Chinese Political History II: Chapter 4, Exercise 1 — Possible Solution
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TASK
Explain how the 1992 southern tour and the 14th Congress show the same
pattern of informal authority as the 1989 decision, and say what was
different about the outcome.

ANSWER

SAME PATTERN
- 1989 (Chapter 3): Deng, then chairman of the Central Military Commission,
  and Yang Shangkun broke a deadlock in the Standing Committee. Deng held a
  military post, not a Standing Committee seat.
- 1992: Deng, aged 87 and holding no formal position, toured the south and
  changed the direction of policy. The party leader, Jiang Zemin, aligned
  with him by April 1992, and the 14th Congress in October adopted
  "socialist market economy."
In both cases the decisive figure was not acting through the post that the
formal structure would give the decision to.

DIFFERENCE
In 1989 the informal authority was used to settle a crackdown; in 1992 it
was used to restart reform. The outcome in 1992 was economic: growth of
about 13 percent a year in the following years, as reported.

CAUTION
The growth figure is from a single summary. Beijing media at first ignored
the tour, which shows that even Deng's line needed time to win the centre.