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The Fourth and Fifth Plenary Sessions of the 13th CCP Central Committee

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2009

David L. Shambaugh
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Extract

The Fourth and Fifth Plenary Sessions of the 13th Central Committee(CC) were the first comprehensive central Party meetings to be convened in the aftermath of the suppression of the “pro–democracy” movement in and around Tiananmen Square. Although held roughly four months apart, they can be considered together insofar as both sought to consolidate and confirm the legitimacy of the new hardline leadership. While the agendas of the two plenums varied, both dealt with the impact of the momentous events of April–June particularly in terms of their effects on: leadership personnel; public security; ideology and propaganda; economic policy; civil–military relations; and foreign affairs.

Type
Recent Developments
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 120 , December 1989 , pp. 852 - 862
Copyright
Copyright © The China Quarterly 1989

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References

1. For analyses of this Congress and its aftermath see Michel Oksenberg “China's 13th Party Congress,” Problems of Communism (November–December 1987), pp 1–17; and Schram, Stuart R., “China after the 13th Congress,” The China Quarterly, No 114 (June 1988), pp. 177–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

2. Although he has been in hospital since the crisis, it was confirmed on 7 October by his deputy Wan Shaofen that Yan Mingfu remained director of the UFWD. See British Broadcasting Corporation, Summary of World Broadcasts: Part III: The Far East (Caversham: British Broadcasting Corporation), 0582.Google Scholar

3. For evidence of Zhao's patronage dating back to Sichuan see Shambaugh, David L., The Making of a Premier: Zhao Ziyang's Provincial Career (Boulder: Westview, 1984), Ch. 6.Google Scholar

4. “Jiang Zemin grants interview to NHK president,” SWB, FE/0611.

5. These data are derived from the Directorate of Intelligence, Directory of Chinese Officials and Organizations (Washington, D.C.: Central Intelligence Agency, July 1989), pp. 9, 17, 103.Google Scholar

6. See, e.g., the articles in The China Quarterly, No. 112 (December 1987).Google Scholar

7. “Communiqué of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 13th CPC Central Committee,” FBIS–China Daily Report, 26 June 1989, p. 15.

8. Yang Cai, “To ‘improve’ or ‘transform?’”, Jiefangjunbao (Liberation Army Daily) 6 August 1989; in SWB, FE/0539 B2/11.

9. Yao Fan, “How comrade Zhao Ziyang weakened the Party's ideological and political work,” Guangming ribao (Guangming Daily), 25 August 1989; in FBIS–China Daily Report, 29 August 1989, p. 10.

10. See Lo Ping, “Notes on a northern journey: Zhao Ziyang angrily refutes slander and frame–up against him,” Zhengming (Contend), 1 August 1989, pp. 6–7; in FBIS–China Daily Report, 3 August 1989, p. 15.

11. Zhao and Hu Qili were clearly visible from the rear in a Renmin ribao (People's Daily) photograph of the enlarged Politburo session. See also, Chang Mu, “Criticism of Zhao escalates and opposing capitalism has become a main theme–a glance at the trends in development of the political situation in Beijing,” Qingbao (The Nineties) August 1989, pp. 40–43; in FBIS–China Daily Report, 11 August 1989, pp. 10–13.

12. See, e.g., Ruihuan, Li, “The pressing task in current propaganda and ideological work,” Sixiang gongzuo yanjiu, No. 9 (1989); in SWB, FE/0548 B2/1: “Li Ruihuan urges ‘high–ranking Party cadres’ to study Marxism,” SWB, FE/0588.Google Scholar

13. “Jiang Zemin's speech at Fifth Plenum of Party Central Committee,” SWB, FE/0622 B2/2.

14. “Article calls for vigilance against bourgeois liberalization,” SWB, FE/0538 B2/4–5. It should be noted that this is an article written by former Hongji (Red Flag) editor Xiong Fu and published in 15 August 1989 Renmin ribao.

15. For more extended analysis of Chinese images of the American variant of western capitalism and democracy see my East Views West: China's Images of the United States (Princeton University Press, forthcoming); and “Anti–Americanism in China,” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (May 1988), pp. 142–56.Google Scholar

16. “The four–day Fifth Plenary Session will focus its discussions on 38 policies,” Wen Wei Bao, 7 November 1989; in SWB, FE/0609 B2/1. As of this writing only the text of Jiang Zemin's speech has been released.

17. For an excellent discussion of the propensity of Chinese cadres to feign compliance see Pye, Lucian W., The Mandarin and the Cadre: China's Political Cultures (Ann Arbor: Michigan Monographs in Chinese Studies No. 59, 1988). See “Jiang Zemin's speech at the Fifth Plenum of Party Central Committee,” SWB, FE/0622 B2/3.Google Scholar

18. See, e.g., Daniel Southerland, “Beijing, provinces fight over economy,” Washington Post, 6 November 1989.

19. Li Peng, “Unswervingly implement the policy,” p. 25.

20. See Daniel Southerland, “Party assails opponents of economic austerity: conference fails to resolve Party dispute,” Washington Post, 12 November 1989.

21. See, e.g., Directorate of Intelligence, The Chinese Economy in 1988 and 1989: Reforms on Hold, Economic Problems Mount (Washington, D.C.: Central Intelligence Agency), August 1989.Google Scholar