Tributes to Jiang Zemin

I met Jiang Zemin back in 1986. He was Mayor of Shanghai. I was there with my boss Steve FitzGerald. We were trying to lease some passenger jets to Shanghai Airlines, for our client the now defunct Ansett Airlines. 

We liked Jiang. Found him straightforward. Helpful. We knew that some people called him a “flowerpot” (花瓶, Huāpíng): looks pretty but not terribly useful. But a flowerpot can be fine, as long as it introduces you to the gardeners. Which he did, and we did a deal.

Xi Jinping describes Jiang as a “great Marxist” (in the red box above). I’d say that he was much more successful as a capitalist. Remember he was a big promoter of Deng Xiaoping’s “Socialism with Chinese characteristics”. That’s to say, Chinese capitalism. State capitalism, if you must, but more like a dual economy with the State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and a reborn private sector. 

China’s rapid economic growth since 1978 is due to the private sector. That is, the market economy. China has been successful to the exact extent that it has allowed market forces. Marxism was always grit in the wheels. In Mao’s day much worse than grit. “Marxism with Mao Tse-tung characteristics” crushed the economy and killed millions. 

Meantime the SOEs are pretty much as inefficient as ever, the economy’s “dinosaurs”. Their comet hasn’t come because they remain a useful social safety net, keeping people employed — even of it’s “employed” in quotes. (I worked in an SOE in 1976, part of Mao’s “open door schooling” policy; and have toured several since. They’re unchanged; cold cathedrals of casual indolence).

Deng Xiaoping knew this. He was also great at branding. If Socialism is holding you back, but you can’t quite say “capitalist”? Very well: “Socialism with Chinese characteristics”. Need to be less ideological? Very well: “It doesn’t matter if it’s a white cat or a black cat as long as it catches mice”. Need to work something out to re-integrate an ex colony? Very well: “One country, Two systems.”

Jiang Zemin was the torchbearer for Deng’s economic rebranding: “Socialism with Chinese characteristics”. A torchbearer for the market economy. A torchbearer for the private sector. Not so much of a Marxist, “great” or otherwise. 

A man of good character. Of open mind. To protesters in Shanghai in 1984 he read out The Gettysburg Address … in English! He was also a good opera singer and played the Er Hu. A man for all seasons?

ADDED: “a bit too much of an encomium”, or similar, say some Occasional Readers, and I see why. So, in the interests of balance, here is Lei’s Real Talk on the issue. She has a lot more to say and a lot of real deep interests. Watch out for the Chinese “Pen, Gun and Knife” analogy. For “Zero Covid policy is a political campaign” and a lot more. 47 minutes. A bit on the China-nerdy side. 

We got to remember she’s very anti CCP. Then, so am I. So we remind ourselves of the potential for confirmation bias.