CHAPTER 7
A
Decade of Crises
DURING THE FIRST DECADE of the People’s Republic of
China’s existence, its tough leaders navigated the decrepit empire
they had conquered and turned it into a major power
internationally. The second decade was dominated by Mao’s attempt
to accelerate the continuous revolution at home. The driving force
of continuous revolution was Mao’s maxim that moral and ideological
vigor would overcome physical limitations. The decade began and
ended amidst domestic turmoil that was ordered by China’s own
leaders. So encompassing was this crisis that China shut itself off
from the rest of the world; almost all its diplomats were recalled
to Beijing. Two complete overhauls of China’s domestic structure
took place: first of the economy, with the Great Leap Forward at
the beginning of the decade; and second, of the social order, with
the Cultural Revolution at the end. Diplomacy was out of fashion;
but war was not. When Mao felt the national interest challenged, in
the midst of all its self-inflicted travail, China stood up once
again, to go to war at its furthest western frontier in the
inhospitable Himalayas.