Chinese Politics: Evaluating Jiang Zemin Essay

The leadership of Jiang Zemin can be described as successful considering the achievements made during his reign. His successes against his failures can be rated at 80% against 20% because he was able to rebuild broken ties with the United States which had been broken since 1989. Furthermore, regardless of the fact that he was an object of ridicule on so many occasions, he managed to meet the demands of the period and ensured sustainability in China (Qin). His efforts towards eradicating corruption also defined his tenure together with social, political, and military changes he introduced in China. The negative rating, on the other hand, is attributed to his poor handling of the Falun Gong spiritual movement and his contribution towards inequitable distribution of country resources which saw more resources concentrated in urban areas (Lotus).
Jiang Zemin suffered mockery from his people, especially through social media. This ridicule was mostly directed towards his physical appearance as opposed to his ability as a leader. Nonetheless, with time, the social media that had been used to rebuke him was now showering him with praise. Jiang Zemin’s political career kicked off when he replaced Zhao Ziyang with Jiang Zemin as his party’s official Secretary General. Jiang Zemin had not been very popular in Shanghai prior to his effective suppression of the demonstrations that faced China in 1986 and 1987 (Lecture 2/18).
One of the most notable achievements of Jiang Zemin was the spear-heading of the “Strike Hard” campaign that was aimed at eradicating corruption (Dreyer 139) A good leader is identified by the successful and positive changes they bring into a nation. Corruption threatened to cast China into an economic turmoil but his initiative steered it away from collapse. Another important achievement came in the wake of his restructuring of the military by introducing billets for commanders, commissars for the seven military regions and presented military awards personally as a sign of respect and motivation for his soldiers. Lastly, he made it his responsibility to visit military units throughout China to show the world that he appreciated what his forces had dedicated themselves towards. This further helped him establish a better relationship with his people.
Jiang Zemin was also obsessed with the reunification of China and Taiwan. He wanted to broker a peace agreement that would see Taiwan bow to the pressures of China up with ground of unification. Taiwan, on the other hand, was not interested in coming to the table and discussing the prospects of unification. After too much struggle trying to bring Taiwan to the negotiation table, he made use of the services of Hu, the party secretary. In 2004, Hu presented an anti-cessation law to the National People’s Congress. This was aimed at showing Taiwan that if they refused to negotiate then it would prompt a military response. Owing to the pressure, Taiwan decided to negotiate with China (McGregor 128-129). This is one of the most notable success of Jiang Zemin. The fact that he was able to bring Taiwan to the negotiation table marked his leadership and that is partly what contributed to his 80% positive rating.
The other 20% rating that represent his failures point to his shortcomings as a leader, especially his handling of the Falun Gong spiritual movement. Jiang Zemin was determined to scatter the movement and water down its influence and as such resulted to torture and murder. He also worked to ensure that any demonstrations that arose from his bid to crush Falun Gong were repressed (McGregor 82). In addition, his rapid economic reforms led to inequitable distribution of resources between urban and rural areas. This made people from rural areas move to urban areas in search of jobs. Furthermore, married couple such as Chen and Zhang, for example, worked in a factory at Special Economic Zone which offered them with very little time to interact with their children (Last Train Home).
In conclusion, Jiang Zemin was a powerful and an influential leader of his time. He dedicated his life towards fighting corruption and opening up China to the rest of the world. Moreover, he worked towards rebuilding broken ties between China and the United States. These efforts made him get the 80% positive rating. His failures such as the poor handling of the Falun Gong spiritual movement and poor strategies that led to inequitable distribution of resources contributed to his 20% negative rating. Generally, however, Jiang Zemin, was brought out as a very successful leader in China.Work Cited
Dreyer, June. China’s Political System: Modernization and Tradition. 9thed. Pearson Education, 2014
Last Train Home. Dir. Lixin Fan. Perf. Changhua Zhan, Yang Zhang, Suqin Chen. Eye Steel Film, 2009. DVD.
McGregor, Richard. The Party: The Secret World of China’s Communist Rulers. Great Britain: Harper Collins, 2010
Ruan, Lotus Yang. “Are Chinese Nostalgic About Jiang Zemin?” The Diplomat. 25 December 2015. Web.
Qin, Amy. “Ridicule Turns to Affection as Chinese Social Media Embraces Jiang Zemin.” New York Times. 20 October 2015. Web.