square by any means necessary. The result is a massacre.

Official figures [music] state that 218 civilians and 23 security personnel were killed with several thousand injured. >> [music] >> Many are skeptical of these numbers,

believing the real death toll to be much higher. [music] In the aftermath, cameras

capture a remarkable moment of defiance. A lone anonymous man on Changan Avenue blocking a column of tanks.

The incident is seen around the world.

Tankman becomes a globally [music] famous symbol of resistance to authoritarianism. [music]

Despite strict censorship, further reports and some footage of the bloody events emerge.

The international [music] media is quick to condemn the massacre, but the Chinese government never deviates from its official line. Speaking a few days after the event,

Deng Xiaoing, now 84 years old, denounces the protests as a counterrevolutionary rebellion, fully warranting a military response.

General Secretary Xiao Siang, who had gone to meet the [music] protesters, is removed from office and spends 15 years under house arrest. Lee Pong remains China's state premier

for nine more years. Later that year, Dang Xiaoing formally retires from frontline politics,

and it appears he is handing power back to the party's reactionaries and conservatives.

Dung's era of reforms has stalled. China seems to be going [music] backwards.

[music] >> [music] >> The Tanaman Square massacre badly damages China's international reputation and once again the country finds [music] itself isolated. Many contrast events in China with

recent reforms in Taiwan, which has undergone a period of liberalization. [music]

Martial law had been lifted for the first time in 1987, paving the way for the island's first

full parliamentary elections in 1991. The economy [music] is booming, fueled by foreign investment and led by new companies [music] such as the Taiwan Semiconductor

Manufacturing Company or TSMC. Today, it's the [music] world's largest chip maker, an industry that will transform Taiwan's economy. [music] In contrast, China's perceived

regression leads to a significant fall in foreign investment as the United States and European [music] Union impose sanctions. The World Bank suspends loans. Economic forecasts for China are

downgraded. [music] China's economic stagnation will stir Dang Xiaoping into action once more.

downgraded. [music] China's economic stagnation will stir Dang Xiaoping into action once more.

[music] In 1992, aged 87, he embarks on a southern tour, visiting successful special economic zones where [music] he demands bolder leadership and greater energy in the

drive for economic development.

He dismisses [music] the old dogma that a socialist state must be a planned economy with no role for [music] a capitalist market. Single-handedly through his immense

personal influence, Dung puts reform back at [music] the center of the agenda.

Though never explicitly stated, a new contract [music] between the Chinese Communist Party and the people is being written. Legitimacy in exchange [music] for growth,

prosperity, and national resurgence. [music]

The party upholds its side of the deal. The 1992 Party Congress declares China a socialist market economy. From now on, markets, not the state,

will set the prices for goods, services, labor, and capital. Many state-owned enterprises are reformed, privatized, or allowed to fail as large-scale private businesses [music] take over.

GDP leaps from 3.9% in 1990 to 14.2% in 1992 and remains [music] high for a decade.

According to World Bank figures, in 1990, more than 80% of the population lived in extreme poverty.

Over the next 30 years, that number plummets to 0%. [music]

Some regard it as one of the greatest economic miracles in history.

A vast multitude lifted out of extreme poverty in record time.

But there's another side to this unprecedented economic boom.

For decades, the Chinese government had subsidized housing and food.

But now, price controls and parts of the social welfare system [music] are removed.

Many find themselves abandoned and struggling to get by. Now there is more unemployment, corruption, pollution, and dramatically rising inequality, especially between urban and rural

populations. As a result, tens of millions of the rural poor move to booming cities where

populations. As a result, tens of millions of the rural poor move to booming cities where strict residential permit requirements known as the hu cao system renders them

secondclass citizens locked out of state benefits.

In 1997, Dang Xiaoping dies aged 92. The scale of his legacy, though

contested, is hard to overstate. Under Dung's leadership, China's economic potential has finally been unleashed, and living standards have soared.

To his admirers, Dung is one of the greatest statesmen of the 20th century. >> [music]

>> To his detractors, he used economic reforms to entrench one party communist rule.

The man who oversaw Mao's brutal anti-rightist campaigns of the 1950s [music] remained true to the party to the end. [music]

>> [music] [music] >> Dung's successor as paramount leader is Jang Zerin. Chiang, politically conservative but an

economic reformer, is known for his outgoing personality and is the first Chinese leader to speak both English and Russian. Working with state premier Lee Pang, he

ensures the country holds its course, balancing a growing economy with a highly centralized state.

[music] Abroad, Jang carries on Dang's cautious approach, described [music] as choosing to hide one's talent and bide one's time. But world leaders now choose their words

carefully as their economies [music] become increasingly dependent on Chinese trade. In July 1997, Hong Kong is peacefully transferred from the United Kingdom to the People's

Republic of China, marking the end of 156 years of colonial rule.

It is a hugely symbolic moment for an increasingly assertive China, definitively turning the page on its century of humiliation.

Two years later, Portugal returns Macau to China. Both territories are promised limited

autonomy under a one country, two systems approach. [music] Many predict that the rise of China's middle class will lead inevitably to increased demand for political rights.

This, after all, is the lesson of [music] 19th century Europe. US President Bill Clinton even warns China that its record on human rights puts it on the wrong side of history.

Around the world, there is a confident assumption that prosperity will make China more like the West. In defiance of such expectations, the

21st century sees China continue to grow in economic power and international stature.

While at home, the Communist Party [music] continues to rule virtually unopposed.

In 2001, China joins the World Trade Organization. Chinese goods become cheaper and more competitive than ever. Within a few years, China is the world's largest exporter.

More and more foreign companies offshore their manufacturing to China to take advantage [music] of cheap labor. The Chinese economy grows at rates other

nations can only dream of 10 12 then 14%. It is the World Bank declares the fastest sustained expansion by a major economy in history. [music]

The only thing keeping pace is the country's carbon emissions and air pollutants.

In 2008, China hosts its first Olympic Games. It is the perfect stage to showcase a new China to the world. Prosperous, confident, and ambitious,

the opening ceremony is an all inspiring spectacle that celebrates thousands of years of Chinese history. In 2009, China overtakes Japan to become the

world's [music] second largest economy, behind only the USA. Communist [music] Party rule is not

entirely uncontested. Far from Beijing, in Tibet and Shinjang, there are [music] protests over the

entirely uncontested. Far from Beijing, in Tibet and Shinjang, there are [music] protests over the perceived injustices of its rule.

They are met with force and mass detention. [music]

>> [music] >> The entire country, meanwhile, is subject to increasingly sophisticated surveillance and strict censorship. [music] The Great Firewall helps to keep Chinese

citizens safe from harmful foreign ideas. While the internet is continuously [music] patrolled for any sign of disscent, the Communist Party guarantee of

stability, security, and prosperity comes at a price. The freedoms that are taken for granted in many other parts of the world.

[music] In 2012, after 10 years of leadership, the cautious technocratic Hu Jin Tao passes the baton to a new leader, [music] Xi Jinping.

A century on from the abdication of the lastQing emperor, China is a country that has been utterly transformed. [music] The road has been long, bloody, and turbulent. [music]

But there is no doubt that [music] the Middle Kingdom has resumed its natural place at the heart of global affairs. [music]

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