'.i.-
OPINION
Page 4 Thursday, February 12, 1987
The Michigan Daily
.4
How,
Maoism
is
still
relevant
to China
By Henry Park
Success magazine gives the typical
U.S. media view of China's post-Mao
economic reforms. "Bold and innovative,
Deng has put China on a new and
successful fast track, and he has not
hesitated to borrow from the West....
And the result? The whole Chinese
economy has surged ahead."(1)
Constrained by its capitalist context, the
U.S. press has reported universal good
times for all groups in China since the
death of Mao in 1976.
Admittedly, since China turned
capitalist its economy grew faster than
before - at least for the short run.
No doubt some peasants find greater
incentives to work on family plots than
in collectives and some workers thrive on
the new bonus policy for hard work.
Still, the conditions of the vast bulk of
China's population are in considerable
doubt. In what follows the author will
have to excessively document overlooked
but important trends in China that most
readers will never have heard of through
no fault of their own.
Winners
Orville Schell points to the growth of
unproductive occupations in his book To
Get Rich Is Glorious: China in the 80's.
-Tax collectors are growing in
number now that private business is on
the rise and now that state enterprises pay
taxes instead of turning over their product
to the state. In an old tradition, the new
tax collectors have suffered at least 270
reported assaults.
-Notary publics have become
necessary to handle newly created private
property.
-10,000 new judges started work in
one year to handle disputes arising from
Park is an Opinion Page editor.
400 million new economic contracts in
1982.
-Insurance sales staff increased
by 13,000 from 20,000 in 1984.
-White collar criminals are
breaking all records. Not even during the
"terrible" Cultural Revolution was
"economic crime" so great. (2)
Officials have decided to handle ordinary
crime with public executions - a quota
of 5,000 for 1983 and perhaps as many as
many as 150,000 according to the
American Spectator.
-Advertising agencies of which
there were 10 in 1978 expanded to 4,000
in 1984. (3) The Women's Federation
attempted but failed to have women
models removed from billboards and
magazine ads. (4)
-Ivory-tower academics have
gained the upper hand over their political
directors and applied-side colleagues (bare-
foot doctors and the like). Official policy
holds that in order to achieve China's
economic goals for the year 2000 known
as the Four Modernizations, ultimately
the key is to motivate intellectuals. (5)
-Foreign businessmen have
delighted with China's renewal of the
"open door policy" from the days of
China's colonial protectorate status. The
United States has directly invested $8
billion since 1979. (6) The largest
investor from Hong Kong sent $14
million in profits back home after 10
months and an initial investment of $100
million. (7)
-Cadillac-drivers among top
government officials have received their
first chance since before 1949. Each
Cadillac costs 115 times a construction
worker's annual salary. (8)
Losers
-Women are resuming traditional roles
as sex objects and unnoticed laborers.
Deng Xiaoping: China's current
leader overthrown during Mao's
Cultural Revolution (1966-76)
"'Yesterday I lost a workpoint when my
manager caught me without makeup'"
explains a saleswoman in the booming
lipstick business. (9) Indeed, official
media criticisms of female political
enemies include the charges of "old maid"
and "never had a boyfriend." (10)
Women are 70% of China's urban
unemployed youth. (11)
In -at least one county in Zhejiang
province, over 90% of female laborers had
no regular work assignments. (12) .
As one official quoted in the press said,
"now we have an abundant supply of rice,
but we are running short of 'good
housewives."' (13)
With the new one child policy,
Chinese officials admit a recent trend in
female infanticide. In some areas of
Anhui, female babies number one-fifth
male babies. (14) Worker's Daily
published a letter in 1982 justifying the
beating of women who give birth to
female babies. (15)
The coup d'6tat against Mao's
supporters in 1976 - the Gang of Four
- meant the end of political campaigns
including the one against Confucianism,
which is the traditional Chinese system
of ethics upholding the subordination of
women.
-Mental patients increased by 55.9
percent from 1978 to 1984 in Shanghai at
least partly because of new competitive
business and school pressures according
to the Chinese government. (16)
-Unemployed workers did not exist
prior to 1976, but now the government
admits its inability to employ everyone at
currently fashionable levels of
technology. In 1979, officials estimated
urban unemployment at between 10 and
25 million people.
The end of the "countryside movement"
of the Cultural Revolution, moreover,
resulted in an immediate doubling of
urban unemployment at the expense of
youth who returned to the cities or no
longer went to work in the countryside.
(17) According to one Chinese econo-
mist "an additional 7 million people join
the waiting lists for jobs each year." (18)
One Chinese economist has estimated
that one-third of all rural laborers have
become surplus. (19)
-Workers lost previous rights in the
Constitution to strike, hold open air
meetings or put up "big character
posters." One woman worker put up a
poster criticizing her boss and received a
one year prison sentence in 1984 for
infraction of labor discipline. (20)
-Peasants saw the absolute income
gap between the rural residents and urban
workers expand.
-Poor peasants saw the government
fulfill its literal promise to increase
income inequality amongst peasants.
(21)
Mao and his supporters in the Cultural
Revolution (1966-1976) temporarily
overthrew capitalist-roaders in the'
Communist Party who have run China
since 1976. It is the new leaders since
1976, however, who best showed the
differences between socialism and state
capitalism.
NOTES:
1. Ann Arbor News, 1/13/86. 2. Beijing Review,
8/15/83, p. 7.3. Beijing Review, no. 30, 7/29/85.
4. Elisabeth Croll, Chinese Women Since Mao.,.
(New York: M.E. Sharpe, 1983), p. 105. 5. Joint
Publications Research Service (JPRS), Science and
Technology Series, no. 210, 10/13/83, p. 34. 6.
Beijing Review, 11/19/84, p. 9. 7. Beijing Review,.
no. 15, 4/15/85, pp. 9-10. 8. New York Times,.
6/29/85, al. 9. Beijing Review, no. 23, 1985, p. 6.
10. Rita Helling, "Women in China" in China in
Transition: Where toNext? (PO Box 88 Cowandilla
5033 South Australia: Adelaide Anti-Imperialist
Study-Action Group, 1979), p. 43. 11. John P?.
Emerson, "Urban School-Leaversoan,
Unemployment in China." China Quarterly. No.-
93, March 1983, p. 4. 12. Croll, op. cit., p. 29.
13. Foreign Broadcast Infonnation Service (FBIS),
no. 001, 1/2/85, p. k25. 14. Fran Hosken, e1
"Women's International Network News," vol. 10Y
no. 1, Winter 1984, p. 58. 15. Croll, op. cit., pp.
121-2. 16. China Daily, 7/9/86, p. 3. 17.
Emerson, op. cit., p. 2.18. Fang Sheng in China's
Economic Reforms, Lin Wei & Arnold Chao eds.
(Philadelphia: U. of PA, 1982), p. 180.19. Andrew'
Watson, "Agriculture Looks for 'Shoes that Fit':
The Production Responsibility .System and Its
Implications" in Maxwell and McFarlane, eds.,
China's Changed Road to Development, p. 710. 20.
San Francisco Chronicle, 10/31/84, c6. 21. Beijng
Review, 7/22/85, p. 17, 22.
For those interested in more on this point
of view, a political movie drama made
during the Cultural Revolution called
"Breaking with Old Ideas" will show
tomorrow in the Modern Language
Building, Lecture Room #1 at 7:30 p.m.
he trbthgan 3 atIly
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
Vol. XCVII, No. 95 420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Unsigned editorials represent a majority of the Daily's Editorial Board
All other cartoons, signed articles, and letters do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Daily.
Dorm lease s the code
LETTERS:
4
Students serve well on
U' Council
THE SPEEDY REMOVAL of Jae
Kim from Mary Markley last week
by the courts demonstrates the
uselessness of the proposed
University code of non-academic
conduct. Kim faces two counts of
fourth degree sexual assault; the
judge made stipulation for his
release on recognizance that he not
return to the residence hall.
Release on recognizance is a
voluntary condition. The judge
desired Kim removed from the
dorm to avoid subjection of the
accused to abject ridicule. Kim
agreed.
Should Kim return to the hall, he
will face arrest again. The
Housing administration is thus
superfluous.
Prior to the court action,
University Housing evicted Kim,
presumably for posing some king
of danger to University students.
The University administration
ignored the premise of the justice
system: the accused is innocent
until proven guilty. To con sider a
suspect dangerous is to judge the
individual guilty or capable of
being guilty rather than innocent.
Not only could this potentially
prejudice Kim's trial with a public
eviction, but also it constitutes
double jeopardy. First Kim faced a
trial by Housing administrators,
now by the courts.
The lease, held by the
University, functioned like the
proposed code would. As with the
code, the responsiveness on the
part of the courts makes
administrative fiat unnecessary.
Housing took it upon itself to act in
place of the justice system, and
only succeeded in briefly cir -
cumventing the legal process.
Students threatened with eviction
from University property should
consult a lawyer. The University
only bluffs students into leaving by
serving 24-hour eviction notices.
There is a difference between
agreeing to move out (the case of
the recognizant. release) and
eviction. A more equitable solution
would be for the University to
provide interim housing for all
people involved; the victim as well
as the accused may desire to
relocate.
By keeping an eye on people it
suspects for a few hours instead of
serving eviction notices, the
Housing administration can do its
utmost to uphold the rights of all
parties.
Determination of guilt or
innocence must remain in the
hands of a jury and the safety of
citizens is the court's
responsibility.
The University administration
tries to create the impression that it
protects students, but students only,
kid themselves if they believe the
propaganda.
The arrest, arraignment and con -
ditional release of Jae Kim 'all
occurred in one day: once again,
why code?
To The Daily:
It is refreshing to see that the
question of "Why code" is
finally being addressed on
campus, even if it is not the
administration that is doing so.
Those adamantly opposed to
the code of non-academic con-
duct have continually asked the
question of why a code is
necessary, and have been
accused by the administration
of stalling the process. This
accusation will no longer hold,
as ,there are many more who
would like to know the
answer.
The University Council's
Emergency Procedures (EPs)
that were recently released for
discussion, have been brutally
criticized by both the Civil
Liberties Board (CLB) and the
Michigan Student Assembly.
They have been cast as funda -
mentally unworkable and
unnecessary by both. John
Weigler, the Chairperson of the
CLB, has stated in the Daily
that, "It is rather dubious of the
University to set up a parallel
court system." There are also
questions about the intent of
the EPs that are raised by Vice-
President Henry Johnson's
indication that a code won't be
used for rape, murder or arson,
the life threatening crimes
covered by the EPs. If it won't
be used for rape, murder, or
arson, then what will it be used
for?
The U. Council has
tentatively finished working on
the third tier of political
dissent, and it doesn't include
any parallel University judicial
system. It is not an admini -
strative code. There are no
academic sanctions for students
that commit crimes in the
course of expressing political
dissent in this draft. It is more
of a set of guidelines for the
University to use in order to
make the present system work
better.
I feel that there is no need for
a code in the sense of an
providing neutral observers,
and definitions of exactly what
is considered to be map -
propriate protest, are valuable
and a long time coming.
It is also what I would like to
see the U. Council do in the
second tier, non-violent crimes.
There is so much potential for
improvement in how the
University deals with vanda-
lism, theft, and other such
violations of the law. I am
excited about the prospects for
mediation in conjunction with
Student Legal Services -to re-
solve such matters. A good
program would keep most
cases out of the court system
and allow both sides to obtain
optimal solutions on their
own. This system, however,
has absolutely no need for Uni -
versity adjudication.
Opponents of an admini-
R eader' s o
To The Daily:
I regard it as admirable that
you struggle so earnestly for
that which you believe. But I
invite you to consider your
interpretations more carefully.
Doesn't it strike you as
unsensible the way that what
God seems to have promised
you is so difficult to hold?
Could it be that perhaps the
'promised' was never intended
to be a certain bit of dirt?
Might it not be that your quest
was for something inside of
you? Something that couldn't
be usurped by an aggressor or
vandalized by terrorists? Do
you still think that it was on
an earthly journey that you
were led rather than a spiritual
one?
Is it possible that you were
allowed to believe that that
particular acreage was what
God promised when it became
obvious that the truth was
beyond you at the time?
I invite you to look at what
it did to your people to gain
strative code are not merely
trying to be difficult when they
demand a reason for its imple-
mentation: they have a right to
know. The burden of justi-
fication lies with the
administration, as they are the
ones that want the change.
Why won't they debate the
issue upon its own merits?
The fact that they won't makes
it look like this whole thing is
a power grab. Somehow, how-
ever, the administration has
turned it around to make those
who are opposed, look un-
reasonable. If the only reason
for advocating a code is to
increase administrative control
over student lives outside the
classroom, then the students
have no choice but to protect
themselves. Protection of
one's rights is of the highest
order, and its importance
)en
letter to Rab
should not be minimized by
anyone.
The students on U. Council
are working in good faith to
come to a solution that every- 4
one can live with. The
administration's (the entity)
desire to increase its control
over the University community
where it is unnecessary, how-
ever, cannot be accommodated-:
The use of mediation, guide=':
lines for dealing with protest,
and other such initiatives are
very valuable to the Uni-'
versity. These are the reasons'
that I am on the U. Council. I
am looking forward to a
semester of productive work.
-David Newblatt
MSA Representative
University Council:
January 16.
?bi Kahane
hurting.
Further, I think it's a
tragedy that you can't show:
more respect to your critics. :I:
think you bring out unhealthy
feelings in your supportes
when you refer to your brothers
as "shallow ignoramuses" artd
such.
And lastly, isn't there a way
of being, perhaps a perspective
you can achieve by whi)
intermarriage can prove to bea
strengthening force rather than,
weakening? If it turns out to
be true, as some believe, that
God can raise up sons Of
Abraham from the very stones;
how silly on the last day wZL4
seem your notion of racial
purity.
-Mark Rehwoldt
February &
Is this the gift God has
given to his chosen? To put
you on a path where you're
damned if you proceed and
you're damned if you turn
back?
I don't think so. I think
that there's perhaps been made
an error in interpretation. I
don't think you've found what
you've been promised. I think
you're still wandering in the
desert wondering where God is
leading you. I think that to the
extent that you feel you're
leading your people towards the
right path, you are actually
leading them away. I wish that
you would more carefully
consider what you are doing to
achieve you goal. I wish you
would look more carefully at
the faces of the people you're
4
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MrU'A '