Chinese Military, Economic, and Political Reform: Survey and Chronology.
Abstract
In 1986 the main goal of China's reform effort remained greater efficiency, to be achieved by increased professionalization in the military, economic, and governmental sectors. China's reform leaders envisioned well- educated, professionally competent military officers and civilian administrators who followed laws and regulations, and decided issues through explicit procedures and wide consultation. There was broad leadership consensus on the need for reform, and overall agreement on the necessity for improvement of the existing system. There was, however, disagreement over the scope of the reforms. The narrow, conservative view was that the existing economic and political system needed only to be 'perfected,' primarily by improving the rules and raising the quality of personnel. The wider reformist view was that fundamental changes in a number of institutions, including the press and the Communist Party, were necessary. There was most leadership consensus on military reforms, some consensus on economic reforms, and serious disagreement on political reform. Political reform, the most contentious aspect of the reform effort, came in for increasing discussion in 1986, as official media carried an increasingly wide-ranging set of articles on democracy, the role of law, freedom of the press, and the limits of party authority. Inner-party disputes were reflected in a set of leadership speeches and party resolutions which, in the latter half of 1986, were increasingly ambiguous, contradictory and difficult to interpret. As 1986 closed, the future course of reform was increasingly uncertain. A key question was how much momentum the reform program had built up at local and regional levels, and how difficult it would be for a more conservative leadership to halt or reverse the process.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1986
- Accession Number
- ADA305106
Entities
People
- Ernestine H. Wang
Organizations
- Library of Congress