60 years in review, from rags to riches for PRC

　　It was Deng Xiaoping who made China “unequally rich.” Purged three times by Mao as a “revisionist,” Deng launched his overarching reform and opening in 1978. He ditched Maoism in favor of the now-proverbial “catism” that it does not matter whether a cat is black or white as long as it catches mice. Deng allowed “some people to get rich first” and set up “special economic zones” in coastal provinces modeled after Taiwan's “economic processing zones” in the 50s. Three decades later, people in coastal provinces who “got rich first” now enjoyed a living standard comparable to people in Taiwan.

It was Deng, the architect of China's reform and opening experiments, who led China from rags to riches. In 1978, two years after Mao's death and the end of his destructive Cultural Revolution, China's was teetering on the verge of economic collapse, with the majority of people living near or below poverty line. Now, 300 million people have been dragged out of poverty. In 2008, China's per capita GDP reached US$2,800, a tenfold increase over that three decades ago.

Looking back, the strides China has made in the past 30 years was a miracle. China is no longer an economic backwater, but a first-world industrial and business powerhouse in booming regions and cities. But changes in politics are much less impressive. Free expression is still restricted and the press is still controlled by the state. Censorship is widespread. Direct elections are unheard of except in rural areas. In this respect, China has a lot to learn from Taiwan.

What will be in store for China in the next 60 years? While it makes little sense to predict a future which depends on many variables, it is likely that China would move further to the center of the world stage in the next decade when its economy surpasses not only Japan, but also the United States. If that happens, Taiwan will inevitably be further marginalized.

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