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Japanese Encroachment, 1894 to 1945
China-Japanese War, 1894-1895: In the late 19th century, many Chinese leaders realized the need for China to modernize and 
industrialize as a means of “self-strengthening”. They implemented foreign technology acquisition, educational upgrading and military equipment modernization. Unfortunately, due to a weak central government and corruption at all levels, many projects failed dismally although not always publicly. A good example is China’s navy building campaign that started in the 1870’s. Led by Li Hongzhang, China set out to acquire foreign technology and equipment to construct its navy. China purchased steel cruisers from Britain and two large vessels from Germany. The military buildup led to increasing tensions and finally war with Japan. When the Japanese army entered Korea “to deal with rebel factions”, they surprise attacked and sank Li’s navy which was in the area. China was without a fleet but still in debt for its original acquisition cost. What had really happened was in the late 1880’s Empress Dowager led a high-level conspiracy to siphon-off navy funding and divert it into the building of her new summer palace. Li’s navy was under funded and consequently poorly maintained and prepared. China should have been able to beat Japan in the naval war but instead she lost miserably. Japan’s victory over China led to a decade of imperialistic
rivalry in Northeast Asia during which Russia, Germany, Britain and Japan all staked claims within Chinese territory. China welcomed a Russian presence in Manchuria since it helped keep Japan in check. Unfortunately, the Japanese army managed to push the Russians out by 1905.
Japan’s General Influence over China: Japan’s defeat of China in 1895 did much to boost Japan’s ego and its arrogance expressed in the region. This led Japan to develop a “concern” and sense of duty for China to help move her along a path of social progress. Many Japanese societies with expansionist ideals infiltrated China to study her social and cultural conditions. Scholars from both countries studied the commonality of their cultures and large numbers of Chinese students piled into Tokyo. Consequently, Japan’s own reform efforts were the model for the Qing’s; Japanese advisors assisted. Japan’s “reform assistance” combined with more blatant and aggressive efforts increased her stake in China. By 1914, Japan was more deeply encroached in China’s terrain and economy than all the other western imperialist countries combined. In 1915, Japan attempted to become the official protector of China by issuing “21 Demands” that were designed to give Japan official advantage over other foreign powers. Although the effort failed, it did manage to spur a new round of Chinese nationalism and culture reform.
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The May Fourth Movement: After World War I, European peacemakers decided to leave the former Shandong German concessions to Japan. On May 4, 1919, thousands of Chinese students infuriated by this decision held a mass demonstration at Tiananmen Square. Demonstrators burned houses and beat the Chinese minister to Japan. Similar demonstrations occurred in other major eastern cities. Fueled by the spirit of the student demonstrations, merchants in major centers closed their shops and a boycott of Japanese goods ensued. For the next year, students pushed to destroy Japan’s markets in China and not without measurable effect. Nationalism flared. The most prominent outcome of all this was the responsibility Chinese students and intellectuals began to seize for the fate of their country. They started a social movement that denounced Confucian values and oppression by the powerful, including Japan, while promoting individual freedoms and expression.
The China-Japanese War, 1937-1945: Through the 1920’s and into the 1930’s hostile sentiment toward Japan continued to grow. Japan’s invasion of Manchuria in 1931 strengthened China’s nationalism. Then on July 7, 1937, Chinese students killed a Japanese soldier near Beijing thereby setting off war. During the course of the war, Japan penetrated and occupied most of urban China. Fighting against the Japanese were the Nationalist Army on one hand and the Communist forces on the other. The United States entered World War II in 1941 ultimately forcing Japan’s 1945 surrender. After Japan’s surrender, China was able to get most of her territory back.
Special Note on Nanjing Massacre: The following passage is from the inside cover of the book The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang, 
BasicBooks, 1997, “In December 1937, in what was then the capital of China, one of the most brutal massacres in the long annals of wartime barbarity occurred. The Japanese army swept into the ancient city of Nanking (Nanjing) and within weeks not only looted and burned the defenseless city but systematically raped, tortured and murdered more than 300,000 Chinese civilians. Amazingly, the story of this atrocity -- one of the worst in world history -- 
continues to be denied by the Japanese government”. Iris Chang bases her telling of the event on extensive interviews with survivors and documented recounts of many Chinese and other international eyewitnesses. To this day, the denial by the Japanese government of the brutality of the massacre continues to cause ill sentiment toward Japan among Chinese. Perpetuating this sentiment is that Japan claims the numbers of Chinese killed were in the thousands while Chinese claims and evidence indicate the Japanese ruthlessly killed hundreds of thousands Top
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Republican Revolution, 1901 to 1916
The defeat of China by the expeditionary forces of all the major world powers in 1900 left the Qing in a very precarious state. In fact, it is believed the only reason they maintained power until 1912 was because there was no good alternative to their rule. A weakened Qing, widening 
economic gap between rural and urban dwellers and damaged national self-esteem set into motion forces for societal change. People became more defiant of the Qing and outspoken on political issues. An early and prominent “rebel” was Sun Yatsen who became head of the Revolutionary League in 1905. To prevent losing China to a force such as the Revolutionary League, the Qing began a serious reform effort in 1901 that continued until 1911. As part of the reform effort a new school system was established, the government attempted to consolidate and centralize its power in Beijing, the old “examination system” was abolished, military officers were trained in military academies and western professions (business, banking, law, etc.) were institutionalized. The effort by the Qing, albeit bold, failed due to deep rooted systemic problems. The Qing had never really been an effective government but rather a parasitic one. Consequently, on October 10, 1911 most provinces declared their independence from the Qing regime. On January 1, 1912 in Nanjing, the Revolutionary League set up the Chinese Republic with Dr. Sun Yatsen as provisional president. In March of 1912 after serious negotiation, the Qing stepped down and Dr. Sun resigned allowing Yuan Shikai to become president. After taking control, Yuan became more and more autocratic ultimately reversing many of the liberal policies that had been implemented. He used masterful manipulation and intimidation to control any that opposed him. Unfortunately, he was unable to consolidate control of the whole country and China verged on fragmenting into regional warlord control. In the end, he became recognized as the “father of the warlords” since, after his 1916 death, the country did in fact enter a period of warlord rule. Top
Forces Materialize, 1916 to 1927
From 1916 to 1927, warlords controlled many countryside areas of China while foreign powers kept treaty ports operating. The influx of foreign goods, ideas and ways reached a level never before seen. Dramatic scholars led cultural movements followed by radical reforms of thinking and ways. At the same time, many both rural and urban Chinese adopted a heightened nationalistic sentiment and became revolution-minded. Supporters of the May 4th Movement (1919) including Mao, moved to form the Chinese Communist Party CCP on July 21, 1921 in Shanghai. The Party was formed with help from Russian Communists. The Russians also supported a still active Dr. Sun Yatsen and enticed him to work with the Chinese Communist Party. Dr. Sun’s ideology was based on Nationalism, People’s Rights and People’s Livelihood which differed from Soviet doctrine. Mao, on the other hand, had begun as a gradualist but was starting to believe in Soviet style revolution. Despite their differences, the CCP (Gongchandang) and Nationalist (Guomindang) Party cooperated in the 1920’s to crush the warlords and push back imperialism. They would cooperate again in 1937 to fight Japanese invaders. Dr. Sun unexpectedly died in March 1925 and Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kaishek), Sun’s personally groomed successor, took over rule of the Guomindang (Sun had actually sent Jiang Jieshi to Russia for military training). During the 20’s, Mao traveled China talking with other kindred spirits and participating in activist initiatives. Although he was not yet a full-blown revolutionary, his thinking and theories continued to evolve. He was well aware that countless secret societies and the peasant masses in general lay waiting to be united and mobilized. Top
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Civil War, 1926 to 1949
Nationalists Establish Government: After defeating the warlords in 1927, the CCP and the Guomindang broke apart and became fierce rivals. Their separation was driven by Jiang Jieshi who was suspicious of Soviet methods and Communist ideology. It was through clever maneuvering and betrayal of supporting communists that he was able to take Eastern China and set up a capital in Nanjing. His new government proceeded to purge the region of Communists and initiate a national “terror” campaign designed to suppress them. Over the next decade, the government instituted reforms that actually increased bureaucratic control in the cities while doing nothing substantive to improve the situation and prevent exploitation of the masses in the 
countryside. The government was comprised of many disparate elements set in old ways and was unable to function with the unity required to lead the country. Regardless, social reform forces continued and the country (at least the cities) adopted many modern novelties such as movies, autos, theater, magazines and universities. If there had been a remote chance the Guomindang could transform China, it was eliminated when the Japanese military began their invasion campaigns starting in Manchuria in 1931 (see Japanese influence above).
The Communist Struggle: Having been betrayed and reduced by the Nationalists, the Communists struggled to survive in the safe-haven of villages. Moscow continued its incorrect advice on how they should conduct their “revolution”; specifically, they should focus on converting the urban working class to the cause. The Communists attempted several times to overthrow select cities only to be thwarted by the Nationalists. In 1933, the Communists moved to Jiangxi province to consolidate their power. There they established a base and aptly named it “Jiangxi Soviet Republic”. Mao had become highly respected and was appointed its head. Over the years, Mao Zedong had continued to develop his own theory on revolution, part based on Soviet ideology but much based on his own thinking. By now, he felt strongly that defeating the Nationalists would require armed forces, a strategic base of operations and could happen only through the peasant masses. He was impatient with the Soviet advice to ride the “high tide” of (urban) discontent since it never manifested itself. Instead, Mao chose to convert peasant thinking in support of the CCP. At the same time, the Nationalists were determined to eliminate the “Jiangxi Communists” and made several attempts to do so. Unfortunate for them, th
e Jiangxi terrain was conducive to guerrilla warfare, which the Communists applied with increasing sophistication. After repeated failures, the Nationalists finally gained the upper hand but only by using fighting tactics prescribed by German advisers. The Communists eventually retreated in what has come to be known as “The Long March”. The yearlong march started in Jiangxi in late 1934 with around 100,000 people and ended in Yan’an with an estimated 3,000. The primary goal of the march was to establish a base outside the reach of the Nationalist forces. During the difficult march, Mao continued to elevate himself above colleagues, strengthen his position and establish his leadership ring. One colleague Zhou Enlai became his closest supporter. Zhou was highly adept at mediating differences within the party and keeping it together (Zhou went on to set a world record by serving on CCP Politburo for 48 years). In 1937, out of necessity, the CCP and the Nationalists officially turned their attention against the common enemy Japan who now occupied most of urban China. While the fighting continued, the CCP wisely used the situation to strengthen their image, influence and military power in the countryside. In 1945, after Japan’s surrender to the United States and withdrawal from China, the Nationalists once again set their forces against the CCP.
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Final Chapter of the Civil War: After Japan’s withdrawal, the United States provided support to the Nationalists in the form of equipment and transportation. With this support, Jiang Jieshi concentrated on taking control of all major cities and rail lines. During this early campaign, the CCP chose not to fight but instead withdrew to avoid losses. The CCP continued to build and consolidate power in the countryside and in 1947 was ready to attack. The attack first came in the northeast with a series of CCP raids that successfully divided Nationalist forces. From then on, the CCP gained ground including cities that fell victim to “divide and conquer” tactics; Jiang Jieshi greatly overextended his forces in his drive to control the large cities. As the Nationalist garrisons fell, the CCP acquired equipment and, in some cases, additional forces. By 1949, the CCP under Mao Zedong’s leadership controlled China. The Nationalist government and their remaining forces withdrew to Taiwan. On October 1, 1949, Chairman Mao proclaimed the birth of the People’s Republic of China from Tiananmen (The Gate of Heavenly Peace) in Beijing. Top
Mao Years, 1949 to 1976
Leadership under Mao and the CCP in general, can be characterized by a series of distinct reform campaigns and modernization plans. Given names such as “The Great Leap Forward”, these campaigns were designed to inspire the masses. It can be argued that Mao and the CCP had both successes and failures. Generally not disputed, however, is their success at unifying China.
First Three Years: For the first three years, the CCP focused on rehabilitating the economy. Inflation was checked using several measures and transportation lines were repaired and reopened. During this period many local Guomindang (Nationalist) officials and capitalists were allowed retain their positions to avoid major disruption and because the CCP lacked manpower. From 1951 to 1952, though, the CCP initiated campaigns against corruption within the government and the business community. These campaigns (the Three-Antis and the Five-Antis Campaigns) were really vehicles for the CCP to “legitimately” reduce the size of government, take charge of factories and acquire capital. In 1954, the state constitution was established and was based largely on the Soviet constitution. Unlike the Soviet constitution, the Chinese constitution kept control of the military and public security with the party.
Agricultural Reform: Using an ingenious plan, the CCP began organizing agriculture. The plan was ingenious in that it took control of both poor and rich farmers’ lives without giving them incentive to rebel. At the end of a several phase plan, the CCP had set up a 6-layer bureaucracy between itself and the individual farmer. In effect, it had established a huge state-owned monopoly for grain production. Eventually rich farmers (previous landlords) were eliminated or reduced to a common level, and then “common level” farmers were locked into a relationship with the state as well as immobilized geographically. Ironically, most of the typically illiterate farmers felt content since the state did make provision to purchase any surplus grain they produced; the state always tried to set quotas so a little “surplus” would be produced and the farmers could pocket some extra profit.
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Intellectuals: During the early 1950’s, China’s remaining professors were subjected to thought reform to convert them to CCP, or more appropriately, Mao Zedong thought. The reform effort was nationally organized but executed on the local level. Intellectuals were forced to confess their “subservience to capitalism” and their betrayal of the Chinese people. Further, they were to thank Mao publicly for having saved them with new thinking. The public image of professors was virtually destroyed. This is somewhat ironic in that China was short on intellectuals and educated manpower was exactly what was needed for her to build a modern country. The CCP sought to develop the mental power it needed by setting up a series of technical colleges and engineering institutes. It then set out to train zealous workers and peasants in the sciences only to find it was not possible. Mao began to realize intellectuals were required for China to grow and thought he could ensure their loyalty by making them party members. He further believed the earlier reformed intellectuals were “Red” at heart. Starting in May 1956, intellectuals were urged to voice their criticisms of the party bureaucracy so that improvements could be made. The campaign (The Hundred Flowers Movement) slogan was “Let a hundred flowers bloom together, let the hundred schools of thought contend”. For the first year, no one was willing to come forward. A few finally did followed by many. Rhetorical attacks on the party became so severe that the campaign was stopped within 5 weeks of the first criticisms. Mao was shocked by the criticisms and his sentiments turned permanently against intellectuals. In 1957 to 1958, the anti-rightist campaign was initiated in retaliation against intellectuals and CCP members who happened to be aligned with them. Nearly 1,000,000 skilled people were labeled as enemies of the people and removed from their jobs.
The Great Leap Forward (1958-1960): By 1957, it had become apparent to the CCP that the earlier reorganization of agriculture was not yielding the production levels necessary to support the country’s economic growth. Mao felt that decentralizing agriculture and establishing more local control driven by the ideological zealousness could yield better results. In essence, Mao wanted to mobilize the populace much as he had to win the revolution. His new campaign was founded on three objectives: 1) use labor more intensively to build agricultural infrastructure (e.g. irrigation canals, etc.), 2) expand the labor force by using women and even children, and 3) establish small scale plants in the countryside to produce needed farm equipment and consumer goods; wider availability of consumer goods, it was thought, would motivate the labor force. One curiosity of this campaign was Mao’s focus on steel production. It was proclaimed “Everybody, make steel!” Makeshift furnaces were erected everywhere with just about every town and village having one. Anything that burned was used for fuel and everything made of iron (nails, pots, railing, etc.) was melted. Estimates suggest that nearly 100 million farmers shifted from grain to steel production. Unfortunately, the steel produced was extremely low grade and 
virtually unusable. Still, Mao proclaimed that China could overtake the United States and Britain in industrial production within 15 years. Mao’s zeal energized the Chinese people and they worked fanatically on. First year production reports prepared by eager-to-please local officials indicated that agricultural production had nearly doubled since the inception of the campaign. Unfortunately, the statistics were far from accurate and more important grain production had fallen tremendously. Based on steel reports, the CCP supported another year of Great Leap Forward initiatives. This cycle continued for two more years: misapplied labor led to shortages in needed commodities, which led to grossly inflated production reports, which led to more misapplied labor. During the second year, nature stepped in and aggravated a bad agricultural situation with bad weather. By 1960 when the CCP finally realized people were starving, it was too late. In 1961, Mao gave up on the Great Leap Forward admitting he didn’t “know much about economics”. It’s estimated that tens of millions ultimately died from starvation.
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The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, 1966-1976: From 1961 to 1966, China remained relatively calm as its economy slowly recovered. General political persecution was at a minimum and national pride was boosted by party propaganda as well as China’s first successful detonation of an atomic bomb. During this time, however, two factors were especially weighing on Mao. First, intellectuals began a campaign of indirect yet aggressive criticism of The Great Leap Forward by reviving ancient plays full of historical allusion and insinuation. Second, Mao began to believe many government officials (at all levels) were abusing their power and exploiting the “under-class” or, more accurately, the peasantry. Mao feared his ideologies were being derailed. A true revolutionary, he knew the best way to return to pure communist ideals was through revolution. With backing from the army, Mao constructed a team that included his wife Jiang Qing, the military chief Lin Biao and a group of radical Shanghai intellectuals. Their task was to restore the party by conducting a new revolution. Using a scathing propaganda campaign, Jiang Qing and here colleagues, later known as “The Gang of Four”, targeted rightists and corrupt officials
. The most ardent supporters of the revolution were the energetic student masses who became known as the Red Guards. The Red Guards were tasked by Mao with eliminating the “Four Olds: old ideas, old culture, old customs, and old habits” as well as seeking out and reforming corrupt officials and capitalism sympathizers. Schools were shut down and students were given free transportation so they could roam the country conducting their duty. The Red Guards carried and quoted from their “Little Red Books” filled with Mao Zedong Thought. The free reign given the Red Guards resulted in attacks on just about everything and everyone. The traveling bands of Red Guards sought out and destroyed cultural relics, books, music, libraries and anything else representing one of the Four Olds. Person after person was branded “rightist” or “capitalistic-roader” and subjected to public denunciation, thought reform and/or imprisonment. Whether true or not, accusations were incessant and trust, even between many parents and their children, became virtually nonexistent. It is estimated that 60% of the party officials were purged and maybe 400,000 people died from maltreatment. The first three years of the Cultural Revolution were most intense although activity continued until 1976. Lingering social and psychological effects still exist today. Curiously, it was in 1972 within the midst of the revolution that US President Richard Nixon visited and resumed diplomatic ties with China.
The Gang of Four and Mao both Meet Their End, 1976: In the early 1970’s the Gang of Four controlled the media but could not, even with Mao’s backing, take over the administration of the government or economy; the “establishment” had turned to Zhou Enlai for leadership even though Mao remained the top party man. Zhou Enlai had become sick in 1973 with cancer and moved to make Deng Xiaoping his successor as premier. When Zhou Enlai died in January 1976, the Gang of Four forbade public mourning. In defiance of the Gang of Four, hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Tiananmen Square to pay their final respects. The crowds were suppressed and the Deng Xiaoping was removed from power. Then in July of the same year, a tremendous earthquake struck Tangshan killing and estimated 500,000 people. The peasants believed such a huge natural disaster was but one omen, an edict from heaven: Mao must die for failing the masses. Within two months, on September 9, 1976 Mao did in fact die. In October, the Gang of Four were arrested and tried. Top
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Deng Xiaoping Reforms and Growth
Deng Xiaoping Rises to Power: Deng Xiaoping had exiled from the CCP twice. Rehabilitated once before and the Gang of Four immobilized, Deng maneuvered to take over leadership of the party. By late 1978, he succeeded over an ambitious Hua Guofeng who was a true backer of Mao Zedong thought. Mao had been a great revolutionary, but Deng was a great pragmatist. Deng proclaimed “to be rich is glorious” and “it doesn’t matter if the cat is black or white so long as it catches mice”; both ideas reflected his drift from revolutionary fanaticism to economic sensibility. In 1979, Deng traveled to the US as part of an economic opening and modernization program. After Deng’s visit, thousands of Chinese students began studying in the US and thousands of American tourists traveled to China.
Early Actions: Upon taking the reigns, Deng knew the CCP would have to acknowledge its errors if it were to gain the trust of the populace and rule effectively. To achieve this the Deng administration led several initiatives: 1) rehabilitate an estimated 500,000 to 1 million people who had been labeled rightists or convicted of crimes between the 1950’s and the Cultural Revolution, 2) admit that the Cultural Revolution was a campaign with disastrous consequences, 3) position Mao as a great leader who, in conjunction with the CCP, had “done 70% good and 30% bad” since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and 4) upgrade the party membership through “early retirement” and by adding a many new members who were university educated. Concurrently, Deng focused China on modernization in four areas: agriculture, industry, science- technology, and defense. Although Deng was entirely open to economic and modernization programs, the CCP made it clear that China would not be going through any political reforms. In March 1979, Deng formally stated that China must follow 1) the socialist path, 2) the dictatorship of the proletariat, 3) Party leadership, and 4) Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought.
Economic Opening and Development: Starting in the late 70’s, China began making fundamental changes to its economic policies. Deng and the CCP relaxed their rigid controls on the economy, minimized the focus on commodity production, loosed the reigns for private enterprises and began asking intellectuals to contribute to modernization. The government encouraged foreign investment and it began rolling in. State-owned enterprises were given mandates to earn profits and pay taxes. A new focus on exporting consumer products led to a record level foreign exchange reserves thus allowing China to import needed machines and equipment for continued modernization. The coastal regions particularly began to flourish and the first Special Economic Zones (SEZ) were set up in Guangdong province as experiments. The SEZ’s were given unprecedented levels of autonomy for attracting and conducting business; joint ventures between government agencies and foreign enterprises sprang up. Continued focus on modernization in science and technology with moves to link innovations with industry added to economic prosperity as did the direct acquisition of foreign technology. With reforms, China’s economy was able to flourish despite continued 
overall strict control by the CCP. “Socialism with Chinese characteristics”, as stated by Deng Xiaoping, seemed to be working. A setback came in the form of the Tiananmen incident (see below) in 1989 when the government used military force to end a massive student demonstration. Hundreds to thousands, depending on your information source, were killed; the international community was appalled and foreign investment severly affected. By the mid 1990’s, however, the incident had been “forgotten” enough for foreign investment to return to and surpass earlier levels. Between 1978 and and 1999, the Chinese economy quadrupled to become one of the top 5 largest economies in the world (2005 est. US $12 trillion; China $2.5 trillion).
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Notes on Tiananmen Incident: A democracy movement in China had actually started in the fall of 1978 in part because of China’s economic opening and an influx of democratic ideas. A wall in Beijing, “Democracy Wall”, was filled everyday with
posters containing thoughts on democracy and government. One famous contributor, Wei Jingsheng, advocated democracy as a “fifth modernization”. By April 1979, Wei was sentenced on weak charges for 15 years as a warning to others. Many became alienated, particularly the growing student masses. Concurrently, the CCP had become internally divided over economic reform policy with conservatives on one side and liberals, led by Secretary-general Hu Yaobang, on the other. Continuing into the 1980’s, students and other civilian groups were becoming restless and began demanding democratization of the government. Motivating these groups were a slowing economy, high inflation and a perception of increasing corruption and nepotism within the government (China’s increasing wealth was being misappropriated by many government officials toward lavish banquets, foreign cars, international travel and the likes). The obvious social unrest was disturbing to conservative elements within the government. In 1986, the conservatives pinned the blame for political unrest on Hu Yaobang and his liberal policies; he was removed from office. Then in April 1989, Hu died and masses of people throughout China gathered in public to mourn his death. By May of 1989 public mourning had turned into a massive but peaceful democracy demonstration in 
Tiananmen Square that included a hunger strike by 300 students. The whole world watched the event via satellite broadcast. As the demonstration gathered momentum, the government feared control could be lost and a point of no return passed. Many believe they feared another political upheaval, so familiar in China, and an ultimate loss of power. After intense internal deliberation, the government ordered the military to move in and end the demonstration. On June 4, 1989, they did. Both military and civilians were killed in the ensuing clash. Civilian death estimates range from hundreds to thousands. Many others were arrested and jailed or executed. The official CCP description of the demonstration is that it was a counter-revolutionary movement led by “counterrevolutionaries and other criminal elements”; that it was a threat to national security.
Late 1990’s: In the spring of 1997, Deng Xiaoping passed away. In July of 1997, Hong Kong peacefully reverted from British to Chinese rule. The event was highly symbolic for the Chinese as they regained a part of their “Motherland” which had been lost (conceded) to colonial forces more than 150 years earlier. Also significant, was the return of Macao to China by the Portuguese in 1999. On October 1, 1999 China celebrated its 50th birthday as the People’s Republic of China under CCP rule. Jiang Zemin resided as China’s president and the charismatic Zhu Ronji as the savvy economy reforming Chinese Premier. Top
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