China in 1970s and 1980s Trivia Quiz

Answer: 1972

In 1971, Kissinger who was then the Secretary of State visited China twice in July and October. Richard Nixon followed up with an official visit in 1972 to normalize relationship with China to create trading opportunities on a huge untapped market. A bilateral relationship with China would shift the balance of power to the US during the Cold War.

In the same year, China joined the UN and Taiwan was expelled. In 1972, diplomatic ties were officially developed with the US and Japan. (The UK had recognized the PRC in January 1950).

Answer: UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim visited China

The three key leaders responsible for the foundation of PRC: Chairman Mao, Premier Zhou Enlai and Commander-in-Chief of the PLA all died in the same year.

The death of Mao also ended the Cultural Revolution leading to the fall of Gang of Four. Mao's wife Jiang Qin had been spearheading the campaign when Mao's health started to deteriorate from 1970 to 1976. All the four members were arrested and put into jail.

On 28 July, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 hit Tangshan, an industrial city located in northeast China (Hebei province), during the early hour at 3.24 am when most people were still sleeping. The earthquake left more than 242000 people dead and 164000 injured.

Answer: Hua Guofeng

Hua had no real powerbase among the senior CPC party members, so his appointment was a big surprise. He was basically a follower whose policy was based on the decisions which Mao made must be firmly upheld without any doubt.

In 1977, Hua was ousted by Deng Xiaoping after a power struggle. Deng was a veteran politician who joined the CCP in 1927, who had distinguished himself in the war of resistance against the Japanese (1937-1945).

After the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution, 82% of the population living in the countryside was mostly in poverty, the country was in need of a massive change to move ahead. The CCP senior leaders trusted Deng as the man who could lead the country out of poverty.

Answer: The Four Modernizations

The policy of 'reform and opening up' saw China started open up its economy in the late 1970s, providing great growth for China improving the standard of living for the masses. Over the next 30 to 40 years, the country went from strength to strength to become the world's second largest economy in the 2010s.

Answer: Singapore

Singapore did not have an official diplomatic relationship with China when Deng Xiaoping visited the small nation in 1978. Deng wanted to learn from former Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Kwan Yew on national reform before he proceeded with his opening-up policy to reform China.

In 1990, Singapore officially formalized diplomatic relationship with China and PM Lee continued to maintain economic links with China, insisted that the Chinese language be taught in schools across Singapore, to facilitate even closer links between the two nations. The Singapore-Suzhou Industrial Park was the first major project launched in 1994 in Jiangsu Province.

Answer: Vietnam

Before the attack, there were frequent border disputes and fighting. The war was fought for 27 days from February to March 1979. With backing from USSR, Vietnam ousted the pro-Beijing Pol Pot regime in Cambodia. Both sides claimed victory. The confrontation continued till 1991 with sporadic attacks from both sides.

Answer: One Child

The population grew by 300 million from 667 million in 1960 to 969 million in 1979. The policy initially met with a lot of resistance in the rural areas, as peasants need more manpower to work in the fields. Over the last 40 years, the birth rate was reduced from 2.1 to 1.4 (below the replacement rate). By 2019, males outnumbered females by 37 million, due to the Chinese tradition preference for male in the family.

Answer: 1982

After 1979 the population grew by a modest 31 million to hit 1 billion in 1982, which averaged about 10 million per year. Those who had more than one child would be fined heavily and their second child would have less opportunity to attend a good school. Civil servants could even be punished by either having their benefits reduced or got demoted.

Answer: Special Economic Zone

Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Shantou in Guangdong province and Xiamen in Fujian province were established as SEZs. The new SEZs attracted foreign investment very rapidly with light and consumer-goods industries. In 1984, another 14 coastal cities were opened for foreign investments.

Answer: Opening of Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges

US and EU implemented arms embargo against China for the violent suppression of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations in Beijing. Deng met Gorbachev who was then the General Secretary of the USSR Communist Party to normalize Soviet-China relation.

Shanghai stock exchange opened on 20 November 1990. Shenzhen stock exchange started trading on 31 July 1991.