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China The Gang of Four, 1974-76
During the early and mid-1970s, the radical group later known
as the Gang of Four attempted to dominate the power center through
their network of supporters and, most important, through their
control of the media. More moderate leaders, however, were
developing and promulgating a pragmatic program for rapid
modernization of the economy that contradicted the set of policies
expressed in the media. Initiatives by Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping
were vehemently attacked in the press and in political campaigns as
"poisonous weeds." Using official news organs, the Gang of Four
advocated the primacy of nonmaterial, political incentives, radical
reduction of income differences, elimination of private farm plots,
and a shift of the basic accounting unit up to the brigade level in
agriculture. They opposed the strengthening of central planning and
denounced the use of foreign technology.
In the face of such contradictory policy pronouncements and
uncertain political currents, administrators and economic decision
makers at all levels were virtually paralyzed. Economic activity
slowed, and the incipient modernization program almost ground to a
halt. Uncertainty and instability were exacerbated by the death of
Zhou Enlai in January 1976 and the subsequent second purge of Deng
Xiaoping in April. The effects of the power struggle and policy
disputes were compounded by the destruction resulting from the
Tangshan earthquake in July 1976.
Output for the year in both industry and agriculture showed no
growth over 1975. The interlude of uncertainty finally ended when
the Gang of
Four was arrested in October--one month after Mao's death.
Data as of July 1987
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