It began with the establishment of four special economic zones open to foreign investment and enterprise in Guangdong and Fujian, and was expanded by 1985 to include Shanghai, Canton, and 16 other coastal cities and areas. Mr. He's role in missile sales in only one example of a major change in Chinese politics over the last decade, the growth of nepotism. What gave the appearance of command and control at China's helm, they say, was in fact an inflexibility so brittle that, when the leadership was confronted with pent-up opposition, it apparently snapped. Not at all. There is no simple answer to this.
China is a complex civilization thousand of years old.
But one important element has been factored out by Deng Pufang, the gentle son of Deng Xiaoping. Deng Pufang is one of the cruelest victims of the Cultural Revolution. His analysis suggests that the restraining philosophy of humanitarianism is absent or nearly absent in the Chinese tradition. A brilliant physics student at Beijing University in 1966, Deng Pufang was seized by Red Guards. Young Deng Pufang was beaten and tortured by Red Guards to give evidence against his father.