HIST362: Modern Revolutions

Until 1971, the international community had not officially recognized the People's Republic of China – the Republic of China (based in Taiwan), which had become an oppressive dynastic dictatorship, held China's seat in the United Nations. When Chiang Kai Shek died in 1975, his son, Chiang Ching-Kuo (1910–1988), served as the country's premier and president until 1988. Freedom of speech was limited, and political dissidents were imprisoned. In 1986, the government eased its martial law restrictions, authorized freedom of the press, and allowed political parties to form. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was formed to oppose the Chiang government. By the 1990s, Taiwan had transformed into a democracy.

In 1971, the communist People's Republic of China took the place of the Republic of China (Taiwan) in the United Nations. In 1972, Richard Nixon (1913–1994), the American president, visited China and established a policy of detente that eased tensions with the People's Republic and allowed American companies to set up factories within its borders. In 1979, the United States switched its official recognition of China from the Republic of China (Taiwan) to the communist People's Republic of China. Today, the People's Republic of China is a mixed-market economy that operates within a communist system.

However, the People's Republic of China continues to impose strict controls on freedom of speech and the press. Within this politically oppressive climate, the government promotes a restricted market economy and people can become private entrepreneurs. In 1999, China regained Hong Kong from Great Britain but promised to maintain the city's status as a democracy. However, since 2020, new security laws have severely restricted democratic rights, freedom of speech, and the press. The international community also criticizes China for its repression of the Uyghur People, a Muslim Turkic ethnic minority that lives in the Xinjiang Province. Human rights abuses have included forced labor, re-education, and political detention camps, forced sterilization of women, and genocide.

Watch this video that describes life in the People's Republic of China. Do you believe China intends to achieve world dominance, as the narrator states?