Recently
we have seen the massive demonstrations in Hong Kong, China demanding
democratic reforms. If we read the
pro-capitalist newspapers we might conclude that these demonstrations are new
and have no connection with the history of China. When we look Chinese history we see that the
people who live in this region have been struggling to free themselves for over
175 years. This paper will attempt to
give some of the outlines of that history.
Most
of Chinese history has been a history of feudal dynasties. Like any of the world’s feudal regimes these
dynasties had their periods of relative prosperity as well as decline. In those periods of decline the Han
nationality—which is over 90% of the Chinese population—didn’t have a good
reason to support the ruling powers. For
this reason, feudal regimes that emerged from minority nationalities were able
to rule China for hundreds of years.
These minority nationalities included the Mongols and then the Manchus.
Britain and the Opium Wars
After
the revolution of the thirteen colonies that created the United States of
America, Britain searched to new colonies it could dominate. China had been trading with Spain for many
years in order to attain the silver produced in the Americas. Britain wanted this silver, but there was a
problem. China was a self-reliant nation
and didn’t need anything Britain produced.
The British solved this problem by selling the Chinese opium.
The
Manchu rulers of China saw how opium was destroying the lives of the people
while draining the economy. For seventy
years the Manchu Dynasty had laws prohibiting the sale of opium. The British responded to these laws by increasing
opium sales from 15 tons in 1730 to 1,400 tons in 1838. As one might conclude, this willful and
consistent violation of Chinese law led to war.
The
Manchu ruling powers confiscated a full year’s opium supply from the
British. This act prompted the British
to engage in the first Opium War that lasted from 1839–1842. The Manchus rulers were more interested in
maintaining their power than in fighting the British who had superior naval
armaments. For this reason, the Manchus
agreed to pay Britain for the cost of the war.
This included the lost revenue from the destroyed opium. Another concession from the Opium War was
that Britain gained political control over Hong Kong.
The
defeat of China in the Opium War resulted in a complete economic disaster. The Manchus quickly ran out of money and
several rebellions erupted throughout China.
The largest of these uprisings was the Taiping Rebellion of
1854–1864. This rebellion was immensely
popular with the Chinese peasants, and the Taipings were able to take control
of vast areas of China.
In
the midst of this rebellion, the British went to war again against the Manchu
regime in the second Opium War or Arrow War.
After the their victory in this war, the British gave their full support
to the Manchus in their war against the Taipings. The British support to the Manchus was
crucial in the defeat of the Taiping Rebellion.
In this defeat China may have lost sixty million inhabitants due to
deaths or emigration.
We
might consider that at the same time as the Taiping Rebellion, the Union forces
of the United States were in the midst of their own Civil War. While the Union forces fought against the
pro–slavery forces of the Confederacy, the U.S. government also supported the
Manchus in their defeat of the Taiping Rebellion. While slavery was outlawed in the United
States, slave–like conditions continued in China.
Famine and the Boxer Rebellion
These
Chinese defeats led to more devastation for China. Mike Davis wrote an outstanding book titled: Late Victorian Holocausts: El Nino Famines and the Making of the Third
World. In his book Davis wrote about
the fact that during the years 1876–1900 between 19.5 and 30 million people
starved to death in China.
Just
as in the Irish potato famine, China had sufficient food supplies to feed all
the people. The problem was that the
British used the economy for their own interests and had no desire to alleviate
mass starvation in China. The only way
to transport food to those who were starving was to use pack mules. We might also keep in mind that Britain was
in a period of decline during those years.
One
of the main reasons why the British needed revenue from China was to pay off
loans they had with banks in the United States.
While the transportation system deteriorated in China, thousands of
Chinese workers toiled under horrendous conditions to build railroads in the
United States.
This
massive starvation led to the Boxer Rebellion.
The Chinese call this the I Ho Ch’ uan or Fists for the Protection of Public Peace. As with the Opium War, the Manchu ruling
power initially supported the rebellion.
Then, they joined with the imperialist powers to defeat the Boxer
Rebellion. After China lost millions to
starvation, hundreds of thousands lost their lives in the Boxer Rebellion. While the imperialist powers had no money to
alleviate the conditions of starvation in China, they invested $333 million in
their military to defeat the Boxer Rebellion.
Nationalists take power
By
1911 another rebellion took power led by Dr. Sun Yat–sen. This rebellion wasn’t able to maintain
power. After Sun’s death Chiang Kai–shek
(Jiang Jieshi) became the new leader of the nationalist forces known as the
Kuomintang (Guomindang). Chiang allied
himself with the ruling powers of China and attempted to reverse everything Sun
Yat–sen dedicated his life to advance.
Then,
in 1927 another broad revolution rocked China.
The emerging working class united with the peasantry to bring about a
new nation. The Chinese Communist Party
had tremendous support at this time.
Unfortunately Joseph Stalin had betrayed the Russian Revolution and the
Chinese Communists were loyal to his miss-leadership.
This
meant that the communists continued to support Chiang Kai–shek even after it
became clear that he was prepared to drown this rebellion in blood. Even after Chiang defeated the communists, he
was determined to wipe them out.
I
believe it is important to consider the idea that the defeat of the 1927
revolution had disastrous consequences that continue to today. After this defeat, Chiang Kai-shek controlled
the cities of China. Chiang’s policies
as well as the Japanese invasion effectively stifled working class decent.
History
has shown that the only way for society to be transformed into a place where
human needs are more important than profits is when a workers government comes
to power. Because the working class had
been stifled, the Chinese Communist Party turned to the peasantry for
support. Mao Zedong, who was raised in a
peasant environment, became the leader of the communists.
China
isn’t just the most populous nation in the world. China is also the place where some of the
most audacious projects have taken place.
China’s Great Wall has a length that would stretch across the United
States. While the Panama Canal is fifty
miles long, China’s Grand Canal is about 1,500 miles long and stretches from
northern to southern China.
It
was in this spirit that the Chinese Communists organized their Long March.
While Chiang Kai-Shek’s forces attempted to annihilate his
opposition, the communists marched about 6,000 miles over 18 mountain ranges,
and crossed 24 rivers. In this march
they carried heavy equipment.
The
Japanese ruling powers saw this development and decided to take advantage by
invading the country. Chiang was so
obsessed with fighting the communists that he refused to use his forces to
engage the Japanese. In fact, many
leaders of his Kuomintang gave support to the Japanese invaders. Finally, after his own officers placed him
under house arrest, Chiang agreed to form an alliance with the communists in
the fight against the Japanese invaders.
The Chinese Communist Party
After
the war, China needed to pay an enormous debt for the armaments used against
Japan. This debt destroyed the Chinese
capitalist economy by creating an astronomical inflation. Under these conditions Chiang had very little
support. For this reason, the 1949
revolution that brought the Chinese Communist Party to power had very little
opposition.
Shortly
after the 1949 revolution China had to face a new threat. The United States invaded Korea to support
the puppet government they installed in the south. The U.S. armed forces marched to the Yalu
River on the border of China.
General
Douglass MacArthur felt that he could just continue his campaign into
China. His arrogance exposed his near
complete stupidity as a military commander.
As
the U.S. forces marched north in Korea, millions of Chinese and Korean soldiers
surrounded the invaders. This force
prevented the U.S. army from invading China.
However, millions of Chinese and Koreans lost their lives in an effort
to prevent these nations from being controlled by foreigners once again.
Mao
Zedong’s rule of China had mixed results.
Francis Moore Lappe wrote a book titled World Hunger—Twelve Myths. While
capitalist nations argued that they are combatting world hunger with their
so-called Green Revolution, Lappe
gives us the real facts. She argued that
it was the Chinese Revolution that has done more to combat world hunger than
any other force.
However,
there have also been disasters brought about by the new rulers of China. The Great
Leap Forward meant that millions of Chinese perished. Mao’s Cultural
Revolution meant that some of the most talented people of China would face
humiliation and isolation.
After
Mao’s death a new regime took power and adapted to capitalist investment. This meant that China has built more rail
lines than any other nation in the world.
Today China has become one of the most important industrial centers in
the world.
In
order to support capitalist interests, about 5,000 coal miners die every year
as a result of preventable mining accidents.
Hundreds of millions of peasants continue to live on about two dollars
per day.
Political
decent has been stifled. In 1989 the
Chinese military suppressed the demonstration in Tiananmen Square. We might consider that in the middle of
Tiananmen Square is the Monument to the
People’s Heroes. This monument gives
a history of many of the Chinese wars that attempted to liberate the people,
starting with the Opium War.
The
current demonstrations in Hong Kong are a continuation of this very old
struggle. While the course of Chinese
history has been uneven, there has been a stubborn persistence of the people to
achieve liberation.
The
media as well as most history texts tend to ignore the facts presented in this
paper. My attempt is to not only give a
brief history of China, but to show how China has always influenced world
events. This will continue, and the
recent demonstrations in Hong Kong allow us to be optimistic about the
future.
