Comments on: Chinese Leadership

By: Justin Miller

Justin Miller — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 14:05:29 +0000

That was very interesting. I have to admit that I new who the President was, but I had no idea about the Premier. Thanks for bringing this subject up Patrick. I was originally going to post about how I was impressed that China had created a system to limit the powers of one man so that there could not be another Mao, but it thanks to Amy it seems that Mao was actually the one who created the split leaders out of his own quest for power. I’m glad they were at least able to turn his arrogant move of creating a new position of power for himself, and turned it into a system of checks and balances. While I don’t know if it would ever happen, it would be interesting to see how it would play out if the President and Premier had a major disagreement about an issue and went after each other.

By: Mark Wegemer

Mark Wegemer — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:04:43 +0000

As notified by the other comments, the separation of powers is key to good governance. Dictatorship tends to not work so well in signified by past countries and leaders. Mao wanted what was best for the country. However, he transformed the country to a “slavery” mentality thinking what was best for the country. Obviously his power didn’t go over so well with the people and the countrymen. Separation of power will limit the possibilities for dictatorship and should provide a better lifestyle for everyone. At least, history seems to agree.

By: Oscar Merlin

Oscar Merlin — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 19:51:16 +0000

I also agree with you Pat, and think that you should not give any single individual too much power. And, to bring the example closer to home we have Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez to compare to Mao. I do not see Chavez’s charisma but can understand from world reports that this guy is just like Mao. He has been given too much power by the Venezuelan people that coupled with his ‘vision’ for a better an independent Venezuela are going to end up driving the whole country to the ground. It almost seems as if that Chavez and Mao needed to take a read brief read of ‘Good to Great’ to make them realize that no ‘one’ individual can drive sustained competitive improvement. To me, if their countries cannot operate without them being in power then it means that they have done something terribly wrong.

By: Andre Ourthiague

Andre Ourthiague — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 04:51:07 +0000

I agree that China might be trying to avoid giving to much power to one individual as a reaction to Mao’s leadership. Adding to what Morgan said, blindly following leadership has been a common threat throughout history. Horrible atrocities are often fueled by good people remaining silent and following along. It takes a lot of courage to stand up for what you believe, especially when higher powers are against you. I think China recognizes that there political system could put too much power in the hands of any one individual, and they ensuring that personal aspirations are not valued over China’s growth by separating the top positions.

By: Amy Cook

Amy Cook — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:27:09 +0000

I agree, the concept of separation of powers definitely helps quell dictatorships and prevent atrocities such as the Cultural Revolution.
However, while reading this post I began to wonder why the government would create the position of President simply to serve as a figurehead. After a little research I found that it was not newly created, but reinstated. Specifically, Mao had been president, given up his presidency because of his failure in the Great Leap Forward and then (several years later) overthrew his successor Liu Shaoqi, in the Cultural Revolution. Mao’s Red Guards threw him in prison in 1968 where he died. Mao never replaced the President as he did not want anyone to threaten his power.
Another interesting point I came across was that one of the first real exhibits of power for a Chinese President was in 1989 when President Yang Shangkun was able to declare martial law in Beijing and order the crackdown of protestors in Tiananmen Square. This was in opposition to the wishes of many in government, including the Party General Secretary. So, it seems the President does have quite a bit of power.

By: Andrea Muntzel

Andrea Muntzel — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:10:36 +0000

I was interested in this same topic and researched it myself a few months ago. If we’re entering a foreign country, it seems like we should understand something about the politics. I tried to look up something about the various checks and balances in China and the United States and what the effects of dividing up the office of the President would be, but I couldn’t find anything that really touched on that subject. Anyway, though, thanks for touching on an obvious topic that hasn’t really been touched on yet.

By: Morgan O'Hara

Morgan O'Hara — Sat, 30 May 2009 16:16:15 +0000

I concur with your last thought, Pat. I recently saw a documentary on the Cultural Revolution, and it was disturbing to see millions of people so blindly and fervently follow Mao’s orders. After his passing, China’s leaders have shunned the cult of personality. Granting so much power to one man does not lend itself to good governance …