Following the disastrous chaos and violence of the cultural revolution, Deng Xiaoping, one of Maoist China’s inveterate survivors and a hate figure for Mao himself, began a series of changes of global significance in 1978. Deng’s four modernisations (agriculture, industry, education, science and defence), and the policy of opening up China to foreign investment were the product of two fears. Firstly, that a disorderly, anarchic China would eventually see the collapse of party rule, and secondly,
Reading time:
1–2 minutes
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