Interview Transcript
SOURCE:
Email Interview
March 25th, 2013
William H. Overholt
Author of: The Rise of China: How Economic Reform is Creating a New Superpower
Email Interview
March 25th, 2013
William H. Overholt
Author of: The Rise of China: How Economic Reform is Creating a New Superpower
1.) Why was the decentralization of grain production the key to China's rural growth? And why would it have helped more when assigning the responsibility down further to the household?
Mao Zedong wanted to manage farms as if they were giant factories with common ownership. The collective farms, as these giant farm factories were called, paid everyone about the same no matter how hard they worked or what new ideas they had for more efficient farming. So people were discouraged from working extra hard and trying new things. When they gave control of the farms back to the families, the families that worked harder or smarter got the benefits of their work, so production increased dramatically.
2.) What are the negatives of Deng Xiaoping's Economic Reforms that are present today and can you briefly describe each of the negatives that are impacting China today?
When Deng Xiaoping took over, the Chinese people were desperately poor and the economy was on the verge of collapse. So he had to focus exclusively on growing the economy. He did that, and the results were hugely beneficial. Today everyone knows they will have enough food, will have a home, and will get some education. One indicator of how much things improved: In the early Mao Zedong era the average Chinese lived only 41 years; today they live an average of 73 years. But after the country has been saved, other things become important. Continuing to focus just on economic growth leads to deterioration of the environment, inequality where some people get very rich unfairly and lots of others stay poor, and an obsession with money leads people to neglect other important values. The collective farms provided health care and education and a safety net for people who lost their jobs, so now China has to work hard to replace those things.
3.) Please describe the current situation between U.S. and China.
The U.S. and China cooperate on many important things. The Chinese and American economies benefit from each other. China's people's lives have improved because American companies give them jobs and Chinese companies can sell things to America. The American people are much better off because of inexpensive things like shoes and clothing that come from China. American companies benefit from making and selling things in China; General Motors sells more cars in China than in America. But we also compete and argue. Like two big businesses dealing with each other, we argue about whether our companies are being treated fairly. Americans believe strongly in democracy and criticize China's undemocratic politics and its lack of human rights. We help our allies like Japan and the Philippines who believe China is grabbing too much control of the sea. China complains about the American navy doing aggressive things near the coast of China. So there is a lot of cooperation and a lot of competition. Despite a lot of noisy arguments, so far there has been more cooperation; the world will be a much better place if that continues.
4.) Do you think based on present-day situations, China is in need of more democracy? Why or why not.
When China was in a terrible mess after a long civil war and after Mao Zedong's mistakes, a tough Chinese government forcing through decisions that rapidly improved people's lives did a lot of good for China. That led the Chinese people to support their government even though it wasn't democratic. But now more and more of the Chinese people feel that they want the government to listen to their voices. They want the freedom to hear many opinions the way Americans do. They want to be able to follow their religions in any way they desire. So the government needs to adapt to this new situation or there will be trouble. That doesn't necessarily mean suddenly doing everything the way Americans do, but it does mean giving people more freedom and more ability to influence government decisions.
5.) Do you think there are any problems with the Economic Reforms today, and are there any changes that could possibly be made?
There is a constant need for new reforms, many new reforms. Every success creates a new problem, so the reforms will never be final. In a separate email I'll send you a paper about the changing economic and political situation. You might find some answers there about the direction that new reforms need to take.
Mao Zedong wanted to manage farms as if they were giant factories with common ownership. The collective farms, as these giant farm factories were called, paid everyone about the same no matter how hard they worked or what new ideas they had for more efficient farming. So people were discouraged from working extra hard and trying new things. When they gave control of the farms back to the families, the families that worked harder or smarter got the benefits of their work, so production increased dramatically.
2.) What are the negatives of Deng Xiaoping's Economic Reforms that are present today and can you briefly describe each of the negatives that are impacting China today?
When Deng Xiaoping took over, the Chinese people were desperately poor and the economy was on the verge of collapse. So he had to focus exclusively on growing the economy. He did that, and the results were hugely beneficial. Today everyone knows they will have enough food, will have a home, and will get some education. One indicator of how much things improved: In the early Mao Zedong era the average Chinese lived only 41 years; today they live an average of 73 years. But after the country has been saved, other things become important. Continuing to focus just on economic growth leads to deterioration of the environment, inequality where some people get very rich unfairly and lots of others stay poor, and an obsession with money leads people to neglect other important values. The collective farms provided health care and education and a safety net for people who lost their jobs, so now China has to work hard to replace those things.
3.) Please describe the current situation between U.S. and China.
The U.S. and China cooperate on many important things. The Chinese and American economies benefit from each other. China's people's lives have improved because American companies give them jobs and Chinese companies can sell things to America. The American people are much better off because of inexpensive things like shoes and clothing that come from China. American companies benefit from making and selling things in China; General Motors sells more cars in China than in America. But we also compete and argue. Like two big businesses dealing with each other, we argue about whether our companies are being treated fairly. Americans believe strongly in democracy and criticize China's undemocratic politics and its lack of human rights. We help our allies like Japan and the Philippines who believe China is grabbing too much control of the sea. China complains about the American navy doing aggressive things near the coast of China. So there is a lot of cooperation and a lot of competition. Despite a lot of noisy arguments, so far there has been more cooperation; the world will be a much better place if that continues.
4.) Do you think based on present-day situations, China is in need of more democracy? Why or why not.
When China was in a terrible mess after a long civil war and after Mao Zedong's mistakes, a tough Chinese government forcing through decisions that rapidly improved people's lives did a lot of good for China. That led the Chinese people to support their government even though it wasn't democratic. But now more and more of the Chinese people feel that they want the government to listen to their voices. They want the freedom to hear many opinions the way Americans do. They want to be able to follow their religions in any way they desire. So the government needs to adapt to this new situation or there will be trouble. That doesn't necessarily mean suddenly doing everything the way Americans do, but it does mean giving people more freedom and more ability to influence government decisions.
5.) Do you think there are any problems with the Economic Reforms today, and are there any changes that could possibly be made?
There is a constant need for new reforms, many new reforms. Every success creates a new problem, so the reforms will never be final. In a separate email I'll send you a paper about the changing economic and political situation. You might find some answers there about the direction that new reforms need to take.
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