TWENTY-FIVE YEARS ago this onth, Mao Tse-tung proclaimed the Prople's Republic of China from Peking's Tien-an-men Square. After two decades of armed struggle in the countryside, the leaders of a peasunt murrection now controlled the most populous nation on earth.
For socialists every where this was: un historic event, second only to the October Revolution of 1917, Twenty-five years on, how has the new State developed?
The first and most striking feature about China today is that the economic imbalances and extremies of weatth and poverty that charactetite limilar countries like indis have been eliminated. This is because China enPeking, 1949. Mao announces, on 1 October, the folnding of the People s Republic of China joys the adyantages of a plunned economy in which production for profit has been aholished, Revolutionaries therefore defend the Chinese social and ccononne order as historically superior to that of capitalisn.
SELF-SUFFICIENCY
But this should not blind us to the considerable weak nesses that still remain, which arr hasically rooted in the leadership's econoric conceptions and its burcsucratic and authorutanan methods of work The basic tenet of Maoist economic analysis, which it bolds in common with Stalinist Russia, is the idea of self-sufficiency, and "socialism in A nationalist approach of tha kind h han a strong emotional appeal in China as a rosalt of a century of imperialist b more rrcently, coc the Soviet Union But China's attempr to lift itse t by its own boot-straps out of the circle of underdevelopment will un doubtedly fail in the long rin. Asan of economic isolationis cunter to this basic premise of Farthermore, it has led to considerable problems in both food and industrial production. The rate of growth of grain nutput, for instance, Jags well bebind the rate of populaton growth, and grain targers set in the late 1950, remain unfulfilled by a saggering 100 million tons.
In another key econumic indicatot, steel, the output of 20 million tons forocast by Mao for 1967 was only reached in 1971. The cffccis of thii important bottleneck are inevi tably felt throughour the whole economy, including in agricutrure.
CULTURAL REVOLUTION The Cultural Revolution of 196668 was an adinission of failure by a section of the Chinese Jeadership. But becauise no honest assessmient was made of why this had happened, the general economie strategs mapped out then was simply a reliash of the provious abortive policies. In particuiar, it represented the coatinued unwillingness of the bureaucracy to druw the workers and peasants intu at all Jevels.
able, and least explo.ted raw materia 1s the critical consciouspess of her workers and peasants-a truth which it practice, If is the absence of any orisins of mass supervision and congunce and buraucratic ways' which eriticise Confucius campuign.
inally designed to wipe out such abuses chrough popular mohilisutions al the hase. Powerful mass organisutions independent of the escablishment soou emerged onder this stimulus, leading to a substantial tank-andfile presence in local, regional and factory c organisations wet Once they hopah Challenge the buresucratic apparatus they were rupidly disbanded or reduced to performing locen functions Alter this experience it is no wonder that the "criticise Conlucius" ium mainly campaign has failed to capture the to transornd the d mteresis of way ation-State The MaoFOREIGN POLICY looks at China's forcipn policy Leadership fiercely criticised Khrishcher's policy of 'peaccful cooxistence and gave prastical support to several revolutionary morements dehate in the world Communist TEOS EILISHIL.
But the growing right turn at home has been paralleled by a growing conservatism in foreign pohey. In has connived ar bloody counterrevolution. In Ceyion she joired an unholy alliance of US, Britist and Soviet forees to suppress the youth movement in 1971. She also advocates a strengthening of NATO and the EEC as a counter-weight to the ES5R, and has thus voted by panda for Heath in the coming British elections.
maintain lnks with reacticmary govertments. Hut once such links hinder Thirty-seven Goveruments since the war. On average chat's a new one erery ten months!
Jano Rumor's Goverament, Italy's President, Giovanni Loonc, is now hurriedly trying to put together a thirty-ciphth. But whatever formula he comes up with, the new administration will be terribly weak.
No aartr in Paculatent can sccure ati overalt majorite-vital if the ruling class ss to deal with the enonsous cconoric crisis açainst a working ciass nor preporsupervsion and control of production must be sevcred. and of the dec sion-making processes China's maost valuable, most availMunism recognises in theory, buit not trol over the State mechine which expiains the present commandism. arrohave brelly come under attack in the The Cultural Revolution was orig:
Ted. national Iradership organs, and in the Mao's failing puise.
Bat Maciom's aimt for these mass Gc extremcly Timited neviaably-to imagination of the masses in the same The same leatures tecur when one During the carly 1960s the Chinese the advance of The revolution, they This is in tact the only pollcy truly in the interests of the Chinese revolution itseif. The only sure defence of the Chicese workers" State is not diplomacic deals but the destruction of imperialism in its nerve centres. The only way out of China'seconomic drmpasse is her integration into a worid system of workers' states.
CRISIS AT TOP
In 1949 China's new revolutionary Governeient presented a confident and uniled lace to the world. Twenlyfive years later, this unury has czumbInstead, as a tiny handfil of ageing leaders conduct their medieval court intrigues inside the Forbidden Cily, the next generation of cliques and factions lockey for power in the stadows, Their tingers locked to Maoism as a collective force has run our of solutions in the face of the present multiple crisis, What is needed in China is a system uf workers und pessamts councils of the soviet type, thrown up in the course of a revolution to overthrow the rule of this fumbling hureaucracy The Cultura! Revoiut on failed in its aim to renew Chinese socicty. But to the dismuy of the Maoists It did throw up groups whtn went beyond the role prescribed for them and bea an to develop a ruchiess criticism of everything that exists, ruthless in the sense that this criticism will not shrink either from its own concluslous or from contlet with the powers that be' (Marx)
It is from the ranks of this explosive residue of workers, studeots and peasants thai the cadres of the coming Chinese political revclation Will be drawn. foreigu embassies. Despite the loss of its second-in commund, Baurista Van Schouwen, who was arresfed and tortured in December. the MIR had recently reached the position where it was able to bring out its own printed newspaper, produced undetgroumi.
The extent to which the MIR had won a leuding position in the resistance was even rocognised by the junta. Not lony ago an approach was mude suggesting that the poli tical prisoners belonging to the MIR might be released in exchange for a promise that the organisation would refrain for two yean froa "active political opposition.' The offer was aurated down.
The death of Enriquez will undoubtedly put a temporary brake on the growth of the MIR's influ ence while the leadership is reorganised. But as his brotber Edgardo commented ou Monday "The death of our general secretary does not in any sense mcan the liquidation of the MiR. The gun dropped by Miguel has already been seized by another lcader. The strug gle will go on until dictator Pinochet hangs high in Santiago.' Meanwhile it is urgent to mount a campaign in defence of his companson Carmcn Castullu, who was wounded in the same pun-bactle. Eight months pregnant, she is repottedly being torrured in the Barros Luco military hospital.
in pertcular. the Labour Gorerument must not be allowed to get away with inaction on this isue. The own pickets of the Chilean Exbassy in the coming lew days must be only a begiuning.
PICKET THE EMBASSY!
12 Devonshire Street, London, W1 Saturday 12 Oetader, 11 am/ organised by the MIR, IMG und Is.
Monday 14 Oetober, 12-2 pmi/ orgaand supported by the above organisa