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China’s Economic Statecraft in the 1970s

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China, Hong Kong, and the Long 1970s: Global Perspectives

Part of the book series: Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies Series ((CIPCSS))

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Abstract

The People’s Republic of China’s economic statecraft, if defined as a government’s ability, intention, and actual policy in using economic instruments in pursuit of foreign policy goals, faced significant challenges in the 1970s. The challenges arose partly from intensified threats from both superpowers and Beijing’s subsequent strategic reorientation, and partly from the leadership transition and changing dynamics of China’s domestic politics. The economic reforms and opening up that the pragmatic-oriented post-Mao leadership launched and pursued from the late 1970s onward demanded sweeping transformation of the nature and scope of China’s economic diplomacy. In response, Beijing was unusually proactive in using its economic leverage with other target countries. China’s foreign economic statecraft entered a new stage in the immediate post-Mao era. Continuing to stress the value of economic aid in accomplishing political and strategic goals, the Deng leadership began to add one important objective to the operations of China’s foreign aid: to help promote China’s “opening up” abroad and at home.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Li Jiulin, “On Mao Zedong’s Strategic Thinking toward the Asian, African and Latin American Countries,” October 9, 2013, http://theory.people.com.cn/n/2013/1009/c83867-23138945.html.

  2. 2.

    Dangdai Zhongguo Duiwai Jingji Hezuo (China Today: Economic Cooperation with Foreign Countries) (Beijing: Zhongguo Shehui Kexue, 1989), 61.

  3. 3.

    Speech (Excerpts), Zhou Enlai at a Meeting with the Participants of the National Convention on Foreign Aid and International Tourism, April 7, 1971, Zhou Enlai Nianpu, 1949–1976 (The Chronicle of Zhou Enlai, 1949–1976) (Beijing: Zhongyang Wenxian, 1997), 3:449–450.

  4. 4.

    Dangdai Zhongguo de Duiwai Jingji Hezuo, 61–62.

  5. 5.

    Minutes (Excerpts) of a Conversation of Zhou Enlai with John Stewart Service, October 27, 1971, Zhou Enlai Nianpu, 3:491–492.

  6. 6.

    Speech, Qiao Guanhua at the UN General Assembly, November 15, 1971, Dangdai Zhongguo Waijiao (China Today: Diplomacy) (Beijing: Zhongguo Shehui Kexue, 1987), 323.

  7. 7.

    Minutes (Excerpts) of a Conversation of Zhou Enlai with a Japanese Newspaper Delegation, October 28, 1971, Zhou Enlai Nianpu, 3:492–493.

  8. 8.

    Dangdai Zhongguo de Duiwai Jingji Hezuo, 56–57.

  9. 9.

    Ibid., 232.

  10. 10.

    Instruction, Zhou Enlai, May 14, 1973, Zhou Enlai Nianpu, 3:592.

  11. 11.

    Dangdai Zhongguo de Duiwai Jingji Hezuo, 63–64.

  12. 12.

    Ibid., 60.

  13. 13.

    Ibid., 193–194.

  14. 14.

    Ibid., 194.

  15. 15.

    Ibid., 60–61.

  16. 16.

    Ibid., 61.

  17. 17.

    Minutes (Excerpts) of a Conversation of Zhou Enlai with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, June 7, 1975, Zhou Enlai Nianpu, 3:710.

  18. 18.

    Minutes (Excerpts) of a Conversation of Zhou Enlai with All Vice Premiers of the State Council, February 1, 1975, ibid., 3:693–694.

  19. 19.

    Dangdai Zhongguo de Duiwai Jingji Hezuo, 62.

  20. 20.

    Ibid.

  21. 21.

    Instruction, Ministry of Foreign Economic Aid, [undated] August 1977, cited in ibid., 87–88.

  22. 22.

    The Signing of a Supplementary Agreement on Economic and Military Aid to Vietnam, February 15, 1971, Zhou Enlai Nianpu, 3:436.

  23. 23.

    Statistics, “China’s Material Aid to Vietnam during the War against the US,” cited in Dangdai Zhongguo de Duiwai Jingji Hezuo, 58.

  24. 24.

    Report, Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Contacts, April 14, 1971, Office of Foreign Aid Files, 1.1, 7, Ministry of Railways Archives, 4–7.

  25. 25.

    Minutes of a Conversation between Zhou Enlai and DRV’s Deputy Foreign Trade Minister Le Ban, May 22, 1972, Office Files, 1.1, 52, ibid., 37–51.

  26. 26.

    Report, State Planning Commission to Zhou Enlai, Ye Jianying and Li Xiannian, May 25, 1972, Jisheng Files, 1972, 122, State Planning Commission Archives, 1–8.

  27. 27.

    Han Nianlong, Yuan Baohua, Han Zhongzheng to Zhou Enlai, July 20, 1972, Office of Foreign Aid Files, 1.1, 35, Ministry of Railways Archives, 2–4.

  28. 28.

    Minutes of Meetings between Li Qiang and Le Ban, July 6, 1972, 53, 84–86, 81, Office Records, 1972, ibid.

  29. 29.

    Minutes of a Meeting between Li Qiang and Le Ban, July 24, 1972, 53, 106–107, Office Records, 1972, ibid.

  30. 30.

    Minutes of a Conversation of Li Qiang with Vietnamese Attaché to Beijing, September 9, 1972, Office of Foreign Aid Files, 1.1, 53, ibid., 134–137.

  31. 31.

    Minutes of Meetings between Li Qiang and Le Ban, October 16 and November 13, 1972, Office Files, 1972, 53, 144, 147, ibid., 149–150.

  32. 32.

    Minutes (Excerpts) of a Conversation of Mao with Le Duan, September 1975, cited in Dangdai Zhongguo Waijiao, 281–282.

  33. 33.

    Zhou Enlai, Instruction on a Vietnamese Request for More Aid, June 7, 1973, Zhou Enlai Nianpu, 3:598.

  34. 34.

    Dangdai Zhongguo Waijiao, 278–279.

  35. 35.

    Dangdai Zhongguo de Duiwai Jingji Hezuo, 65.

  36. 36.

    Dangdai Zhongguo Waijiao, 283–284.

  37. 37.

    Minutes (Excerpts) of a Conversation of Zhou Enlai with a Vietnamese Delegation, August 16, 1975, Zhou Enlai Nianpu, 3:717–718.

  38. 38.

    Dangdai Zhongguo Waijiao, 79–280.

  39. 39.

    Diplomatic Note (Excerpts), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, July 3, 1978, cited in Dangdai Zhongguo de Duiwai Jingji Hezuo, 65.

  40. 40.

    Report, Deng Xiaoping, on the Decision to Punish Vietnam, February 16, 1979, in Leng Rong, eds,. Deng Xiaoping Nianpu, 1975–1997 (The Chronicle of Deng Xiaoping, 1975–1997) (Beijing: Zhongyang Wenxian, 2004), 1:489.

  41. 41.

    Dangdai Zhongguo de Duiwai Jingji Hezuo, 170–171; and Memorandum of a Conversation between Zhou Enlai and Party and State Leaders of the PRA, March 27–29, 1965, Cold War International History Project [hereafter CWIHP] Bulletin 16 (Fall 2007-Winter 2008), 260–261.

  42. 42.

    Dangdai Zhongguo de Duiwai Jingji Hezuo, 179.

  43. 43.

    Ibid.

  44. 44.

    Ibid., 181–182.

  45. 45.

    Ibid., 185–186.

  46. 46.

    Ibid., 65–67.

  47. 47.

    Memorandum of a Conversation between Zhou Enlai and the Leadership of the Party and Government of the PRA, June 24–28, 1966, CWIHP Bulletin 16 (Fall 2007–Winter 2008), 311–328; Memorandum of a Conversation between Shehu and Mao Zedong, September 30, 1967, ibid., 328–332; and Memorandum of a Conversation between Albanian Labor Party Delegation and the CCP Leadership, October 12, 1967, ibid., 332–337.

  48. 48.

    Dangdai Zhongguo Waijiao, 316.

  49. 49.

    Diplomatic Notes (Excerpts), Albanian Foreign Ministry to the PRC Embassy to Tirana, April 29 and May 20, 1978, cited in Dangdai Zhongguo de Duiwai Jingji Hezuo, 66–67.

  50. 50.

    Diplomatic Note (Excerpts), PRC Foreign Ministry to Albanian Foreign Ministry, June 7, 1978, cited in ibid., 67.

  51. 51.

    Ibid.

  52. 52.

    Dangdai Zhongguo Waijiao, 316.

  53. 53.

    Speech (Excerpts), Deng Xiaoping, at the Fifth Meeting with Chinese Diplomats, July 7, 1979, Deng Xiaoping Nianpu, 1:532–533.

  54. 54.

    Mao, for example, made the same calculations on the attractions the China market offered to Western powers. See Shu Guang Zhang, Economic Cold War: America’s Embargo against China and the Sino-Soviet Alliance, 1949–1963 (Washington, DC: Wilson Center Press and Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001), 72.

  55. 55.

    Memorandum of Conversation, October 22, 1975, Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States [hereafter FRUS], 1969–1976, Vol. 18, China, 1973–1976 (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 2007), 829.

  56. 56.

    Memorandum of Conversation, May 1978, FRUS 1977–1980, Vol. 8, China (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 2013), 436.

  57. 57.

    Minutes of a Conversation of Deng Xiaoping with Brzezinski on May 21, 1978, Deng Xiaoping Nianpu, 1:313–314.

  58. 58.

    Minutes of a Conversation of Deng Xiaoping with Dr. Frank Press, July 10, 1978, ibid., 1: 339–340.

  59. 59.

    Press to Carter, October 13, 1978, FRUS 1977–1980, Vol. 8, China, 572–574; Brzezinski to Carter, October 18, 1978, ibid., 576–577; and Presidential/NSC Directive 43, “US–China Scientific and Technological Relations,” November 3, 1978, ibid., 585–587.

  60. 60.

    See, for example, Brzezinski to Carter, June 14, 1978, ibid., 495–496; Brzezinski to Carter, July 7, 1978, ibid., 508–509; Memorandum of Conversation, September 19, 1978, ibid., 531–535; and Brzezinski to Carter, October 13, 1978, ibid., 565–568.

  61. 61.

    Dangdai Zhongguo Waijiao, 228–229; see also Leonard Woodcock to Brzezinski, December 13, 1978, FRUS 1977–1980, Vol. 8, China, 630–637.

  62. 62.

    Instruction, Deng Xiaoping, on a Foreign Ministry Report, “Instructions on the Activity Arrangements and Negotiation Plans of Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping’s Visit to The US,” January 17, 1979, Deng Xiaoping Nianpu, 1:472.

  63. 63.

    See Instructions, Deng Xiaoping, on Foreign Ministry’s Reports on Draft Speeches for Deng’s Visit to the United States, January 21 and 23, 1979, ibid., 1:473.

  64. 64.

    Minutes (Excerpts) of a Conversation of Deng Xiaoping with Jimmy Carter, January 29, 1979, ibid., 1: 476. See also Memorandum of Conversation, January 29, 1979, FRUS 1977–1980, Vol. 8, China, 747.

  65. 65.

    Speech (Excerpts), Deng Xiaoping, at the Luncheon Hosted by Cyrus Vance, January 29, 1979, Deng Xiaoping Nianpu, 1:476.

  66. 66.

    Speech (Excerpts), Deng Xiaoping, at the State Banquet Hosted by Carter, January 29, 1979, ibid., 1:477.

  67. 67.

    Speech (Excerpts), Deng Xiaoping, at a Banquet Hosted by Six American Organizations (including the prominent National Committee on United States-China Relations, the Committee on Scholarly Communication with the People’s Republic of China, and the National Committee on American Foreign Policy), January 30, 1979, ibid., 1:478–479.

  68. 68.

    Dangdai Zhongguo Waijiao, 231; and Deng Xiaoping Nianpu, 1:479–485.

  69. 69.

    Speech (Excerpts), Deng Xiaoping, at a Banquet Hosted by Six American Organizations, January 30, 1979, ibid., 1:478.

  70. 70.

    Speech (Excerpts), Deng Xiaoping, at a Banquet Hosted by Chinese-American Association, January 30, 1979, ibid., 1:479.

  71. 71.

    Speech, Deng Xiaoping with American Print Media Journalists, January 31, 1979, ibid., 1:481.

  72. 72.

    Speech, Deng Xiaoping with American Journalists from Southwestern States, February 3, 1979, ibid., 1:484.

  73. 73.

    Speech, Deng Xiaoping at a Boeing Assembly Line in Seattle, February 4, 1979, ibid., 1:485.

  74. 74.

    Dangdai Zhongguo Waijiao, 231; see also Memorandum of Conversation, January 30, 1979, FRUS 1977–1980, Vol. 8, China, 772–782; Memorandum of Conversation, January 31, 1979, ibid., 783–788; and Editorial Note, ibid., 788–789.

  75. 75.

    Interview (Excerpts), Deng Xiaoping with an ABC Commentator, January 31, 1979, Deng Xiaoping Nianpu, 1:481.

  76. 76.

    Dangdai Zhongguo Waijiao, 231–235. See also Shu Guang Zhang, Beijing’s Economic Statecraft During the Cold War, 1949–1991 (Washington DC: Wilson Center Press, and Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014), 287.

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  1. Rector’s Office, The City University of Macau, Administrative Building, Avenida Padre Tomas Pereira, Taipa, Macau, China

    Shu Guang Zhang

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  1. City University of Macau, Taipa, Macao

    Priscilla Roberts

  2. Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

    Odd Arne Westad

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Zhang, S.G. (2017). China’s Economic Statecraft in the 1970s. In: Roberts, P., Westad, O. (eds) China, Hong Kong, and the Long 1970s: Global Perspectives. Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies Series. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51250-1_7

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