Talk:Generations of Chinese leadership

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[edit] Junior Roles??

(Re: Second Generation): These leaders were also involved in the Chinese revolution but in junior roles.

Well, actually Chen Yun was a Politburo member since the 1930s until his death. Chen held sway over the CCP levers of power during the so-called "28 Bolshiviks" period (when Mao Zedong was incedentally discraced and removed from all effective decision-making in the Party). Additionally, Chen ranked fifth in the CCP power line (being a memeber of the CCP Politburo Secretariat, later the Politburo Standing Committee from 1950 to 1966, which would put him in the first generation in terms of power. He survived the Cultural Revolution relatively unscathed and with his Politburo membership. If anything, Chen's power prior to the 1980s was arguably more significant than during his resumption of visible power following the fall of the Gang of Four, when his more conservative views on modernization were effectively cheked by "Paramount Leader" Deng.

Deng Xiaoping was definitely a first and second generation leader. Deng was an important military leader who is credited with the Huai-Hai victory, and Deng was present during the Long March. Following the creation of the PRC, Deng was assigned to be the senior leader of the South-West Military Region, a position of enormous importance and a demonstration of Mao's trust in his leadership. And with Mao's backing, Deng Xiaoping became the first PRC-era CCP General Secretary, in effect in charge of all of the CCP paper flow.

I know that this article follows the mainland interpretation of things, but Deng and Chen held as much power and had as much to do with the early formative years of the PRC as other leaders like Zhou Enlai, not to mention Zhu De (who became little more than a publicly-popular figurehead following the 1949 victory of the communists.)

Sometimes things don't always work out so neatly in history. Just something to keep in mind.

Thanks.

[edit] Fourth Generation

The article states that the members of the fourth generation were born in the 1950s but the four leaders actually mentioned were born from 1939 to 1942. I can't access the Hong Kong Economic Journal reference. The leaders of the fifth generation mentioned in the article were born between 1954 and 1960, so maybe that reference belongs in the fifth generation section. Lexivore 22:15, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Chinese leadership?

Would it be a neutral point of view to call the leaders of the PRC Chinese leaders? The policy on Wikipedia is not to equate China and People's Republic of China. — Instantnood 21:58, 22 February 2007 (UTC) The title of this entry would better be changed to Generations of the PRC leadership, or perhaps Generations of the leadership of the Communist Party of China. — Instantnood 16:10, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

Put it on Reqested Moves and make a case for it here. It does not sound like a bad idea. SchmuckyTheCat 15:43, 26 February 2007 (UTC)