The march towards
capitalism is not a simple straightforward process. There are
opposition voices within the bureaucracy, but more importantly
capitalist development has created a massive working class and this
is now being expressed in the growing level of strikes.
State planning
has broken down in China, but the state still plays a key role in
providing capital investment and in nurturing major Chinese
corporations whose role is to compete with the foreign multinationals
and guarantee that important economic interests remain in Chinese
hands.
Nearly thirty
years have passed since Deng first introduced his “market reforms”.
What started as an attempt to stimulate growth within a planned
economy has ended up by establishing capitalist relations in the
Chinese economy. How did all this happen and where is China going
today?
The
dominant wing of the Chinese Communist Party has pushed through
capitalist counter-reforms in the Chinese economy over the past
couple of decades, achieving immense economic growth but also
devastating effects on the conditions of the workers. Here we publish
an interesting letter by an anonymous group of “veteran
CCP members, veteran cadres, veteran military personnel and
intellectuals” who are opposed to this course.
China’s
headlong drive towards capitalism is beginning to meet resistance.
Workers’ protests are growing. Opposition is even being voiced
within the ranks of the Chinese Communist Party itself. It is merely
a matter of time before the class struggle erupts on a grand scale.