Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China (79 page)

In his pursuit of economic modernization, Deng liked to say that he was groping for stones as he crossed the river. But in fact, from his five decades of experience, he had developed some strong convictions about how to get across that particular river. One was that the Communist Party should be in charge. “My father,” Deng's younger son, Deng Zhifang, told an American acquaintance, “thinks Gorbachev is an idiot.” Gorbachev, his father had explained, set out to change the political system first. That was a misguided policy because “he won't have the power to fix the economic problems and the people will remove him.”
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Deng also admired success and had a particular vision for achieving it for China. He wanted Chinese to scour the world to learn about successes whatever the nature of the system where they took place. He wanted to know the true situation at home; he did not want to hear exaggerated reports of progress, which had caused such deep problems during the Great Leap. He believed that people needed material incentives and had to see palpable progress to remain motivated. And he was convinced that a robust economy thrived on competition, not only among economic producers and merchants striving for profits, but also among officials trying to bring progress to their localities.

Deng realized that the path to achieving the four modernizations was very complex and he knew that he personally did not have the patience to study all the details. Consequently, Deng was not his own master strategist in economic affairs as he was in foreign policy and military affairs. In foreign policy
and military affairs he consulted with others to understand the current situation and although he did read the reports of specialists, he could mull over the issues and devise strategies without consultation. On economic matters, however, he needed someone else to serve as China's economic strategist—to examine details, frame the issues, select and evaluate options, and propose possible courses of action. For these important roles, he turned first to Chen Yun and later to Zhao Ziyang. Deng, however, reserved the right to make the final decisions; he would resolve political disagreements about the major economic issues by balancing economic and other considerations. He also accepted responsibility for explaining economic policies to the public.