Modernization & Maoist Vision

What can be said at this point about the broad goals and motivations of the present Chinese Communists leadership? The question is, of course, distressingly imprecise and begs further definition. Is the leadership a monolithic group? Have its goals remained constant and unchanging? Is there a rigid Chinese Communist “goal structure,” etc.?

On the question of leadership I shall simply adhere to the conventional hypothesis that Mao Tse-tung and those closest to him have played a leading role in determining basic policy shifts during the last 15 years. There may have been moments when his presence has receded from the center of the stage. In the early years after 1950, his role may have been somewhat inhibited by the awes...