IB History Impact of Political Developments Key Definitions

A set of amendments to the Chinese constitution passed by the National People's Congress in March 2018. The most significant change removed the two-term limit on the presidency, allowing Xi Jinping to serve indefinitely. The amendments also enshrined "Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era" in the constitution, placing Xi alongside Mao Zedong as the only leaders to have their personal ideology written into the founding document during their lifetimes.

Deng Xiaoping (1904-1997) was the paramount leader of China from 1978 to 1992 and the architect of China's economic reform programme. He was twice purged during the Cultural Revolution but returned to power after Mao's death. Deng introduced the Four Modernizations (agriculture, industry, defence, science/technology), Special Economic Zones, and the "opening up" of China to foreign investment, while maintaining CCP political monopoly. He authorised the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989. His reforms produced approximately three decades of ~10% annual GDP growth.

The political framework announced by Deng Xiaoping in 1979, establishing the non-negotiable limits of political reform in China. The four principles are: keeping to the socialist road; upholding the dictatorship of the proletariat; upholding the leadership of the Communist Party; and upholding Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought. The Four Cardinal Principles allowed economic liberalisation while categorically ruling out political pluralism or challenges to CCP rule.

The Gang of Four were four senior Communist Party officials (Jiang Qing, Zhang Chunqiao, Wang Hongwen, and Yao Wenyuan) who were arrested in October 1976, one month after Mao Zedong's death. They were held responsible for the excesses of the Cultural Revolution. Jiang Qing, Mao's wife, was the most prominent. They were convicted at a televised trial in 1980-81. Their arrest ended the Cultural Revolution period and opened the way for Deng Xiaoping's reforms.

Britain returned Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty on 1 July 1997 under the "one country, two systems" framework negotiated by Deng Xiaoping and Margaret Thatcher in the Sino-British Joint Declaration (1984). Hong Kong was to retain its common law legal system, free press, civil liberties, and separate economic and political institutions for 50 years — until 2047. The handover was a major diplomatic achievement of the Jiang Zemin era.

Hua Guofeng was Mao Zedong's chosen successor, who became premier and party chairman after Mao's death in September 1976. He authorised the arrest of the Gang of Four within a month of taking power. His political legitimacy rested on Mao's personal designation, and he defended Mao's policies (the "Two Whatevers": whatever Mao said was correct, and whatever Mao decided must be upheld). He was gradually outmanoeuvred by Deng Xiaoping, who rejected the Two Whatevers. Hua resigned as party chairman in 1981.

A state-led industrial policy announced by China's State Council in 2015, aiming to shift China from a manufacturer of low-cost goods to a world leader in high-technology sectors including robotics, aerospace, semiconductors, electric vehicles, and artificial intelligence. Made in China 2025 uses government subsidies, preferential loans, and state-owned enterprise investment to achieve market dominance targets, which it set at 70% domestic production in key sectors by 2025. The policy prompted significant trade tensions with the United States and European Union.

The Theory of Three Represents was a political theory developed by Jiang Zemin and formally incorporated into the CCP's constitution in 2002. It stated that the CCP should represent the development of China's advanced productive forces (i.e. capitalists and entrepreneurs), the orientation of China's advanced culture, and the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority. It was significant because it opened the party to private entrepreneurs and business people, departing from the Maoist principle that the CCP represented only workers and peasants.

The Tiananmen Square protests of April-June 1989 were student-led pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing and other Chinese cities. An estimated one million people gathered in Tiananmen Square at the movement's peak. The protests called for political reform, free press, and an end to official corruption. On 3-4 June 1989, the Chinese government declared martial law and deployed the military. The death toll from the crackdown was at least several hundred and possibly several thousand. The Chinese government imposed strict censorship of the event.