Vol. 26, No. 9

Chino's Gool for 2000 Attoinoble

How to Accelerote lndustriol Growth

February 28, 1983

th^l^rruA CHINESE WEEKLY OF

NEWS AND VIEWS

F

\f'd

LETTERS

Congrotulotions on the 20thAnniversory of French Edition

Dear friends, I warmly congrat-ulate you on the 20th anniversaryof your French edition and hopeto read it in the years to come.

From reading your publications,especially your weekly, for morethan 10 years, I get to know theprogress China has made. In thecolumn "Letters" I read everyweek the various suggestions foryour magazine. As for me. I likeit very much, mainly because ofits contents.

Your magazine presents verygood reports of events in bothChina and the world. It bringsunderstanding to those who donot know China, and for thosewho begin to understand, it helpsthem get a fuller appreciation ofChina's courage and dauntlessnessin the course of its progress. Al-though the layout of the magazinecannot be neglected, it should besecondary.

I have read on many occasionsin your magazine reports aboutevents in Asia, Africa and Europe,some of which were very impor-tant but were not even mentionedin our newspapers and magazines.

I like particularly articles des-cribing current developments inChina. This is nevertheless themain purpose of your magazine.

I hope to visit your beautifulcountry iri July this year togetherwith some friends in the Sino-Bel-gium Friendship Association wholove China. I will meet again withmy dear Chinese friends. I alsohope that during my stay in Bei-jing I can visit your office andenjoy the pleasure of meeting you.

This will be my fourth visit toChina since 1978 and I find some-thing new each time.

Antonio AresuHoeilaart, Belgium

Contents ond Suggestions

I always read your magazinefrom cover to cover. I like all ofits articles, especially interna-tional and documentary articles onthe situation in various countriesand regions. Your magazine hasbecome my guide to understandingwhat is justice and what is in-justice. What satisfies me most isthat China, the most populous andcontinuously developing country,treats all small and poor countriesequally.

The contents are very good.Otherwise, I would be bored andstop reading half way.

I suggest you shorten the doc-umenta.ry articles which occupymore than 20 pages. On the otherhand, at least five pages shouldbe given to the "International"column to report important eventshappening every day.

Can you publish an article onminority nationalities each weekthis year? In specific terms, youshould publish an article on oneof the 55 minority nationalties ineach issue. The articles should beshort and concise.

Gustavo Mora CalvoSan Jose, Costa Rica

Chino's Spoce Scienceond Technology

I like the article "Rapid Growthof China's Space Science" (issueNo. 32, 1982) because in it thehistory of China's space scienceand technology is presented in avery terse and clear form. Theexperience China has gained inthis field is praiseworthy andcommendable. Your launching ofdifferent kinds of satellites intoorbit is evidence of your highlydeveloped and advanced tech-nology.

Haji Mohammad SaeedLahore, Pakistan

Agree With Mr. Rosmussen

In regards to appearance, Iagree with the suggestions madeby Mr. Reid Rasmussen in issueNo. 1, 1983. I have noted withpleasure that you have in themeanwhile made changes in thelayout.

Shamsul AlamChittagong, Bangladesh

Two Socio! Systems

Beiiing Reoieu appeals to uswho are confined in a society farfrom ideal. Your magazine helpsus distinguish a capitalist societyfrom a genuine socialist one.

The editing and selecting arecompetent. The most interestingcolumn is "Notes From the Edi-tors" with its choice of topics andelaborations. "Events and Trends"and "International" are alsovaluable.

Hector de LeonHaverstraw, N.Y., USA

Reod CHINESE LITERATURE

for the best of clossicol ond contempororyChinese literoture

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BEUINGREVIEW

Published cvery Mondoy byBEIJINO REVIB^'

24 Boiwonzhuong Rood, BeijingThe Piople's Republic of Chino

Vol. 26, No. 9 Februory 28,l9A3

CONTENTS

tETTERS

NOTES FROM THE EDIIORS

Comboting bios ogoinst intel'lectuols

EVENTS A TRENDS

Peosonts seek science ordentlyLotest production IiguresEmbezzlers executedAirlines institute security rules

Joponese speciol envoY's visitFirm support for Polestinion

people

INTERNATIONAL

5-8

9-11

lsroel : Begin's politicol trickBritoin ond Fronce: WhY theY

reject Soviet proposolVietnomese ottocks, threots

futileFronce: Nozi wor criminol

owoits punishment

ARIICTES & DOCUMENTS

Chinese-type modernizotion(6): Con the gool for 2000be reoched? 12

Pictoriol (Creote o new situo-tion, moke new contribu-tions) 16

Expond industry through tech-nicol tronsformotion 21

Life-long pursuit of truth 23

Urbon fomily structures ondtheir chonges-A survey ofo Tionjin neighbourhood 25

CUTTURE & SCIENCE 30

ART PAGE 31

Dirrtibuled h Chino PuUitolions(enlre (Gll0Jl SHUUAII ),

P. 0 . Box 399, Iteiiing, Chino

5ubrtription pricr il yeor)l

lunrolh ... . . l.tl2.m USl...lrStl3.00l{u lohrd..l{I.tr{.00 UI.......!.6,t0(onodo.. . . .. (on.ll5.O

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK

Goal lor 2000 Attainable

The sixth of the "Chinese-Type Modernization" seriesexamines China's past economic growth and current con-ditions to show that the goal of quadrupling gross annualoutput value by the year 2000 is feasible (p. 12).

Accelerating lndustti al Grcwth

China's industrial production, according to well-knowneconomist Sun Yefang, can be rapidly expanded by techni-cal transformation of the existing enterprises. The thesis"the bigger the base figure, the lower the growth rate" isrefuted (p. 21).

From Big to Small Families

Analysis of the factors contributing to and inhibitingthe trend towards small families. Although the directionis towards the nuclear family, Chinese young couples arestill socially and legally obligated to parents (p. 25).

Peasants Learn Techniques

Peasants are eager to learn new techniques. In ruralareas lectures, exhibitions and technical books popularizingtechnical know-how are in great demand (p. 5).

Susumu Nikaido in Ahina

Meeting with the Japanese special envoy, Hu Yaobang.General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, said thatChina is pleased with the development of Sino-Japanesefriendship and co-operation in the past decade (p. 7).

Economic Gains

January figures of in-dustry and transport areup; actual output of 1982

farm products exceedsoriginal estimates (p. 6).

A doy off. Photo byDonghoi.

/:I*#

'u,f,

Wong

NOTES FROM THE EDITORS

Recently the Chinese press hasrepeatedly underlined the im-.portance to combat prejudicesagainst intellectuals. Pleaseelaborate on the rationale.

The Chinese Communist Par-ty's policy towards intellectualsis related to the Party's generalline. When the correct lineholds sway in the Party, intel-lectuals are usually regarded ashaving important positions androles in society.

As early as 1939, the PartyCentral Committee adopted adecision drafted by Mao Zedongon recruiting large numbers ofintellectuals which was imple-mented effectively in the anti-Japanese base areas.

In the period following libera-tion, the Party carried out a cor-rect policy towards intellectuals.The Party Central Committeeconcluded: It is necessary to re-cruit intellectuals during therevolution and is even more nec-essary to do so in the period ofconstruction.

At a national conference onthe question of intellectualsconvened by the Party CentralCommittee in January 1956, thelate Premier Zhou Enlai pro-claimed that most of China'sintellectuals had become part ofthe working class and should berelied on in building socialism.

Later, however, the Partycommitted "L€ft" mistakes inits guiding ideology. Ilnis ledto increasingly grave deviationsfrom the correct ways of doingthings not only in political andeconomic fields, but also in thefields of education, science and

culture and on the question ofintellectuals. The result: manyintellectuals were no longertrusted and some were evensubjected to unwarranted at-tacks.

Such mistakes wereexploited and carried to ex-tremes by conspirators like LinBiao and Jiang Qing during the"cultural revolution." In theirbid for the supreme Party andgovernment leadership, theypersecuted large numbers ofveteran cadres and in their at-tempt to deceive the people theyinstigated a movement againstthe intellectuals. With the cliche,"the more knowledge onegains, the more reactionary onebecomes," they branded Chineseintellectuals the "stinking ninthcategory," coming after theeight kinds of class enemies:landlords, rich peasants, coun-ter-revolutionaries, bad ele-ments, Rightists, renegades,enemy agents and capitalist-roaders.

During those years, largenumbers of scholars and expertswere sent to the villages to en-gage in physical labour andmany others we.re forced togive up their specialized work.Moreover, many intellectualswere victimized b)' frameupsand false charges. Some wereimprisoned or even hounded todeath.

The "cultural revolution"ended with the downfall of thegang of four. Towards the endof 1978, the Party Central Com-mittee reassessed and confirmedits policy towards intellectualsand once again affirmed its con-

clusion that intellectuals are anintegral part of the Chineseworking class. The new Con-stitution adopted in 1982 by theNational People's Congressclearly stipulates: "In buildingsocialism it is imperative to relyon the workers, peasants andintellectuals." In the past fewyears the Party and governmenthave done a great deal of workto enhance the political positionof intellectuals and improvetheir working and living condi-tions.

Despite these improvements,much remains to be done insome departments and regionsto thoroughly implement theParty's policy towards intellec-tuals. Major indications are:

- Although very few peopleare hostile to intellectuals, theyare often treated as outsidersor guests instead of.as our com-rades. That is to say, there isstill a lack of political confidencein intellectuals.

- Quite a few middle-agedintellectuals are burdened withheavy workloads and theirworking and living conditionsare rather poor, but those incharge have not done much tochange this situation.

- When it comes to promot-ing intellectuals to leadingposts, some people still raiseinsignificant complaints to fore-stall their promotion.

- Other forms of discrimina-tion against intellectuals alsooccur from tinre to time. Forexample, some leaders tend tocriticize intellectuals who do agood job in their work whileworking in. their spare time toaugment their incomes.

Gombating bias against intellectuals

Beijing Reotew, No. 9

The bias against intellec-tuals stems from the narrow-minded mentality of small pro-ducers. In semi-colonial, semi-feudal old China, industry wasundeveloped and educationbackward. A large portion ofthe Party membership camefrom the peasahtry and han-dicraft workers. The intellec-tuals were mostly from land-lord or bourgeois families. Pro-ceeding from the erroneous con-cept of merely taking accountof class origin, some Partymembers saw intellectuals as

alien elements and were suspi-cious of them. Among a numberof people the bias against intel-lectuals was deepened by thefact that intellectuals from theold society often became targetsin the many post-liberalionpolitical struggles in which thescope of class struggle was en-larged.

This being the case, it is un-likely that prejudices againstintellectuals will be eradicatedovernight.

Intellectuals, along with sci-ence and technology, are indis-pensable to China's Presentmodernization drive. Combatingall forms of bias against them.therefore, will remain an im-portant task for some time tocome for the Party in the Politi-cal and ideological arenas.

- Political EditorAn Zhiguo

- ---J

February 28, 1983

EVENTS AND TRENDS

Peasants seek science ardentlY

Great improvements in ruralstandards of living since imPle-menting the production resPon-sibility system in 1979 havebrought a "science fever" toChina's countryside.

The statistics show that aboutone-fourth of the rural com-munes have established associa-tions for the popularization ofscience and technologY, the totalnumber of which has increasedfrom 4,000 to more than 15,000

within one year. In line withthe needs of production, thepeasants learn improved agri-cultural techniques from lec-tures, exhibitions, trainingclasses, radio and movies spon-sored by the associations.

In mahy suburban counties, a

new-type of fair has emergEdwhich the peasants call"science popularization fairs."These are generally sponsored bYthe county scientific and tech-nical associations with the parti-cipation of people who are fa-miliar with the theory and prae-tice of farming, forestry, animalhusbandry, sideline occupationsand fishery. They introduce tothe peasants applied techniquesand answer their questions on

agricultural technology. ManYphotos of cultivation and man-agement techniques and sPeci-mens of plants, plant diseasesand insect pests are on displayat the fairs. Various kinds oftechnical information, chemicalfertilizers, farm chemicals andimproved seeds are sold to thepeasants. At the same time, thepeasants can also sign tech-nology contracts with the tech-nicians on the spot.

These fairs are well receivedby the peasants. A "sciencepopularization fair." sponsoredby Tonglu County, ZhejiangProvince, was attended by10,000 peasants, who, in spite ofheavy rain for three days run-ning, 'Iistened to lectures.watched exhibitions and boughtbooks on agrotechniques.

Thirty-three such fairs wereorganized last year in the sub-urbs of Tianjin attractingmore than 150,000 peasants. Inthese fairs 34,000 copies of ma-terials on agrotechniques weresold and 350 contracts signed.

The spread of the story "Vy-ing for the god of wealth" incotton growing Fugou County.

Lei Yangui (second from left), an agrotechnician o[ Guangji Countyin Hubei Province, tells visiting cotton-growers how to nuraure

seeallings.

Henan Province, reflects fullYthe peasants' desire for scien-tific knowledge.

In the old society, the Peas-ants thought they would becomerich if they invited the "god ofwealth" to their homes. Now thetechnicians are called the "godsof wealth" because they areable to help the peasants raiseyields and increase their incomequickly.

Liu Fengli, an experiencedtechnician of Fugou County, candouble cotton yields whereverhe goes to supervise production.To the peasants, he has becomethe "Iiving god oI wealth."Theref ore, many productionteams vie with each other forthe services of the "living godof wealth." For fear of losinghim, one team posts a sentryoutside after the technician hasarrived. Another team welcomesfirst his wife, saying that the"god of wealth" will certainlycome as the "goddess of wealth"is here.

To solve this problem, LiuFengli signed contracts with anumber of production teams toadvise them in turn and teachapprentices. At present, he hastrained more than 200 appren-tices who are welcomed by thepeasants as the "littIe gods ofwealth."

Some more far-sighted coun-ties have even paid the collegesto train technicians for them.Jiading County, on the outskirtsof Shanghai, has decided tospend 15 million yuan to train13,680 technicians in the comingeight years, with the co-opera-tion of 28 colleges.

Latest productionf igu res

Good news came fromChina's industrial and transportenterprises in January. The to-

6

tal industrial output value inJanuary 1983 reached 47,790

million yuan, a 17.9 per centincrease over the correspondingperiod in 1982. The output ofmain industrial products ful-filted or overfulfilled the plan-ned targets.

Energy production also hit anew record in January. The keycoal mines turned out 31.3 mil-lion tons of coal and electricityoutput reached 28,660 millionkwh, 8.7 per cent and 9.5 percent increases respectively overthe same period in 1982. Crudeoil output rose to 8.84 milliontons, 0.35 million tons morethan planned.

Heavy industrial productionalso continued to rise. In Jan-uary the output of such majorproducts as steel, rolled steel,pig iron, iron ore and soda ashsurpassed that of last December.Rolled steel output was 2.52million tons, 16.4 per cent morethan the same period last year.

A good situation was also re-ported in light and electronicindustries in January.

Compared with the corre-sponding period last year, thevolume of rail freight and pas-senger transport went up 9.6per cent and 1.2 per cent respec-tively in January. The volumeof freight carried by water-

borne transport enterprisesdirectly under the Ministry ofCommunications rose by 8.4 percent.

Industry and transport ex-panded on the basis of rising in-dustrial and agricultural produc-tion last year.

A late report estimates thatthe totai output of grain was344.3 million tons in 1982 and ofcotton, 3,369,500 tons, 19.3 mil-lion tons and 402,500 tons morethan the respective figures for1981. Oit-bearing crops, sugarcane and beets, cured tobacco,tea and aquatic products all reg-istered big increases in 1982over the year before.

In addition to big increases incoal, electricity, steel and rolledsteel output, 107 big andmedium-sized capital construc-tion projects and 100 individual'ones were completed and putinto operation in 1982. Forexample, annual productioncapacity of crude oil increasedby 6.34 miilion tons.

The development of the na-tional economy has improvedthe living standards in bothurban and rural areas. The pro-duction of edible oils which wereoften in short supply hasdoubled in the last four years.Most Chinese people had anextra 2 kilogrammes each in the

China's biggest gas storage tank is being built in Beijing which w.illimprove fuel supply and reduce urban pollution.

Beijing Reuiew, No. 9

CHINA EVENTS AND TRENDS

last few months. As the lives ofpeasants are getting better andbetter, they have more moneyto put aside. Credit co-op6ra-tives, which account for 81 percent of the total rural deposits,received 28,200 million yuan ofsavings deposits from the peas-ants in 1982, thereby boostingthe figure at the end of 1981

by 33 per cent.

Embezzlers

executedTwo men were sentenced to

death for embezzlement in thesouthern coastal province ofGuangdong in January, themost severe punishment metedout in the past 12 months inthe nationwide drive to crackdown on economic crimes.

Wang Zhong, who wasexecuted on January 17, hadbeen a Party member since 1947

and deputy director of the pub-lic security and judiciary com-mittee under the Party com-mittee of Shantou Prefecture,Guangdong Province. Takingadvantage of his position, he hadpocketed 69,749 yuan worth ofseized smuggled goods andbribes. Under his connivanceand influence, smuggling ranwild for a time in Haifeng, thecounty of which he was incharge.

been an accountant of a busi-ness office under th'e Guangdongbranch of the China Agricul-tural Bank.

More than 164,000 criminalcases in the econmic field hadbeen investigated in the nation

February 28, 1983

Li Jingiang, who was executedon January 18 for embezzling atotal of 600,000 yuan of bank r

money on many o""".tJ.,r,-i"i Japanese special envoy's visit

by last December, according toWang Congwu, Secretary ofthe Party's CentraL Commissionfor Discipline Inspection. Ofthese, 54 per cent have beenwound up, nearly 30,000 havebeen sentenced, 5,500 membershave been expelled from theParty and 320 million yuan ofembezzled funds and goods

have been recovered. Impelledby the force of law and theParty policies, 46,700 peoplewith one criminal offence oranother have turned themselvesin and received Ienient treat-ment.

AlI this has basically curbedsmuggling activities which hadrun so rampant in some areas,Wang Congwu said. Moreover,this has also consolidated thepolitical situation of stabilityand unity, improved the Partystyle and the general mood ofsociety, and facilitated the cor-rect implementation of the Par-ty's policy of opening to theoutside world economically.

Airlines institutesecu rity ru les

The State Council recentlyissued a comprehensive set ofsecurity rules for airlines.

The public notice announcedthe institution of security in-

Hu Yaobang, General Secre-tary of the CPC Central Com-mittee, on February 20 toldSusumu Nikaido, special envoyof Japanese Prime Minister Ya-suhiro Nakasone. that China is

spections of all Chinese andforeign passengers, their lug-gage and carry-on articles, un-Iess specially exempted.

Passengers must pass throughdoors equipped with metal de-tectors and their luggage mustbe X-rayed. Body and luggagesearches may be conducted whendeemed necessary. Those whorefuse inspection will not beallowed to board the plane, thenotice said.

The notice strictly prohibitscarrying into an airport or on toa plane articles that endangerthe flight, including firearms,ammunition and lethal weaponsas well as inflamable, highlypoisonous or radioactive ma-terials.

China's judicial organs will"severely punish in accordancewith law" persons found guiltyof using violence or other meth-ods to hijack a plane, or ofdamaging planes or civil avia-tion facilities by explosion orother means, the notice added.

The notice also contains rulesfor guaranteeing security of air-ports.

Last year, the Ministry ofPublic Security published anotice specifying some securityrules on domestic airlines,following an abortive attemptby five men in late July to hi-jack a plane from Xian toShanghai.

satisfied with the developmentof Sino-Japanese friendship andco-operation in the past decade.

Hu said that on the questionof bilateral relations "we holdthat we should look forward.

I

Though our two countries havedifferent social systems, so longas we adopt a correct attitude,enduring and broadening co-operation betweeq them willnot be hampered."

Reaffirming China's policy ofdeveloping its relations offriendship and co-operationwith Japan, Hu said: "Ours is asocialist system, but we teachour younger generations neverto impose our system on others."He said, "We and our futuregenerations will never go in forexpansion. China will neverseek hegemony. Such is ourbasic state policy."

Visiting China from February18 to 21, Nikaido flew to Wuhanto meet Hu after meeting withPremier Zhao Ziyang in Bei-jing.

Premier Zhao had told thespecial envoy that the ChineseGovernment has consistentlyattached importance to thedevelopment of Sino-Japanesefriendly relations.

He said: "In the past decade,bilateral relations.- have beenvery good. The eourse is set forthe two peoples to live infriendship froin generation togeneration. I believe that Sino-Japanese relations will become

even better in the next decade.

The potential is great for thepromotion of 'economic andtechnical co-operation betweenour two countries, and there aremany things to do in thesefields."

Foreign Minister Wu Xueqianand Nikaido had two rounds oftalks in Beijing. They exchang-ed views on further developingSino-Japanese relations, thepresent i"nternational situationand world issues of common in-terest.

On Japan's defence, Wu saidthat it was Japan's own internal

8

affairs. As an independent andsovereign country, Wu said, Ja-pan is entitled to maintain anarmed force for defence againstexternal threats. But such anarmed force should be defence-oriented and of appropriate sizeso it would not constitute a

threat to its friendly neigh-bours,

Referring to the situation inthe Korean peninsula, Wu said:"The Democratic People's Re-public of Korea has always ad-vocated that the Korean penin-sula realize independent andpeaceful reunification withoutany foreign interference. TheChinese Government supportsthis reasonable goal."

Wu said: "After Prime Minis-ter Nakasone returned to Japanfrom his visit to south Korea,the Japanese Government stat-ed that Japan would not adopta hostile policy towards thenorthern part of Korea andwas willing to strengthen con-tacts with it.

"We hope that the JapaneseGovernment will make effortsthrough concrete actions fa-vourable to the stability in thepeninsula and to the realizationof independent and peacefulreunification in Korea."

On February 20, Hu Yaobangmet with the Japanese journal-ists covering Nikaido's visit.

In reply to a question onSino-Soviet relations, Hu saidnormalization of relations ac-cords with the fundamental in-te.rests of the peoples of Chinaand the Soviet Union as well as

those of the people of the wholeworld.

He said: "It is our sinceredesire to resume normal rela-tions with the Soviet Union. Idon't agree with the view that

it is difficult to move the piled-up resentment between Chinaand the Soviet Union.

"We hold that the main prob-lem, also the sole problem, tobe solved in the normalizationof the relations is to remove theobstacles."

Firm support forPalestin ian people

Premier Zhao Ziyang sent amessage on February 13 toYasser Arafat, Chairman of theExecutive Committee of thePalestine Liberation Organiza-tion, to transmit to the Pale-stine National Council warmcongratulations . on its 16thsession.

The message said: "The emer-gence and development of thePalestine resistance movementhave given expression to thestrong aspiration and just de-mand of the Palestinian peopleto return to their homeland, toexercise self-determination andestablish their own state. This isan irresistibl trend of history.Under the leadership of thePalestine Liberation Organiza-tion, their sole legal representa-tive, the Palestinian people arenow making tremendous newefforts to regain their legitimatenational rights after havingfrustrated the Israeli .authori-ties' scheme to wipe out thePalestinian armed forces lastyear."

The message stressed: "TheChinese Government and peo-ple will, as always, firmly sup-port the Palestinian people intheir just struggle for the res-toration of national rlghts, andcontinue to work for a fair andjust settlement of the Palestinianquestion."

Beijing Ps12is1D, No. 9

INTERNATIONAT REPORTS AND COMMENTS

I sroel

unreasonable to force himgive up his post because hewas faithfully pursuing the Be-gin government's policy. Butmost argued that Sharon's resig-nation in response to publicpressure would benefit the con-tinuation of the government.Most of the cabinet ministersalso advocated implementing theCommission's recommendationsand urged Sharon to resign.Finally, Sharon was compelledto do so.

The opposition parties headedby the Labour Party have de-manded that both Sharon andBegin resign. The Labour Partythinks that the resignation ofBegin and Sharon would weak-en the Likud position and helppave the way for the LabourParty's assumption of power.But it realizes that an imme-diate resignation of the Beginadministration would force an

early election, in which the La-bour Party has no full confi-dence of victory. At the sametime, both Leftist and Rightistorganizations held demonstra-tions displaying their mutualantagonism.

Under these circumstances,Begin had to consent to Sharon'sresignation, but retained him as

Minister Without Portfolio. Thistactic had the double purpose ofconsoling Sharon and keepinghim in the government whilealso dealing with the currentpoiitical crisis.

Erponsionist Policy Unchonged

Begin's policy is, of course, byno means affected by the changeof horses. Immediately after theannouncement of Sharon's res-ignation, Begin claimed thatIsrael would persevere in carry-ing out the expansionist policyof establishing settlements in theWest Bank and opposing theformation of a Palestinian state.The Israeli press pointed out thatSharon's retention in the cabinetshows that he would keep onplaying an important role ininfluencing Begin's policY. TheWestern press reported thatMoshe Arens, the newly ap-pointed Defence Minister and a

noted hawk, is Begin's "confi-dant" and "one of his staunchestsupporters." Arens said recentlythat Sharon's resignation as De-Ience Minister does not imply achange in Israel's policy.

Sharon's resignation cannotclear the Begin government ofits barbarous crimes. A host offacts have proved that the Is-raeli authorities were really re-sponsible for planning the mas-sacre. Begin's attempt to use thetrick of changing horses to de-ceive the people to save his

Begin's political trickf N its February 8 report onI the Beirut massacre of Pales-tinians, the Israeli Commissionof Inquiry admitted Israel's re-'sponsibility for the atrocitiesand recommended that DefenceMinister Ariel Sharon either re-sign or be dismissed.

Give Up o Rook to SoveThe King

Covering up most of the facts,the report spared no effort toabsolve the Begin administra-tion of responsibility for thecrimes. However, it could notbut conclude that Sharon sharedan "indirect" responsibility andMenachem Begin had a "cer-tain degree of responsibility" forthe Beirut mErssacre. After thereport was made public, Sharonrefused to accept the conclusionsand resign. It is reported thatBegin also expressed his objec-tion to Sharon's resignation attwo special cabinet meetings.However, the reportaroused a much greaterpolitical storm in Israelthan Begin and Sharonhad expected.

The Israeli press de-manded that thc Beginauthorities respect the{indings of the Comrnis-sion and the wave ofpublic opinion urgingSharon to resign engulf-ed Israel. This also ledto quarrels and confu-sion in Israel's politicalcircles, the focus ofwhich was Sharon's res-ignation. Those mem-bers of the dominantLikud bloc who sup-ported Sharon main-tained that it was

February 28, 1983

Demonstrators in Teling fhe resignation

cabinel.

Aviv demand-of the Begin

crumbling political situationhas not worked.

The current political crisis hasstill not been resolved. The Is-raeli people now see more clear-ly that the Begin policies of ag-gression and expansion threatendisastrous results.

- Chen Jichang

Britoin ond Fronce

Why they rejectSoviet proposal

f N his proposal for the GenevaI arms negotiations, Sovietleader Yuri Andropov proposedreducing the number of SovietEuropean-based SS-20 missi-lesto 162 -the same number thatBritain and France now have intheir inedpendent nuclear forces

- in return for US cancella-tion of its new missile deploy-ment. The Soviet Union regarclsthe British and French nucleararsenals as important com-ponents in the European nu-clear equation and as a potentialpart of the NATO forces. Mos-cow feels it cannot ignore thestrategic missiles of the twocountries, which are targeted onthe Soviet Union and its allies.

However, France and Britainrejected the proposal immediate-ty. Prime Minister MargaretThatcher said that Britain'sstrategic missiles could not beincluded in the US-Soviet armsnegotiations at Geneva. FrenchPresident Francois Mitterrandreiterated France's determina-tion not to allow its nucleararsenal to become part.of US-Soviet negotiations. He saidthere is no relationship betweenthe Geneva talks and France,a nd his country will not reduceits nuclear force by a singlemissile.

10

Vietnamese Attacks, Threats Futile

f'IO-OPERATION between Chinese and foreign companies inLl exploring oil and natural gas on the contirrental shelf withinChina's territorial seas is entirely within the scope of Chinesesovereignty and no other country has any right to interfere.

A recent statement by Viet Nam News Agency slanderouslyattacked Chinese and foreign companies' joint exploration andexploitation of petroleum in the Yingge sea area of the BeibuGulf as "violating Vietnamese sovereignty." It also said thatthose foreign companies co-operating with China should bear"a11 the consequences" arising from their actions. These ground-less attacks and threats are based on the expansionist stand ofthe Vietnamese authorities,

In the "Declaration on the Base Line of Viet Nam's Terri-torial Waters" issued last November, the Vietnamese authoritiesclaimed as their "territory" not only China's Xisha and NanshaIslands but also a large portion of the Beibu GuIf.

A spokesman bf China's Foreign Ministry immediately madea solemn statement, pointing out that "the so-called boundaryline in the Beibu Gulf claimed by the Vietnamese Governmentis illegal and null and void."

In trying to impose its illegal and groundless territorialclaims upon China, Hanoi is indulging in rash wilful thinking.If the Vietnamese authorities insist on obstructing China's legalexploration for oil in Chinese territorial waters, they will haveto bear the responsibility for any consequences arising therefrom.

The ambitions of the Vietnamese authorities are too recklessand far-fetched. They have not only occupied Kampuchea andtaken control of Laos by force, but are also putting their fingersinto China's territorial waters and land, and are even coveting theterritories of other Southeast Asian countries. The Vietnameseauthorities should understand that expansionists will surely eatthe bitter fruits of their own acts.

- Xinhua Cornmentator

Both Britain and France tooka hard line attitude towards theSoviet proposal because theyinsist on keeping their nucleardeterrents independent ofNATO's control.

Sofeguording lndependence

Britain and France are theonly European members ofNATO which possess nuclearweapons. Most of their missilesare launched from submarines.Britain has four nuclear missilesubmarines in active service,each of which has 16 "Polaris"missiles. France has five nuclearmissile submarines with 16 M-20missiles each, plus 18 land-basedmissiles. Together, the two coun-

tries have a total of 162 medium-range missiles.

Because of the fast changingbalance of world power, Britainand France have built up inde-pendent nuclear deterrentforces for defending their ownindependence. Both countriesregard this as fundamental na-tional policy. A 1964 BritishWhite Book on national defencestates that the American nuclearumbrella would function cinly inthe event of a US-Soviet nu-clear confrontation, and thatBritain therefore must possess

its own nuclear deterrent.

France began to build up itsindependent nuclear arsenalafter President cle Gaulle took

Beijing Reoiew, No. 9

INTERNATIONAT REPORTS AND COMMENTS

office in 1958. He stressed thatonly when a country possessesits own nuclear force can it bean independent country andplay an important role in worldaffairs. De Gaulle thus workedto free France from dependenceon the United States. SuccessiveFrench governments have con-tinued de Gaulle's policy. TheFrench Government considersits nuclear deterrent forces aspreventative, to keep France, aweak country, from being at-tacked by larger nations.

Some Western statesmen havepointed out that the reason whyBritain and Franie rejectedMoscow's proposal is that theyonly possess strategic nuclearforces, which have a politicalcharacter different from that ofthe two superpowers'. They saidBritain and France will not usenuclear weapons to attack othercountries. If these two countriesaccepted the Soviet proposal andagreed to merge their own nu-clear arsenals with the US andNATO nuclear systems, theywould be abandoning their in-dependent nuclear deterrentpolicies.

French Prime Minister PierreMauroy recently said thatFrance will not allow its inde-pendent defence forces to be-come hostage to the US-Sovietdisarmament negotiations with-out French participation.

The Noture of the SovietProposol

Leaders of Britain and Franceare furious about Moscow's pro-posal. They said that it is atrick for diverting attentionand that the true nature ofthe proposal is to disguise andconsolidate Moscow's nuclearsuperiority. They believe thatagreement on this proposalwould mean that NATO would

Februory 28, 1983

TZ LAUS Barbie. former NaziI\ Cestapo chief, was taken tothe Fort Montluc military prisonin Lyon, France on February 5.Expelled from Bolivia on Feb-ruary 4, he was arrested byFrench gendarmerie the nextday when he arrived at theairport of Cayenne, FrenchGuyana.

As the Gestapo chief in Lyonduring World War II, Barbiegave orders to torture and killtens of thousands of Jews andFrehch wartime resistance fight-€6, ineluding national resist-ance leader Jean Moulin. Hewas also accused of being respon-sible for the murder of morethan 40 children. Such crimesearned him the nickname "thebutcher of Lyon."

Barbie fled to South Americain 1944 and has resided in Boliv-ia since 1951. With forged docu-ments and using the pseudonymKlaus - Altmann, he obtainedBolivian citizenship in 1957.

Barbie was detained by Boliv-ia on January 25 for failing topay a debt to the state mining

targeting most cities in WesternEurope. Most British andFrench missiles have a singlewarhead and fhe two countrieshave fewer warheads.

The Soviet Union has notmade any concessions on theissue, but has simply broughtmore complexities to the Genevaarms negotiations by puttingforth the proposal to includeBritish and Erench nuclearmissiles.

company. But the BolivianForeign Minister Mario VelardeDarado said Barbie's long resi-dence in Bolivia was a politicalincident involving internationalIaws. Both France and WestGermany had sought Barbie'sextradition but had been turneddown by the previous BolivianGovernment.

Twice sentenced to death byFrench courts, Barbie escapedjustice for 32 years, but historyfinally caught up with him - hehas now been brought back tothe same prison where he hadcommitted heinous crimes.

It is nearly 40 years since Hit-ler's Third Reich collapsed, yetnot all Nazi war criminals havereceived their deserved punish-ment. Some are still at large,but an ancient Chinese sayinggoes: The net of Heaven is far-flung and although it has.largemeshes, it lets nothing through(meaning that justice has longarms). Barbie's arrest showsthat those who perpetratecrimes against humanity will bepunished.

-Zhang Wen

halt deployment in exchange fora partial Soviet cutback, whileMoscow would still possess 162

SS-20 nuclear missiles. Further-more, they said, British andFrench missiles are no matchfor the powerful Soviet SS-20swhich are more accurate andhave longer effective range thanPoiaris or M-20 missiles. Aseach SS-20 missile has threeindependently targetable war-heads, the 162 Soviet SS-20 mis-siles would have 486 warheads - Zheng Yuanyuan

F ronce

Nozi wor criminol owoits punishment

11

ARTICTES AND DOCUMENTS

Con the Goal for 2000 Be Reoch ed?

by Ren Too ond Pong Yongjie

While steodily working for more ond bet-ter economic results, Chino will quodruple itsgross onnuol yolue of industriol ond ogricul-turol production in the finol 20 yeors of thiscentury, on qveroge increose rote of 7.2 petcent o yeor. lt hos reoched this rote in thepost, os hove some other countries. This gool,which is different from the unottoinoble "hightorgets" wrongly set in the post, is bosed onon ossessment of economic ond technicolconditions ond is possible to ochieve withsome efforts.

TFHROUGH four years of deliberation andI preparation since the end of 1978 when thefocus of work was shifted to economic construc-tion for socialist modernization, China has setitself a general economic objective to quadrupli:the gross annual value of industrial and agri-cultural production in two decades - from 710billion yuan in 1980 to 2,800 billion yuan in2000. At the same time it will steadily work formore and better economic results. To achievethis objective, an average annual increase rateof. 7.2 per cent is necessary.

By then, the production technology of themajor industrial branches will match the cur-rent (late 70s and early 80s) level in economi-cally developed countries. Some fields are ex-pected to reach the advanced world levels bythe end of this century. The national economyas a whole will becom{ an independent andcomprehensive system embracing all depart-ments and equipped with modern science andtechnology. This will place China in the frontranks of the world in terms of gross nationalincome and the output of major industrial andagricultural products.

On this basis; the average per-capita na-tional income (not including that from the "ter-

The authors are staff members of the Econom-ic Research Centre under the State Council.

12

Cfiinese-Type Modernization (6)

tiary industry") will reach US$800 annually,taking into account the factor of populationgrowth. People throughout the country can lookforward to being comparatively well-off.

Table IOutput of Some Major Products

Item

Standard Coal(million tons)

Steel (million tons)Power Generating

Equipment(million kw)

Grain (million tons)Cotton Yarn

(thousand tons)Chemical Fibres

(thousand tons)

1,20070

4.19320

2,926

450

5,750

2,500

Some foreign friends doubt that China can

accomplish these goals and hope that it wouldnot make mistakes like those that inspired the

"g,reat leap forward" and other unattainable"high targets." After an overall analysis, weare convinced that China's objectives are based

on realistic assessments.

Historical AnalYsis

In the history of national economic devel-opment since the founding of the People's Re-public in 1949, an yearly growth rate of 7.2 percent in gross annual value of industrial and agri-cultural production is not high. The averageannual growth rate ls above 7.2 per cent even ifwe do not include figures from the three yearsof economic rehabilitation between 1950 and1952 when growth rates were fairly high.

Out of the 32 years, the increase rate wasabove ?.2 in 22 years and below 7.2 per cent in10 years.

2000(eslimates)

62037

20460

Beiiing Reuiero, No. I

Y" lncrease I

ODet thePreoious

Yeor

Table II% Increases of Gross Value of

Agricultural Production,

Years With More Than 7.2 %

Year Year

1e6?;*.uire8rln"

targets set on both the occasions were impos-sible to fulfil.

However, the current goals for the nationaleconomic growth rate are based on solid in-vestigations and have been achieved before.

The average annual growth rate of China'sgross value of industriai and agricultural pro-duction from 1950 to 1981 was 9.2 per cent, andit was 8.1 per cent if the three years of economicrehabilitation are excluded. Taking every 20

years as a unit. the average annual growth ratefrom 1953 to 1972 was 8.4 per cent, and from1958 to 1977 it was 7.4 per cent.

Therefore, although we suffered two serioussetbacks from the "great leap forward" in 1958-60 and the "cultural revolution" in 1966-76, Chi-na's average annual growth rate in the two 20-year periods still exceeded 7.2 per cent.

In the 20 years before the end of the cen-tury, we will learn from historical lessons andavoid such serious mistakes. So long as thepeople throughout the country unite as'one, it ispossible to achieve an average annual growth of7.2 per cent in the two decades.

We can also cite examples of other coun-tries that quadrupled their gross nationalproduct (GNP), or achieved an average annualgrowth of above 7 per cent in about two decades.

Industrial and1950-81

Increase

7o Increase

1950

r951

1952

1953

1954

1956

1 957

1 958

1 959

1 963

I 964

19.0

20.9

t4.4

9.5

16.5

7.9

32.2

19.5

9.5

17.5

I 965

1966

1 969

1 970

1971

r973

1975

7977

r 9?8

1979

1980

20.4

17.3

23.8

25.7

12.2

o,11.9

10.7

12.8

8.5

7.2

r960

1961

1 962

5.4

-30.9

-10.1

1972

1974

1 976

4.5

1.4

1.7

It is true that in two PeriodsChina set excessivelY hightargets.

The first one began in 1958,

when the "great leaP forward"was launched with the goal ofdoubling steel output in thesame year. It lasted for threeyears and resulted in a serious-ly disproportionate developmentof the nati6nal economy.

The second began in 1978

with the groundless targets ofbuilding "10 big oilfields" bythe end of the century andrealizi-ng agricultural mechani-zation by 1980. Although thosegoals were corrected a yearlatbr, they produced some graveresults. The excessively high

Februarg 28, 1983

bumper harvesi of a farm oI the Xinjiang production andConstruction Corps.

/s'j;l

Years With Less Than 7.29o lnqease

\ 7" Iracte,ase I l7a Incteose

Year , ?::,:,,',!" I Year ,3:::,.!,!"I Ycar I Year

- *ir- , * - -ir* -i- -sz-

13

Table IIIGNP Growth Rates of Some Countries

GNP (calculoteilon prices of thesame year, bil'lion US ilollars)

Time Sparl(year)

AoerageAnnualGrousth

(%)

m

%

153 (1955)-866 (r975)

%7.r (1950)-1,678.1 u976)

n (rs56)-196.9 (1970)

23.3 (1950)-450.8 (1976)

ActualAoerageAnnualGrous'th(%, lDithinflation

d.eilucted)

'Actual TotolGrowth(fotd)

3.44 2.41

r04

3.9654

I

For instance, the Soviet Union quadrupledits gross annual value of social products be-tween 1956 and 1975. Japan's GNP was quad-rupled in only 14 years from 1957 to 1970. Theiraverage annual growth rates exceeded 7.2 percent. Because of a higher inflation rate, WestGermany's growth took a longer time. However,its GNP achieved an actual 3.96-fold increase in26 years, nearly quadrupled.

Material Foundation

After 30-odd years of economic construction,China has acquired a fairly solid material foun-dation. It has nearly every necessary industry,each of a considerable size. It has close to 400,000industry and transport enterprises with morethan 800 billion yuan in fixed assets and work-ing funds. The output of some major industrialproducts can .be compared with that of someeconomically developed countries in the 1960s.This is the material foundation from which Chi-na will carry out economic construction in the

two decades, China's annual accumulationrate will be somewhat lower than in the past30 years, but in general it will remain at thelevel of 25-30 per cent. The utilization offoreign funds will gradually expand. In thisway, the state investments in fixed assets willbasically meet the needs of key energy and trans-port construction and of the expansion of allstate-owned industry.

In adciition, collectively owned industry andagriculture, which do not require state invest-ment, will also have a large accumulation andwill also continuously expand investments infixed assets.

According to initial calculations, the portionof the output value of collectively owned in-dustry in the gros-s industrial output value willincrease from the present 21.3 per cent to 30per cent by 2000.

Such being the case, the investment in fixedassets needed for quadrupling the gross annual

Comparison of the Output ofSome Major Prqducts

Table IVliast two decades of thiscentury. It is about thesame as that of the SovietUnion and Japan in the1950s when they began toquadruple their GNPs.

Of counse, economicgrowth cannot dependcompletely on the currentmaterial foundation. Theamount of possible invest-ment in fixed assets andtheir effects are both im-portant factors. In the

14

CountrA

Electric-ita

(billionktoh)

300.6

327.6

132.0

t24.6

CrudeSteel(thou-sandtons)

34,480

70,760

28,270

33,460

Cool(million

tons)

oit(thou-sandtons)

China

SovietUnion

Japan

WestGermany

(1961)

(1961)

(1961 )

620

506

59

105,950

166,070

660

6,200

Beijing Retsi,eu:, No. 9

value of industrial and agricultural productionin 2000 can be basically ensured.

lndustrial Potential

There is great potential for improving thetechnology and economic results of China's in-{ustry.

Table VComparison of Energy Utilization Eate

---- country

Itezr)-----__

Take energy for example. In the developedcountries, when the GNP increases by 1 per cent,energy needs an increase about 1.2 per cent. Butthis ratio cannot be applied to China because ofits low energy utilization rate.

Even a conservative estimate suggests thatit is entirely possible to reduce the energy con-sumption of each given unit of industrial prod-ucts by 50 per cent in the 20 years so that whenthe total output value of industrial productionincreases 1 per cent, energy consumption onlyneeds to increase 0.5 per cent.

By the end of this century, if China's totalenergy output is doubled, that is, reaching thetarget of 1.2 billion tons of standard coal, it willbe able to produce 2,800 billion yuan of indus-trial and agricultural products.

Energy production did not increase but de-creased somewhat during the economic readjust-ment of the past few years. Nonetheless, ourgross annual value of industrial and agriculturalproduction still grew at a rate of more than 5

per cent. This was mainly attributed to progressin energy conservation

Agriculture Still in Ascendant

In the past four years, China has instituteda series of new agricuJtural policies, especiallythe production responsibility'system with con-tracts by peasant households as the principalform. Thanks to the new policies, farm produc-tion has experienced unprecedented overallgrowth.

Table VIRecent Agricultural Growth Rate

'il1975 ) 1g7s 1980 I98'

Total EnergyUtilizationRate (%)

Consumption ofStandard Coalin Producing100 MillionUS Dollars ofNational In-come (1,000tons)

325

China's energy utilization rate is approxi-mately 40 per cent lower than economicallydeveloped crountries and its consumption ofstandard coal in producing every 100 million USdollars of national income is 2 to 11 times higher.

The reasons for poor economic results aremany-sided, including some non-comparable f ac-tors. But outdated production technology is animportant one.

At present, 30-35 per cent of China's ma-chinery and equipment is at the level of the 60sand 70s, with the remaining more than 60 percent at the level of the 40s and 50s. Thus halfor more of the fixed assets need replacement,which calls for big developments in science andtechnology.

As'a general rule, large-scale replacementof fixed assets is the starting point for an eco-nomic upsurge. The Chinese Government hasdecided to spend the next 10 years to technical-ly transform old enterprises in a plannedmanner.

Technical efficiency should allow the sameamount of primary products such as steel, coal,oil, timber and cotton yarn to double or morethan double the current industrial output value.

February 28, 1983

% Increase of i

Total Agricul-tural Output 9.0Value Over thePrevious Year

86 27 57

Of which: 9/.

Increase of Out-put Value ofForestry, Ani-mal Husband-ry, SidelineOccupationsand Fishery I

6.38.0

15

Create a Jlew $ituation, ilake Jlew Gontributions

China's 1982 grain output was 344.3 million tons.state by the Caijia People's Commune in Jilin

per family.

This grain was sold to thtProvince, averaging 5,000 ks

Coal miner Zhang Tong-ping (left) of Ningxia isone of the million youngpeople who have beeneited as "shock workersin the new Long Mareh."

Thermal pot!er planlsare going up in areaswith rich coal resourees.This is lhe neu'ly eom-pleted Huaibei Por,r'erPlant in Anhui Provinee.

$effi#

Chen lVu, Irorn Yongji Corrnty of ShanxiI'rovince, bought a tractor and nor.l' works forpeasants at a reasonable pay rate. He earned anet ineome of 30,000 yuan in (he past three years.

To curb the grow,th of big cities, China is buildiirgmediurn-sized and small'eities like Dukou eit5. in

Sichuan Province.

Wornen are playing ever bigger roles in nationalconstruction. Zheng Huiqin (right), a model textileworker of Shairghai, discusses cloth production

techniques with a co-worker,

"#4.,{ Bed :!t*

i\ 1". \

Customers in a busy Shanghai garment shop admirenew styles. Shanghai textile ancl garment factoryworkers are renowned for the quality ancl variety

d

&qL*

q

Shen Baochang workswith several familiesat his commune inShaoxing, ZheiiangProvince, to raise 6,100

female tlucks in ninemonths on three tluck

f arms.

The older Chinese intellectuals is devot-in8 itsetf nization of science and tech-nology, P Dushan, a famous Shanghairadiology his wife Professor Ren Linfei

engaossed in work.

of their proilucts.

Today peasants read more journals and books. Veteranpeasant He Mei (right) of Ninggang County, JiangxiProvince, subscribes to l0 scientific anal technical

perioilicals.

Forestry workers investigate the Miao anil DongAutonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province, which hasbecome a centre of China's fir production, thanks to

loeal tree-planting and forest protection.

\+?"j

Dai nationality commune members harvest sugarcane in subtropical Luxi County in Yunnan Province.

Members of the theatrical company led by ZhangGuilan (left) of Shenyang apply makeup. In the pasttwo years, it performed for half a rnillion people in

factories and in the countryside.

From 1977 to 1981, output value of agiricul-ture increased at an average annual rate of 6.5per cent, of which the increase of forestry, an-imal husbandry, sideline occupations and fisherywas 9.1 per cent annually. This developmentaltendency foretells two things:

First, the total agricultural output value in-creased more rapidly than the output of majorfarm products, including grain and cotton. Thiscomplies with the universal laws of agriculturaldevelopment.

From 1953 to 1980, China's annual output ofgrain increased at an average rate of 2.4 percent and cotton 1.8 per cent. Simultaneously,the total agricultural output value rose by anannual average of 3.4 per cent.

In the 20-year period, the average annualincrease of grain, cotton and other major farmproducts will be somewhat lower than in thepast, but the output value of forestry, animalhusbandry, sideline occupations and fishery willincrease by a big margin.

Initial estimates predict an increase in theportion of the output value of forestry, animalhusbandry, sideline occupations and fisherywithin the total agricultural output value frorn35.7 per cent in 1980 to some 50 per cent in2000. This jump would accelerate the averageannual growth of the total agricultural outputvalue and make it possible to achieve a growthrate of 5-5.5 per cent.

Second, historical experience suggests thatrapid agricultural development promotes indus-try arrd the national economy as a whole (see

table in "Chinese-Type Modernization (2): ItsNature and Characteristics" in issue No. 2, 1983).

This kind of agricultural development in the20 years will provide industry with grain, rawmaterials, funds and markets for its products.Coupled with gradual technical renovation andmanagement improvements in the industrialenterprises, agricultural support will allow in-dustry to more than quadruple its output valuewith an estimated average annual growth rateof 7.5-8 per cent. Thus, the gross value of agri-cultural and industrial production can achievean average annual increase of 7.2 per cent.

Some people say that the world economyis now in a period of recession and even coun-tries which have developed quickly are not unaf-fected. How can China achieve an economicboo,m on its own?

The economic recession in capitalist coun-tries is caused by shrinking markets. China has

20

no such problem, because our economic devel-opment is mainly based on self-reliance, 90 percent of our products are marketed domesticallyand most exported goods also sell well on thehome market. If they cannot be exported, theycan be marketed at home.

In addition, we can take advantage of in-ternational economic recession to introduce moreforeign funds and advanced technology to speedup the economic construction at home.

Two Steps

Of course, it will not be easy to quadruplethe gross annual value of industrial and agri-cultural production in 20 years. A,considerableperiod of time is needed to readjust the long-standing irrationalities ' in industrial structure,product mix and enterprise organization.

Reforming the economic management sys-tem of excessive centralization and "everyoneeating from the same big pot" involves a widerange of problems. But the reform must be res-olutely carried out in a systematic way.

It is also impossible to bring about a fun-damental change in the shortage of energy andtransport facilities in a short period of time.

Because of insufficient technical forces andfunds, it is impossible to immediately launchan all<ut attack on important scientific andtechnological research projects or to technicallyupgrade all existing enterprises. The urgent onesmust conrc first. Personnel training andmanagement improvements also require time.And a period of hard work is needed to improveeconomic results,

Because we have considered the problemsarising from these weaknesses, we have listedagriculture, energy and transport, education andscience as the major targets in our strategy foreconomic development.

At the same time, we decided to divide de-velopment into two steps. In the first decadewe will concentrate on solving the above-men-tioned problems left over from the past so as

to accumulate strength and lay a solid founda-tion for future development. Therefore, it isimpossible for the economy to develop veryrapidly.

In the second decade, the pace will be ac-celerated and a new period of vigorous econom-ic development will be ushered in, so that thenational economy as a whole will earn bettereconomic results and develop more quickly andour objective will be successfully realized. tr

Beijing Reuiew, No. I

Expqnd lndustry Throug h TechnicolTronsformotion

by Sun Yefong

o "The bigger the bose figure, the lower the growth rotg," qnerroneous ossertion which hos prevoiled for mony yeors, still influencessome people's confidence in Chino's long-term economic objective.

o To ossure the ropid development of our industry, our most im-portont ond most reolistic method is to corry out technicol tronsformo-tion of existing enterprises.

o Our industry's low depreciotion rote for fixed ossets is onq of themojor reosons for the slow progress of enterprise technicol tronsformo-tion. lrrotionol finonciol ond economic systems should be reformed.

per cent annual increase rate of the gross indus-trial pnd agricultural output value. China'sgross industrial and agricultural output valueincreased at an annual rate of 8.1 per cent from1953 to 1981.

To reach the objective of quadrupling ourgross annual industrial and agricultural outputvalue, we should rely chiefly on the rapid de-velopment of industry. Our country's total in-dustrial output value accounts for around 70per cent of the gross value of our industrial andagricultural output.

Expediting the development of industrycalls for efforts in many fields. Our most im-portant and most realistic current task is tocarry out technical transformation of existingenterprises systematically and with priorities.so as to maximize their role. In the past. wemainly relied on building new factories to

T AST year, China set the goal of quadruplingr r the gross annual value of industrial andagricultural production by the year 2000.

Some people, both at home and abroad,think this objective, which calls for an annualincrease rate of 7,2 per cent, is unrealistic. Theconcept of "the bigger the base figure, the lowerthe growth rate" constitutes a major reason fortheir doubt.

The 7.2 Per Cent Solution

In the 33 years since the founding of thePeople's Republic (1949-82) our experience hasproved that it is not unrealistic to expect a 7,2

The author is one of China's outstanding econo-mists. For biographical details. see p. 23.

grandson is reading a newspaperthe author who is hospitalized.

Ato

February 28, 1983 21

Iechnicians at the gas plant of tbe Anshan lron andSteel Company discussing problems of technical frans-tormation by which the plant saved huge amounts of

electricity and gas last year.

achieve expanded reprduction. This was neces-sary during the period when we were establish-ing the foundation for industrialization. In thedays to come, however, we must achieve thegoal mainly through technical upgrading. Thisis a question of tremendous importance.

Chiha now has 400,000 industrial and trans-port and cornmunication enterprises; more than380,000 are industrial enterprises. Every year,more than 1,000 large and medium-sized newprojects (mainly industrial and transport andcommunication projects) go into construction,but only around 100 of these are completed andfunctioning within the year. Although theseprojects are fairly advanced and have a higherlabour productivity, they are only a fraction ofthe country's enterprises. To increase our in-dustrial output value and raise the growth rate,we need to rely on new enterprises, particularlythe large and medium-sized key projects. Butstress should be laid on the existing enterprisesand their technical transformation and improve-ment in management.

An lncorrect Viewpoint

In the 1930s, the law that "the bigger thebase figure, the lower the growth rate" prevail-

22

ed in the Soviet Union. People who upheld thisviewpoint based their argument on some of theremarks made by Stalin in his "The Results ofthe First Five-Year Plan." He said, "In study-ing the rate of increase of output we must notconfine our examination to the total percentageof increase - we must also take into accountwhat lies behind each per cent of increase andwhat is the total amount of the annual increaseof output" (Problems of Leninism, ForeignLanguages Press, Beijing, p. 603). He also saidthat the increase rate of the Soviet Union's grossindustrial output value during the First FiveYear PIan period was lower than during theperiod of rehabilitation, but that the absoluteamount of increase was bigger.

Generally speaking, the rate of industrialdevelopm.ent in the Soviet Union decreased pverpa.st decades, as did ours in the .past 30 years.This further justified the notion that "the big-ger the base figure, the lower the growth rate,"and made it an excuse for a diminishing eco-nomic growth rate.

In fact, this argument is not convincing. Itis true that the speed of the Soviet Union's in-dustrial development has declined and the rateof our own industrial development did show thetendency to decrease. Thi,s, however, does notconstitute a law, although similar phenomenaappeared in the two countries with differenthistorical conditions. The causes leading to theirreduction in the growth rate are multifarious.One of the main reasons was that the rigid eco-nomic and financial systems have restricted tech-nical innovation and transformation of theexisting enterprises. As a result, the old en-terprises that make up the vast majority of thetotal enterprises have made little technical pro-gress, their labour productivity has practicallyremained unchanged and their production hasgrown slowly or even stayed at the same level.Thus, the increase of productive capacity andgrowth of the rate of development have to de-pend on building new enterprises and expandingold enterprises.

Under these circumstances, if the productivecapacity of the existing enterprises is used as adenominator and the productive capacity of thenewly built or expanded enterprises as a nu-merator, the more the number of old enter-prises increases, the bigger the figure of the de-nominator becomes. On the other hand, becausethere is a limit to the national strength, no mat-ter how much a country wants to expand itscapital construction, the growth cannot reacha miraculous pace. In other words, the figure

Beiii.ng Reuieu, No. I

of the numerator can hardly grow faster thanthat of the denominator. As a result, the valueof the whole fraction gradually dwindles andthe speed of development slows down.

If we change our existing economic systemsand take a new road of industrial development

- relying mainly on technical transformationto expand reproduction and maximize the roleof the existing enterprises, then our productiondevelopment will not only rely on a small num-ber of newly built enterprises but also on thetechnical transformation of the older enter-prises which account for the vast majority of en-terprises. This will naturally speed up ourtempo of development. Generally, the technicaltransformation of existing enterprises saves

Life-Long PursuitOf Truth

T HE 75-year-old economist Sun Yefang is nowI adviser to the Chinese Academy of SocialSciences and honorary director of the Instituteof Economics under the academy.

Twenty years ago, u,hen "Left" thinkingheld sway, he was dubbed the "biggest .re-visionist in China's eeonomic circles" and repeat-edly criticized for a long time. After being dis-missed from the post of director of the Eco-nomics Institute, he was sent to be "remoulded"on the outskirts of Beijing.

Now, many of his economic view's - such asthose on achieving maximum economic resultswith minimum labour consumption, on payingattention to the law of value and profits in aplanned economy and on enlarging enterprises'rights of management- are being accepted bymore and more people. This is because theeconomic Vier*'s and theories and suggestionsfor reform he put forward after liberation havebeen proved correct in recent years. LastNovember, he published an article entitied"There Are Not OnIy Political Guarantees ButAlso Technical and Economic Guarantees forQuadrupling Production in 20 Years" (see ex-cerpts of this article. "Expand Industry ThroughTechnical Transformation." in this issue). Itwas commended by Premier Zhao Ziyang andaroused attention in the economic circles.

For 60 years, Sun Yefang has not only con-sistently applied the Marxist stand, '"'ieu'pointsand methods in the study of economic theoryand made great contributions, but also kept onseeking truth. Iacing difflculties and reactionary'attacks with great courage and without regardfor personal risks. He has proved himself anoutstanding representative of China's intel-lectuals.

one-third or even more of the cost of buildingnew enterprises, takes less than half of the con-struction time and uses only 60 per cent of theequipment and materials. The technical trans-f ormation of existing enterprises, therefore,provides an important technical and economicguarantee for maintaining a high speed in thedevelopment of industry and of the nationaleconomy as a whole.

The assertion that "the bigger the base

figure, the lower the growth rate" contradictsthe facts provided by the history of humansociety's production development. During theeconomic stages of 'human society, productionhas grown at increasingly faster rates. NotedSoviet economist, S.G. Stlomelen (187?-1974),

In his early years when he studied at SunYat-sen University in l\Ioscow, he was attack-ed by the Wang Ming faction. But he showedno fear of persecution and openly criticized thefallacies of the Trotskyites.

During the "cultural revolution," he waseven more severely persecuted. But he continu-ed to uphold the belief: "Think not of death orfame, the economic views formed through longyears of economic research can not be discarded;I must live for the truth." In the seven years

of extremely hard life in prison, without paper

or pen, he repeatedly revised .in his mind a

drait for his million-word work The EconomicTheory of Soctalism.

When he rvas released f.rom prison in 1975,

the first thing he said was: "I will never changemy mind, my profession or my viewpoints."

In their articles, his colleagues, students andfriends have given many moving examples ofhis spirit of uprightness and courage.

. ln 1964, trvo theoretical workers in theEconomics Institute wrote an article saying thatattention should be paid to value and profit, forwhich they were to be criticized. Sun Yefarrgsaid: "The views are mine. The writers shouldnot be criticized." Then, at, a meeting, heelaborated in clearer terins his opinion that so-cialist enterprises should also pay attention toprolit. The two theoretical rvorkers \{'ere ex-onerated. But he 1r-as charged with one more"crime."

In recent years, Sun Yefang has been hos-pitalized several times with serious illness. Heovercame the pain dnd wrote more than 30 arti-cles on economic reform and ,readiustment, total-ling some 300,000 words.

In order to commend him for his achieve-ments, the Party committee of the ChineseAcademy of Social Sciences granted him thetitle of "model Communist Party member" onDecember 16, 1982.

February 28, 1983 23

made rough estimates of the speed of technologi-cal progress and production development inhuman society. His studies suggest that techno-logical progress in the Stone Age advanced atan average rate of 1-2 per cent every 10,000years. In the Iron Age, labour productivity,which reflects technological progress, increasedat an average rate of nearly 4 per cent in every100 years, In the steam and electrical eras, inthe United States for example, the industrialworkers' labour productivity increased at anaverage annual rate of 1.5-3 per cent' during1870-1949 (Nero Tim.es, No. 47, 1959).

A.I. Notken, another Soviet economist, es-timated in his The Rate anil, Proportion of So-cialist Reproduction that Britain's total indus-trial output value increased at an average an-nual rate of 0.9 per cent during the 80 yearslretween 1700-1780, and that it rose to 2.2-2.5per cent in the 136 years between 1?81-191?.

Therefore, the assertion that "the biggerthe base figure, the lower the growth rate" doesnot conform rvith the laws governing scientific,technological and production development. Italso overlooks the reality that modern scienceand technology are developing rapidly.

Raise the Depreciation Rate forFixed Assets

Members of our economic circles hold op-posing views on the question of raising,the de-preciation rate for fixed assets. In my opinion,our existing equipment management system''treezes '.echnclogy" and shackles the technicalIr:nsf,rrrnation of enterprises and must be:i,'-'r'oughiy changed. For this purpose, first ofall, u'e must raise our depreciation rate for fixgdas-sets and thus shorten the depreciation period.If the period cannot be immediately reduced to4-5 ;,,e:ir:s, as in industrially advanced countries,it should at least not surpass 10 years-thecycle oi replacement the Western eountries at-tainc,:l in the last century.

'Ihe relatively low 'depreciation rate is a

fact. Zhou Guanwu, General Manager of theShoudu (Capital) Iron and Steel Company, haserplailed: "In the past, each enterprise putaside an annual depreciation fund equivalent to3.3 per cent of the total value of its fixed assets.In addition, it had to hand over 50 per cent ofthe fund to the state, so in actuality it endedup with a depreciation funci of 1.65 per cent ofiLs fixed assets. Our company uses much veryold equipment, such as the US Ford Company'sboilers made in 1918 and outdated steam en-

24

gines left over by the Qing Dynasty (1644-i911).It will take the company 60 years to replace ortransform all its old equipment with such alimited depreciation rate."

But some comrades do not think such adepreciation rate is low, arguing that in the1978 final state accounts, the depreciation rateof our industrial enterprises' fixed assetsaveraged 4.1 per cent with a 24-year cycle ofreplacing equipment, In addition, the state al-locations and loans earmarked for replacing theenterprises' fixe'd assets and their technicaltransformation actually raised our industrialenterprises' depreciation rate to more than 6

per cent. The depreciation rate of the UnitedStates, they added, averaged only around 8 percent.

I don't think this argument is convincingeither. If this were true, the historical develop-ment of the capitalist countries must have gonebackwards. More than a century ago, the cap-italist countries' depreciation rate for fixedassets already had reached 10 per cent. Sincethen, their production and technology have pro-gre.ssed further. and the science and technologyof the world has developed rapidly over thelast few decades. To suit this situation, manycapitalist countries and enterprises have ac-celerated their depreciation rate and shortenedtheir equipment service life so as to enhancethe competitiveness of their products, It is theircommon practice to renew their fixed capital in3-5 or 5-7 years. This provides a material foun-dation and an explanation for why the cycle ofthe capitalist world's econonric crisis has beenshortened to 4-5 years. If these couniries' de-preciation rate for fixed capital were 8 per centas claimed, then the cycle for the replacement oftheir fixed capital would have been 12-13 yearsand the cycle of economic crisis of the capitalistworld would have been extended rather thanshortened, This, however, neither conforms tothe actual conditions nor the theoretical logic.

I have repeatedly proposed a gradual in-crease in our enterprises' depreciation rate forfixed assets to l0 per cent, a transitional ratesuggesied only for the present stage, in con-sideration of our country's iimited financiajresources. In the 1990s, after our economy hasushered in a new period of upsurge, our depre'ciation rate can be raised again.

To gradually bring about the technicaltransformation of the existing industrial en-terprises, the depreciation fund in principleshould be controlled and used by the enter-

Beiiing Retsiew, No. 9

Urban Family Structures andTheir Changes

- A survey of a Tianiin neighbourhood

by Pon Yunkong ond Pon Noigu

prises themselves. This will provide our enter-prises with necessary financial resources fortechnical transformation.

Simultaneously, our econom.ic managementsystem should be changed. Our present systemhas many drawbacks. It tends to encourage en-terprises to attach more attention to increasingquantity rather than variety and quality, laystress on output value and overlook labour pro-ductivity and the rate of profits, and emphasizebuilding new enterprises and expansion whileneglecting technical renewal and transformation.Unless we introduce fundamental changes in thismanagement system which hinders technicalprogress, we will see the following phenomenon:When enterprises have money, they will con-

q OCIOLOGISTS use varying methods and cri-v teria to classify family structures, such as

those based on the number of couples in onefamily. whether one parent is absent, relationsbetrveen generations (two or more generations),etc. For the convenience of studying thesestructures. we have borrowed sociological termsfrom abroad and for the time being classifiedcun'ent Chinese urban f amilies into fourcategories : -

l. The nuclear family consists of a hus-band and rvife and their unmarried children.It includes broken families in which one parenthas died or departed.

2. The lineal family consists of one orboth parents living with a married child andspouse. and their offspring.

3. The extended family is made up ofparents living with several married childrenand their offspring.

4. Others. This category includes loose

The authors are sociologists.

February 28, 1983

tinue to build new projects or expand old onesinstead of replacing and renovating old equip-ment.

The state must provide guidance and ex-ercise unif-ieci control and supervi,sion Lver thetechnical transformation of old enterprises.First, the funds earmarked for the technicaltransformation of old equipment should not bediverted to any other purposes. Second, unifiedplanning and policies should be formulated forthe technical transformation of different trades.This will ensure tLrat our technical trans-formation proceeds by stages in a planned wayand under a unified leadership, and at the sametime will give due respect to the decision-mak-ing rights of the enterprises. !

groupings of blood relations which we will notexamine in this discussion.

Nuclear or small families are the moststable type, while lineal and extended familiestend to be less stable.

Changes in City Family Structures

The family is an historically shaped form oforganization. From the first day the familycame into being, it has never been a staticgrouping. Its development generally has beenslow and inconspicuous, unlike the developmentof material production, which is sharply dif-ferentiated in ea,ch historical period. Still, fami-lies have altered throughout history alongsidematerial production.

In the last 100 years or more, China devel-oped from a feudal society to a semi-colonial,semi-feudal society and then to a socialist so-ciety, from a small-scale peasant economy tosocialist industrialized big production. Suchchanges could not but influence family struc-tures. A trend emerged, a gradual transitionfrom big to small families, from the lineal andextended families to nuclear families. These

25

Born in or Before

Percentage Percentage

Form of Residence of Married Women in a Residential Area in Tianjin

Born 1927-38 Born 1939-50 Born Since 1951Form of Resi-dence After

Marriage

umber

Live with hus-band's family

Husband liveswith wife'sfamily

Small families(nuclear)

Husband andwife live sep-arately fromeach other*

changes can be charted from the end of the19th to the early 20th centuries. The above tableshows the form of residence of married womenin different age groups after marriage in a

residential area in Tianjin.

From the table we can see two markedtrends. The first is a gradual decline in the num-ber of married women living with their hus-bands' families. The second is a growth in thenumber of couples who live separately from theirparents. The first trend indicates a decline inthe number of big families (which are mainlylineal families), the second trend shor,r's thegrowing number of small nuclear families.

These trends have historical explanations.Due to imperialist aggression, old China was re-duced to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society.Capitalism spumed the gradual disintegrationof the feudal and autarkic natural economy, sofamilies changed accordingly. Among workingpeople, many peasants went bankrupt and be-came homeless because of the annexation ofland by a handful of bureaucrats and landlords.

26

Percentage Number Percentage

0

61

Note: The classitication ol age groups ls roughay based on the perioats uhen marriage and child-blrthuere at peak leuels: 7949 (belore liberation), the 1950s (earlA liberation), 1966 (belore the "culturol reDolu'tion") and atter 1976 (lhe enil of the "cultural reuolution,")

. These couples are nol sepatated or dloorced but are TDorking al a dislance ftom each othet thot doesnot allou a common household,

67.2r

Landless peasants found it extremely difficultto care for a small family, much less a bigone. The impoverished peasants either becamefarm hands for landlords in other villagesor moved into the cities to work in factoriesowned by capitalists. It was common for peas-ants to sell their wives or daughters. Those whoWorked in the cities had to work very hard atIittle pay. Their living conditions were ex-tremely poor. AII these factors made theexistence of big families impossible,

Among the exptoiting classes, some feudallandlords tried their best to maintain big feu-dal families in line with the clan system, inorder to maintain their own status as "masterof the family," and the tradition of "five gener-ations under one roof." But none of them couldescape the influence of capitalism' Often theyor their children moved to the cities and becamecapitalists in the burgeoning industrial ancl com-mercial trades or government employees. Theyformed their own small families.

With the development of capitalism in thecities, the bourgeois families were no longer

Beijing Retsieto, No. 9

+

units directly. engaged in production and ex-ploiting others, so there was no need nor possi-bility of maintaining big families.

Ideologically, the traditional doctrines ofConfucius and Mencius were overlai.d withliberal moral principles from the West. Peopleembraced concepts like "human rights," "Iib-errty, equality and fraternity" and "emancipa-tion of individual personality" in order to chal-lenge feudal ethics. Such ideas led to changesin views about families. This was mainly mani-fested in cities, especially among youths. An in-creasing number of people favoured small fami-lies. Unlike the West, however, generally speak-ing, young people still support their parents. Sowe may say that this produced a view of fami-Iies with Chinese characteristics but influencedby the West. This outlook still prevails in Chinatoday.

In the socialist New China of the 1980s.urban families are changing from big to small,from lineal (extended) to nuclear families. Thegreat majority (82.9 per cent) of the families inthe Tianjin study are nuclear. However, linealfamilies still exist (see below).

Types of Families in a Tianjin Neighbourhood

Types of Families

Nuclear families

Lineal families

Extended families

Others

Total

This neighbourhood study shows a slightincrease in the number of families in r.l,hichnewly weds live with the groom's parents. Wethink the changes in family structures in citiesreflect both the trend from big to small families.and the simultaneous pull towards maintainingbig families. Both factors affect the status quoand the future of Chinese families.

The move frorn big to small families is influenc-ed by the following factors:

1. Family economic problems. In mostcases. urban families are no longer productionunits. but units of consumption. How to distrib-ute the family's income becomes the principaleconomic challenge to the family. Urban wage-earners mogtly work in state-owned or collec-tively owned enterprises, and their main income

February 28, 1983

is wages. Thus. the number of family membersemployed and their rate of pay is directly relat-ed to the famiiy's economic , situation. TheTianjin investigation delineated two markedchanges with regard to the incomes of cityfamilies: First, with more family members em-ployed, the father is no longer the lone wage-earner. Secondly, the proportion of employedyoung people in each family is increasing. Insome cases, the proportion of working youth ex-ceeds the number of working adults. Of 106families in the studied area, 311 persons areemployed, on the average three per family.Nearly 60 per cent of these (185) are of theyounger generation. The income of the familydirectly affects its expenditures. The propertyrights are no longer entirely in the hands of theparents. This inevitably affects the stability ofthe old family structure.

Extensive employment among young peoplehas made them independent of their parents(this is true of both men and women). If eachpartner in a young married couple is working,they can live independently and support them-selves. Older people who have worked hard alltheir lives to support their families and to bringup their children now hope to spend their re-maining years in peace and tranquility. If theirchildren become independent after marriage,the family burden will be lightened and theolder people can lead a better life. So generallyspeaking, the parents also faVour married chil-dren live separately.

2. The problems oI inter-personal rela-tions - relationships among family members.

Obviously the simplest relationship involvesonly two people, so a husband and wife livingalone together has the smallest number of rela-tions. The complexity of relationships grows ex-ponentially with each addition of a family mem-ber so the most complicated inter-personal re-lations are those in a farnily including severalgenerations with lineal and collateral relatives.

The malady of old big families lay in therelationships among the members. Not onlywere there relations among the father, mother,husband, wife, sons and daughters, but also re-Iations between wives of brothers, un,cles andnephews. Therefore family disputes werefrequent. The bigger the family, the more fre-quent the disputes, so many families lived pre-cariously. To maintain harmony in the familyso that members could get along peacefullyoften meant breaking up the family into smallerunits.

27

We must point out that the relationshipsbetween mothers-in-law and daughters-in-laware a prominent factor in inter-personal rela-tions in urban families. After liberation, thehigher status of women in society Ied to changesin families. Women, especially young women,gained not only political but economic equalitywith men because they began to work outsideof their homes. Once they have jobs and per-manent incomes, they have more right to speakat home and power to dispose of family proper-ty. The mother-in-law, mainly occupied withhousehold chores, hopes to keep control overher big family, but the daughter-in-law, mainlyoccupid in social ]ibour, hopes to organize herindependent 'small family. The two partiessometimes come into conflict, often involvingthe father-in-law, husband or even the youngergeneration, resulting in strained relationsamong all family members or even the disrup-tion of the family. Conflicts between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law have been the maininter-personal contradiction leading to the dis-solution of big families.

3. Generation gap. This is expressed inthe different ideas, di.spositions, values, inter-ests of two generations. The reasons for sucha gap are both physiological and social. Becauseof age differences, elderly people generallyprefer less vigorous activity than young peo-ple. Older people are generally conservative andpractical, while younger ones like to break awayfrom set rules and are more idealistic. The twohave different interests and preferences. Social-ly they have different experiences. Take thecurrent lineal families as an example. Theparents (or fathers- and mothers-in-law) aremostly over 50, and the sons- and daughters-in-law are around or under 30. The older peoplehave lived in two societies - dark old Chinaand bright New China. By comparing the twosocieties, they are able to analyse in a morecomprehensive way the achievements and prob-lems of the present society. Young people whogrew up in New China have less experience andoften are unable to correctly appraise some ofsociety's problems. Either they think that every-thing is good or that everything is bad. They

become elated or despondent easily. Further-more, in the past few years, Western bourgeoisways of life have spread to China through va-rious channels, and have affected some youngpeople. Therefore in looking at life, work andsociety, the two generations have differentviews, resulting in estrangement between themand even disruptions of families.

28

4. The mentality of young people hopingfor independence. Psychological studies showthat the mentality of adolescence is significant-ly different from that of children. This is firstof all due to physiological factors that is physi-cal maturity and a rapid increase of height andweight. The earliest expression of such mental-ity is the desire for social recognition. At home.

they "rebel" against their parents and seek in-dependence. They wish to make decisibns abouttheir own affairs and to be economically inde-pendent.

We interviewed all the young workers in acollectively owned factory run by a Tianjinneighbourhood. Of the 85 young workers, 52

(61 per cent) said that their aim in working u'as

to have some income, so that they wouldn't haveto be Supported by their parents. This clearlyshows their will for independence. By the timethey become economically independent and

reach marriageable age, each naturally hopes toorganize a nuclear family in rvhich what they say

counts. In the eyes of young people, the value ofbig families is rapidly decreasing. These are

factors accounting for the dwindling in family

Eeturning from a village fair.

Beijing Reoietu, No. I

size. Thi,s demand mainly comes from theyounger generation.

\On the other hand, there also exist forces incities for the maintenance of big families. Thiscan be seen in the following:

1. Chinese tradition and the new socralistmoral code. Feudal families had many negativeelements but one positi.ve aspect was the beliefthat the two generations were responsible foreach other. This coincides with the actual needsof presentday society and avoids the serious so-cial problems of Europe and North Americawhere elderly people have no one to look afterand must spend their later years in solitude.Of course, today we don't approach the questionfrom the feudal ethics of the "father is benev:olent" and the "son is filial." We advocate thenew socialist morality of "respecting the old andloving the young." The Constitution stipulatesthat children have a duty to support their par-ents. At present China is emphasizing the "fivestresses and four points of beauty" (stress ondecrorum, manners, hygiene, discipline and mo-rals, and beautifi,cation of mind, language, be-haviour and environment). It is also promoting"five-good families."* These all build up strongpublic opinion that children are duty-bound tosupport their parents, and help promote har-mony between generations. They are objectivefactors for the maintenance of big families.

2. Economic problems can be a catalyst forsplitting big families, but can also be a factor inmaintaining a big family. In cities, some oldpeople must be supported by their children be-cause they have little or no income. As for theyounger generation, even though they are eco-nomically independent, their income is general-ly Iow. After having a child, some couples hopeto get some allowances from their parents whohave higher salaries. Both partners in mostyoung couples are wage-earners. Both the bur-den of housework, which results from the lowlevel of socialization in this field, and the dif-ficuity of finding kindergarten space for smallchildren contribute to couples' desire to havetheir parents iook after their child and helpwith chores. In -some cases, several marriedchildren vie with one another for the right tolive with the old parents, These are factors that

*The "five goods" are: good in work andstudy; good in implementing state policies and be-ing law-abiding; good family and neighbourhoodrelations; good in family planning and educatingchildren; good in doing away with old customs andhabits and good in manners and behaviour.

February 28, 7983

make it both possible and necessary for bigfamilies to exist.

3. Mentality of elderly people. Parentsusually have deep feelings for their children.After working hard all their lives, they don'tlike to have all their children living away fromthem. Weighing the actual situation and the in-ter-personal relations, they often want one tolive with them, so that they will be well takencare of when they are weak or sick and also getsome mental comfort. Emotionally,,parentsoften wish to have closer relations with theirchildren. Their affection for married childrenmight not be as deep as when the latter werein their childhood, but often they have deepaffection for their grandchildren. The affectionbetween grandparents and grandchildren is an-other indirect factor for the maintenance of bigfamilies.

4. Housing problems. At present, housingin cities is still far from meeting demand thoughefforts have been made to solve the problem.over the past few years. Some young couplesare forced to live with their parents becausethey can't find housing elsewhere. The Tianjinsurvey shows that elderly people usually live inmore spacious homes than their married chil-dren, so some young couples prefer to stay withtheir parents. This is another factor for main-taining big families.

We have discussed two opposing factors andforces causing both the trend towards changingfrom big to small families and the maintenanceof big families. These two forces sometimes off-set each other, but on the whole, the firstforce is stronger than the second. In big fami-lies, the development from lineal to nuclearfamily is an irreversible trend. However, Iinealfamilies will not soon disappear. They still havevitality and will continue to exist to some ex-tent. Today, China has very few extended fam-ilies in the cities (only 0.6 per cent in the res-idential area we investigated). From any pointof view, there is little reason for such families'existence, and they are rapidly disappearing, orare being transformed into lineal or nuclearfamilies. Our nuclear families are increasing innumber, but unlike in Europe and NorthAmerica, the young couples in China are still so-cially duty-bound and legally obliged to lookafter their parents. Some call such families"compromise families" and have expressedtheir support. We think such an understandingis practical.

(A slightlg abridged translation of an articlefrom "Tianjin Social Science," issue No. 3,1982.)

29

CUTTURE AND SCIENCE

ACROBATICS

Cfi.inese wiru goldrneda/s

A group of Chinese acrobatsheaded by Xia Juhua, a famousacrobat herself, won gold med-als for the three numbers theypresented 6t the 6th Circus ofTomorrow Festival in ParisJanuary 13-18.

The most thrilling of thesethree items was plate-spinningby six girls from the HangzhouAcrobatic Troupe. In the brightsunshine, six peacocks show offtheir colourful feathers; sudden-ly they turn into flowers, at-tracting a swarm of swirlingbutterflies-spinning plates. WuMin, one of the plate-spinners,makes the impossible possible:while setting 12 plates spinningatop one-metre-long rods heldin both hands, between herteeth she holds fast a steelframe, on which another youngactress, spinning three plates in

each hand, bends over to pickup a bouquet of flowers withher mouth. The performancelasts only a dozen minutes, yetto the Parisians, it seems aneternity, with all the platespoised so secirrely atop sticks inthe hands of the six girls. Atlast, Wu Min brings the housedown when she breaks all the 12

plates on the floor to show thatthey are all solid porcelain.

Plate-spinning in China datesback to the Han Dynasty (206

B.C.-220 A.D.). It reached newheights after liberation and theperformance became an increas-ingly demanding task. Wu Minbegan learning the skills whenshe was 10; today, at 24, she isthe only one in China who canspin 12 plates at a time whiledoing other stunts.

The second prize-winningnumber was juggling by WangHong, a l7-year-old from theHeilongjiang Acrobatic Troupe.She can spin an umbrella withone leg while juggling anotherumbrella with the other leg.She is so skilful in juggling thatshe is capable of kicking two

,rosy carpets at a time so thatthey weave patterns that keepconstantly changing in the air.Standing on her hands she canstill use her feet to play deftlywithout seeing the carpets.

The third gold-winning itemis bowl-topping on a unicycle.Gao Jing, a member of theShenyang Acrobatic Troupe, ap-pears onstage riding a unicyclemore than two metres high. Oneof his legs is lined, from kneeto foot, with five enamal bowlswith bottoms and tops up alter-nately. In one stroke of his leg,he can land all the bowls oneon top of another on his head.Then, he tosses a tiny lid on toa teapot. The teapot sli$htlytilted, pours a trickle of waterinto the bowls, to the roaringlaughter of the house.

The bi-annual Circus of To-morrow Festival is for con-testants below 25 years old. Par-ticipants in the Sixth Festivalcame from 18 countries. Of the45 numbers performed, fivewon gold medals. The other twogolds went to Mongolian judoplayers and a US juggler.

PIate-spinning. Carpet-ju ggling, Bowl-topping on a unicycle,

Papercuts by ShertPeinong

Shen Peinong, born in 1934 in Hohhot, Inner.Mongolia, was crippled by illness in childhood,He taught himself the art of papercutting. Hiscreations harmoniously combine skili andprimitiveness. thus yielding natural artistic ex_pressions.

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