Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China by Ezra F. Vogel Page B
Authors: Ezra F. Vogel
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mess halls ran out of food.
Environmental degradation was also a problem. Local areas that were encouraged to build “backyard furnaces” deforested their own natural areas to find firewood and exhausted their own people in producing substandard metal. Large new construction sites also depleted supplies of cement, leaving little for better-planned projects, and local party secretaries, pressured to make unrealistic promises for grain production, later drained local storehouses to meet promises of grain delivery to higher levels, even though their own people were starving from lack of grain. Although it is impossible to measure the number of fatalities from famine over the three worst years, 1959 to 1961, statistics compiled by mainland officials estimate that about 16 to 17 million people died from unusual causes, and estimates by foreign analysts run as high as 45 million. 32
Until 1959, Deng was an obedient official carrying out Mao's plans for the Great Leap Forward. As the disastrous effects of the utopian experiment became apparent, however, Deng had the unenviable task of containing the chaos and providing direction to local party officials trying to cope. Deng's daily work schedule generally included relaxing with his family in the evenings, but during the turmoil of the Great Leap Forward it was difficult to find time to rest. In the summer of 1959, a year after the launch of the Great Leap Forward, Deng slipped and broke his leg while playing billiards. Doctors testified that he would not be able to return to work for some months; some knowledgeable insiders believe Deng purposefully avoided the meetings because he knew he would be asked to support Mao's unrealistic efforts to keep the Great Leap alive and he wanted to avoid being put in such a position.
Deng's perspective had changed by the time his medical leave of absence began. 33 After returning to work several months later, he continued to follow Mao's orders and declare his loyalty to Mao. But the disasters of the Great Leap Forward had widened the gap between the unreconstructed romantic visionary and the pragmatic implementer. Although complying with Mao's orders, Deng expanded his range of freedoms by not seeking Mao's direction as much as he had earlier. And in 1960–1961 Deng played an active role in making realistic adjustments in industry, agriculture, education, and other sectors to retrench from the excesses of the Great Leap. At the time, Mao did not criticize these realistic adjustments, but later he complained that when he was talking, Deng would sit in the back of the room and not listen. Mao grumbled that the officials under him were treating him like a departed ancestor, offering respect but not listening to what he said.
As much as the gaps between the revolutionary romantic and the pragmatic implementer over domestic issues caused strains in the early 1960s, Mao remained totally supportive of Deng in the strong role he then played in China's dispute with the Soviet Union. Deng led the Chinese delegation to the Soviet Union in August 1960 and again in October–November 1960, arguing for more freedom for China within the Communist movement. He also supervised preparations on the Chinese side for the exchange of nine nasty letters with the Soviet Union. In July 1963, Mao was so impressed with Deng's performance in the bitter exchange with Mikhail Suslov—an interaction so acrimonious that it weakened the international Communist movement—that he did Deng the rare honor of going to the Beijing airport to welcome him home. Indeed, Mao's confidence in Deng surrounding the anti-Sovietdispute helped keep their relationship strong despite the awkwardness of their differences on domestic policy. 34
After Nikita Khrushchev was overthrown in a coup by his colleagues in October 1964, Mao, already concerned about underlings who did not wholeheartedly follow his wishes, talked more about cultivating successors and became even
Environmental degradation was also a problem. Local areas that were encouraged to build “backyard furnaces” deforested their own natural areas to find firewood and exhausted their own people in producing substandard metal. Large new construction sites also depleted supplies of cement, leaving little for better-planned projects, and local party secretaries, pressured to make unrealistic promises for grain production, later drained local storehouses to meet promises of grain delivery to higher levels, even though their own people were starving from lack of grain. Although it is impossible to measure the number of fatalities from famine over the three worst years, 1959 to 1961, statistics compiled by mainland officials estimate that about 16 to 17 million people died from unusual causes, and estimates by foreign analysts run as high as 45 million. 32
Until 1959, Deng was an obedient official carrying out Mao's plans for the Great Leap Forward. As the disastrous effects of the utopian experiment became apparent, however, Deng had the unenviable task of containing the chaos and providing direction to local party officials trying to cope. Deng's daily work schedule generally included relaxing with his family in the evenings, but during the turmoil of the Great Leap Forward it was difficult to find time to rest. In the summer of 1959, a year after the launch of the Great Leap Forward, Deng slipped and broke his leg while playing billiards. Doctors testified that he would not be able to return to work for some months; some knowledgeable insiders believe Deng purposefully avoided the meetings because he knew he would be asked to support Mao's unrealistic efforts to keep the Great Leap alive and he wanted to avoid being put in such a position.
Deng's perspective had changed by the time his medical leave of absence began. 33 After returning to work several months later, he continued to follow Mao's orders and declare his loyalty to Mao. But the disasters of the Great Leap Forward had widened the gap between the unreconstructed romantic visionary and the pragmatic implementer. Although complying with Mao's orders, Deng expanded his range of freedoms by not seeking Mao's direction as much as he had earlier. And in 1960–1961 Deng played an active role in making realistic adjustments in industry, agriculture, education, and other sectors to retrench from the excesses of the Great Leap. At the time, Mao did not criticize these realistic adjustments, but later he complained that when he was talking, Deng would sit in the back of the room and not listen. Mao grumbled that the officials under him were treating him like a departed ancestor, offering respect but not listening to what he said.
As much as the gaps between the revolutionary romantic and the pragmatic implementer over domestic issues caused strains in the early 1960s, Mao remained totally supportive of Deng in the strong role he then played in China's dispute with the Soviet Union. Deng led the Chinese delegation to the Soviet Union in August 1960 and again in October–November 1960, arguing for more freedom for China within the Communist movement. He also supervised preparations on the Chinese side for the exchange of nine nasty letters with the Soviet Union. In July 1963, Mao was so impressed with Deng's performance in the bitter exchange with Mikhail Suslov—an interaction so acrimonious that it weakened the international Communist movement—that he did Deng the rare honor of going to the Beijing airport to welcome him home. Indeed, Mao's confidence in Deng surrounding the anti-Sovietdispute helped keep their relationship strong despite the awkwardness of their differences on domestic policy. 34
After Nikita Khrushchev was overthrown in a coup by his colleagues in October 1964, Mao, already concerned about underlings who did not wholeheartedly follow his wishes, talked more about cultivating successors and became even
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