By Lilian Aguiar
On October 1, 1949, the People's Republic of China was proclaimed, the result of successive years of clashes between the peasantry and Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomitang Party. Despite old disagreements, Mao Tse-tung, then supreme chief, sought to build Chinese socialism along the Soviet model. Chiang Kai-shek fled to Formosa, present-day Taiwan, where, with the support of the United States, he founded Nationalist China. In 1952, agrarian reform was generally completed in much of the country. In that year, both industrial production and agricultural production surpassed the production limit of the best years before the war with Japan. In foreign policy, China has occupied Tibet.
In the late 1950s, the government announced a new economic policy called the Great Leap Forward, which consisted of increasing industrial and agricultural production in a short period of time. The result was disastrous, through the accelerated fall in agricultural production and raw materials for industry. The lack of food made the population go through extreme difficulty. Faced with the gravity of the situation, millions of Chinese who lived in cities were sent to the countryside.
In 1960, China severed ties with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), splitting the international communist movement. In 1962, the conflict between China and India broke out, with a dizzying Chinese victory. In 1966, one of the most significant events in socialist history began, the so-called great proletarian cultural revolution. Supported by Chinese youth, who worshiped him as a god, Mao Zedong sought to carry out a true ideological, economic and cultural revolution. This revolution was designed to shake up all structures, aiming to extinguish archaic social relationships and give birth to new social relationships. During this period, Mao dictatorially directed the leadership of the Communist Party, CP, pushing his opponents away, accusing them of belonging to the bourgeoisie.
From the year 1969, the great leader of communist China began to employ a more conciliatory policy, reestablishing contacts with the West. In 1971, China was accepted into the United Nations (UN). After the death of Mao Tse-tung in 1976, Deng Xiaoping initiated an economic opening allowing foreign investment encouraging competition, profit and even consumerism. In this sense, there was no political opening based on democratic principles. A clear example of this lack of political openness was the massacre of students in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Currently, China is going through a phase of great material progress.
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