Today marks 20 years since the death of Hu Yaobang, former General Secretary of the CCP and one of Deng Xiaoping’s key allies in inaugurating the Reform and Opening Era. Hu was a fascinating figure, he was one of the youngest survivors (barely) of the Long March and a long-serving political cadre whose own career tracked the vicissitudes of his patron Deng. He was persecuted and purged during the Cultural Revolution only to be rehabilitated and named as Deng’s hand-picked choice to bump Mao’s chosen successor, Hua Guofeng, off the political stage. Not surprisingly perhaps, Hu was not Mao’s greatest fan. Once asked by a journalist which aspects of “Mao Zedong Thought” might help China to modernize, Hu responded: “None, I think.”
He also once rather infamously suggested that the Chinese would be better off hygiene-wise if they abandoned chopsticks in favor of Western forks and spoons. Let’s just say the idea didn’t stick.
But it was his support of economic liberalization for which, in life anyway, Hu is best remembered. He was a staunch proponent of opening the economy as rapidly as possible and scrapping Maoist dogma in favor of pragmatic steps to develop the country. Unfortunately,