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Reviewed by:
  • China's Reforms and Reformers
  • Yu Shen (bio)
Alfred K. Ho. China's Reforms and Reformers. Westport (CT) and London: Praeger, 2004. x, 174 pp. Hardcover $79.95, ISBN 0-275-96080-3.

The title of Alfred K. Ho's new book, China's Reforms and Reformers, did not prepare this reviewer for either the book's scope or its focus. I began reading with the assumption that it was about reforms that took place since the 1980s. I soon found out how wrong I was. Instead, Ho undertakes an expansive, though perfunctory, look at the almost century-long history of the Chinese Communist Party and identifies "reformers" among the top Communist veterans, including Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai. According to Ho, from 1920 on these Communist leaders have waged continuous struggle against political tyranny, ideological fundamentalism, social injustice, and economic inequality.

Ho is straightforward in expressing his admiration for the Communist leaders he calls "reformers" and views their struggles against the warlords and Nationalists as well as the fundamentalists within the Party as "reforms." Thanks to their "utmost determination, devotion, and courage," these reformers have turned China into a country that is "militarily prepared, economically prosperous, politically stable, and secure in foreign relations" (pp. ix-x). In his one-page introduction, he describes his intention to add a "human touch" to these men and women. Based on Chinese sources, he believes that this book is a "first" in the West.

With such a claim of originality, Ho disappointed this reviewer greatly by not living up to what he had promised. The first two chapters, fifty pages in length, or almost a third of the book, cover a history that spans the period from 1920 to 1949. Chapter 1 focuses on the Revolution, divided between the early period, when Zhou Enlai was in control, until the failed military operation against the Nationalist Fifth Encirclement Campaign in 1934, and the later period, when Mao assumed the Party's leadership, which he would maintain until his death. Following a chronological approach, Ho tries to weave the personal stories of Zhou and Mao into a rather tedious general account of historical development in China. For example, when Zhou finished his studies abroad and returned to China in 1917, he soon found himself involved in the May Fourth Movement of 1918. It was during one of the protest demonstrations that he met his future wife Deng Yingchao (pp. 5-6). The reader would expect the author to contextualize Zhou's personal journey within the broad framework of Chinese history. Instead, Ho merely parallels Zhou's personal history with the nation's struggle, without offering much exploration of the connection between the two. Such a treatment is, unfortunately, standard throughout the book.

Chapter 2 moves on to the war periods, which include the Sino-Japanese War from 1931 to 1945, the Civil War from 1946 to 1949, and the Korean War from 1950 [End Page 382] to 1953. With these wars as the background, Ho brings onto the scene several other Communist leaders whom he considers "reformers." We meet Zhu De, Peng Dehuai, Lin Biao, and Liu Bocheng, and we learn about their family backgrounds and personal histories. However, we gain no insight into their individual and distinctive characters, nor do we know why they, each taking a different path, ended up joining the Communist cause.

Chapter 3 focuses on the Mao years after 1949. While ambivalent about placing Mao among the reformers, the author does consider the achievements under Mao's leadership phenomenal. He also leaves Mao out of the factional Party struggle that evolved in the 1960s. The orthodox Marxists were led by Jiang Qing, Mao's wife; Lin Biao, the defense minister; and Kang Sheng, head of the secret service. The reformers were represented by Liu Shaoqi, vice president of the Central Committee, and Deng Xiaoping, the Party's general secretary. This struggle led to the Cultural Revolution. Ho sees it as an attempt by the orthodox Marxists to remove the reformers from their leadership positions. More names of victims of the Cultural Revolution are mentioned, people who are also considered reformers since they were targeted by the fundamentalists.

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