Modern China - A podcast with Journalist and China expert, Jonathan Fenby

As Confucius said, To see the future, one must grasp the past.

Jonathan Fenby

Welcome to a Big Picture edition of Total Picture Radio. China has been a reoccurring theme here - for good reason. There's little you can discuss - be it the environment, the economy, monetary policy, oil, trade, or manufacturing -- where China does not play a dominant role in the conversation. Joining us today from London is Jonathan Fenby, a former editor of the Observer and South China Morning Post, he is editor in chief of the information website, Trusted Sources. Jonathan knows China. His brilliant new book is titled "Modern China. The Fall and Rise of a Great Power, 1850 to the Present" published by Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins. Add this one to your summer reading list, and the next time "China" comes up in a conversation, you'll be able to take the lead.

Technorati Tags: China, economy, Jonathan Fenby, China history, podcast, Total Picture Radio, cultural revolution,

No country on earth has suffered a more bitter history in modern times than China. In the second half of the nineteenth century, it was viewed as doomed to extinction. Its imperial rulers, heading an anachronistic regime, were brought low by enormous revolts, shifting social power patterns, republican revolutionaries, Western incursions to "split the Chinese melon" and a disastrous defeat by Japan.

The presence of predatory foreigners has often been blamed for China's troubles, but the much greater cause came from within China itself. In the early twentieth century, the empire was succeeded by warlordism on a massive scale, internal divisions, incompetent rule, savage fighting between the government and the Communists, and a fourteen-year invasion from Japan. Four years of civil war after 1945 led to the Maoist era, with its purges and repression; the disastrous Great Leap Forward; a famine that killed tens of millions; and the Cultural Revolution.

Questions Peter Clayton asked Jonathan Fenby

• In your book, you quote Confucius: To see the future, one must grasp the past. And when you look at China's past - the amount of violence is on an epic scale, is it not?
• And how has that violent past influenced today's China?
• Modern China - the China we're dealing with in business and politics has only been around for the past 30 years. Can you give us some context?
• You wrote a commentary for the Guardian on the 19th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Was this anniversary observed in China?
• Although China is part of the WTO, it seems to operate on its own set of rules.
• How much of the current run-up of global oil prices is due to the growth of China as a modern industrial society?
• You wrote a commentary on the recent G8 meeting in Japan. What is your perspective?
• The environmental impact of China's growth on the entire globe is well known. Does the government care?
• How important are the Olympics to China?
• As you know a number of global corporations have established important manufacturing and research facilities in China -- do you think there's a risk of them being taken over by the government?
• If I worked for an Intel or GE and was offered a ex-pat assignment in China, what advice would you give me?
• What do you think is the most misunderstood fact in the West of modern China?

About Modern China
Source: Publisher

No country on earth has suffered a more bitter history in modern times than China. In the second half of the nineteenth century, it was viewed as doomed to extinction. Its imperial rulers, heading an anachronistic regime, were brought low by enormous revolts, shifting social power patterns, republican revolutionaries, Western incursions to "split the Chinese melon" and a disastrous defeat by Japan.

The presence of predatory foreigners has often been blamed for China's troubles, but the much greater cause came from within China itself. In the early twentieth century, the empire was succeeded by warlordism on a massive scale, internal divisions, incompetent rule, savage fighting between the government and the Communists, and a fourteen-year invasion from Japan. Four years of civil war after 1945 led to the Maoist era, with its purges and repression; the disastrous Great Leap Forward; a famine that killed tens of millions; and the Cultural Revolution.

About Jonathan Fenby

Jonathan Fenby, a former editor of the Observer and South China Morning Post, is editor in chief of the information website, Trusted Sources.

He has worked as a foreign correspondent for the Economist and Reuters and held senior editorial positions at the Guardian and the Independent in Britain. He contributes to publications, broadcasting stations and websites in the UK, Europe, the United States and the far east.

He has written books on France (On The Brink), pre-Communist China (Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the China He Lost), Hong Kong (Dealing with the Dragon) and the unreported story of the deadliest British naval disaster (The Sinking of the Lancastria). Jonathan has just published Alliance; the Inside Story of how Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill won one war & began another (Simon & Schuster) which the Guardian review described as "the best sort of history".

His latest book is titled: Modern China, The Fall and Rise of a Great Power, 1850 to the Present. He has been commissioned to write on From the Manchus to Mao for Form Asia, Hong Kong, and is editing The Seventy Wonders of China for Thames & Hudson. He is on the board of the European Journalism Centre and is a research associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at London University.

Mao loses face on Chinese banknotes

Mao Zedong may be off Chinese banknotes, but that doesn't mean the country's leaders are ready to push him aside - Jonathan Fenby

For a country gripped by breakneck economic and social change, China remains remarkably conservative when it comes to political symbols and its own history. There is a good reason for this, of course – the continuing determination of the Communist party to retain monopoly control of politics (and the history that goes with it). So any slight change in the symbolism of the regime is bound to be scrutinised for meaning – never more so than when it involves the founder of the People's Republic.

Since 1999, the 50th anniversary of the Communist party taking power, the face of Mao Zedong has appeared on all Chinese banknotes. But this week, the central bank announced that it would be dropped from six million notes being issued for the Olympic Games in August.

Instead, they will show the new bird's nest national stadium on one side and, on the other, an ancient Greek marble statue of a discus-thrower, portraits of athletes and the numeral 2008.

This does not come entirely out of the blue. Some delegates to the national legislature suggested, two years ago, that other 20th century Chinese figures should be portrayed. The Olympics are also, clearly, a special occasion of which the current leadership is intent on making as much as possible. For that purpose, publicising the bird's nest has a logic of its own, as the Olympics are presented as a symbol of the changes in China since Mao's death in 1976. But that certainly does not mean that China's leaders are ready to shunt Mao aside. From an economic and social viewpoint, he is anachronistic. But he still holds a potent place as the founder of a new dynasty; the single-minded ruler who, in the orthodox expression, enabled China to stand up again after a century of weakness and humiliation. If Andy Warhol turned him into a fashion icon, for China he is important as a symbol of national strength – however much he actually held his country back. A recent survey of Chinese corporate managers showed that many admired him for his ruthlessness.

Thirty-two years after his death, he remains core to the political system, which says a good deal about that system. The historic elements that the regime summons up to claim legitimacy – the Long March, the fight against Japan, victory in the civil war and the establishment of the People's Republic – are all indissolubly connected to him, however much mythmaking and propaganda have been used to distort reality. The tens of millions he killed, the failure and sheer lunacy of most of his major undertakings, as well as his destructive manipulation of the Communist party and its ideology, mean that he can no longer be regarded as a leader without fault. But the official verdict remains as propounded under Deng Xiaoping 30 years ago – he was 70% good. His face still looks out from the Forbidden City and crowds file past his embalmed corpse in a mausoleum by Tiananmen Square.

Those in power today remain intent on preserving the monopoly power of the Communist party rule that Mao succeeded in imposing in imperial fashion after 1949. That is the key to all they do, even if they are increasingly unable to control the economic process launched by Deng Xiaoping 30 years ago. Given the right opportunity, such as the Olympics, a slight shift may be possible on the periphery, as with this week's banknote announcement. But, until the regime is able to pose fundamental questions about itself, tampering with Mao will be too dangerous – however much Chinese realities contradict his intended legacy.

Resources:

---