Bourgeois liberalization

Bourgeois liberalization (simplified Chinese: 资产阶级自由主义 zh; traditional Chinese: 資產階級自由主義; pinyin: zīchăn jiējí zìyóu zhŭyì) is a term used by the Chinese Communist Party to refer to either representative democracy or Western popular culture. The late 1980s saw the first major usage of the term when a number of campaigns against bourgeois liberalism were initiated lasting till the early 1990s. The term is in active use in Chinese politics, with the Communist Party's Constitution[1] stating party objectives include "combat[ing] bourgeois liberalization" in line with the four cardinal principles. According to the Communist Party of China, the concept of bourgeois liberalization was first proposed by Deng Xiaoping, then paramount leader of China, in early 1980s.[2][3]

History of the People's Republic of China (PRC)
1949–1976
Mao era Revolution Proclamation Korean War Land Reform Movement Zhen Fan Three-anti and Five-anti Sufan Hundred Flowers Anti-Rightist Two Bombs, One Satellite Great Leap Forward (Great Chinese Famine) Seven Thousand Cadres Conference Socialist Education Movement Cultural Revolution
1976–1989
Transition and Deng era Boluan Fanzheng Reforms and Opening-up Four Modernizations Sino-Vietnamese War Beijing Spring "Strike Hard" Anti-crime Campaign Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign Anti-Bourgeois Liberalization Campaign 863 Program 1986 Chinese student demonstrations Tiananmen Square protests
1989–2002
Jiang and the third generation Deng Xiaoping's southern tour Project 211 Project 985 One country, two systems Hong Kong Macau 1998 China floods Persecution of Falun Gong China Western Development
2002–2012
Hu and the fourth generation 2002–2004 SARS outbreak Shenzhou 5 South–North Water Transfer Project Sichuan earthquake Beijing Olympics Shanghai 2010 Expo Three Gorges Dam
2012–present
Xi and the fifth generation Anti-corruption campaign Belt and Road Initiative Chang'e 3 Xinjiang re-education camps Uyghur genocide China–United States trade war 2019–20 Hong Kong protests Social Credit System COVID-19 pandemic
History of
China PRC constitution Beijing Shanghai
Generations of leadership
1. Mao 2. Deng 3. Jiang 4. Hu 5. Xi
Culture Economy Education Geography Politics
China portal

Due to the 1986 Chinese student demonstrations, Hu Yaobang, then General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and a leading reformist, was forced to resign from his post by Deng Xiaoping in early 1987.[4] Left-wing conservatives such as Deng Liqun and Hu Qiaomu, under the support of Chen Yun and Li Xiannian (and even Deng himself), continued to launch the "Anti-Bourgeois Liberalization Campaign" in 1987.[5][6][7] However, Zhao Ziyang, then Premier of China and a leading reformist, eventually convinced Deng that the left-wing conservatives took advantage of the campaign to oppose the Reform and Opening-up program.[7][8] After all, Deng agreed to end the campaign in mid-1987 and supported the on-going political forms.[7][8] In 2018 the Communist Party of China revised regulations on Party disciplinary action, expelling members from the Party if they openly adhere to bourgeois liberalization online.