Chen Jian on Gorbachev

Chen Jian, “How Should We Evaluate Gorbachev?”[1]
 
Introduction and Translation by David Ownby
 
Introduction
 
Chen Jian (b. 1957) is an economist who appears to divide his time between think tanks and government service, and was not on my radar until I happened upon this piece on Mikhail Gorbachev, inspired of course by Gorbachev’s recent passing.  Chen’s piece is short and offers a relatively positive assessment of Gorbachev as “a man who brought freedom to a great many people in the 20th century,” and as a statesman who contributed to the normalization of relations between China and the Soviet Union.  But what caught my eye is that Chen’s brief text was the most read piece on the Aisixiang web site on the day I noticed it, and in fact still is today (September 15), having been consulted 2650 times.  By contrast, the much more contentious (as yet untranslated) essay on Gorbachev by Tian Feilong, a law professor at Beihang University whose hardline views often echo those of the Chinese Party-State, which takes Gorbachev to task for his multiple “failures” and which does talk about the war in in Ukraine, has been consulted only 426 times.      
 
Translation
 
On the evening of August 30, Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, passed away at the age of 91.
 
His death, like his life, has been met with mixed reviews, and indeed his life was quite controversial in some parts of the world.   But many countries and people maintain a high opinion of him as they mourn his passing.  To my mind, the controversies Gorbachev sparked will continue to resonate even after another century has passed.  But evaluations of him may converge, reaching the conclusion that this was a man who brought freedom to a great many people in the 20th century.
 
Gorbachev’s Historical Contribution
 
In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev became the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.  From this position as the leader of the Communist Party, he adopted a series of reforms that did not aim to consolidate his rule, but instead to ensure a normal and dignified life for the peoples of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. He advocated a humane and democratic socialism, announced a policy of "openness," abolished state censorship, legalized private enterprise in the Soviet Union, allowed public debates and competitive elections, gave people the freedom to travel, and reduced interference in the internal affairs of Eastern European countries, especially armed intervention.  Throughout the world, the words most associated with him are transparency, humanism, openness, reducing restrictions, and non-interference. 
 
During Gorbachev's leadership of the Soviet Union, the world underwent a series of changes.  Among major geopolitical, events we note: the secession of Eastern Europe from the former Soviet bloc, the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan and from Outer Mongolia, the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact group, and the end of the Cold War. In addition, the United States and the Soviet Union began nuclear disarmament negotiations with the goal of reducing nuclear weapons, and reached an agreement.
 
Some of the above series of changes may not have been Gorbachev's original intention, but they truly happened.
 
Evaluations of Gorbachev from around the World
　　
The United Nations
 
As the only President in the history of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev is most widely recognized for his involvement in ending the Cold War between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. On October 15, 1990, Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for this achievement.
 
UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutierrez described Gorbachev as a unique statesman who changed the course of history and "did more than any other person to bring about a peaceful end to the Cold War" and that "the world has lost an outstanding global leader, a committed multi-lateralist, and a tireless advocate for peace."

Japan and South Korea 
 
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said of Gorbachev's death, referring to his contribution to ending the Cold War and nuclear disarmament, "His great strategic vision and decisive action played an important role. I remember his achievements and express my deep condolences." 
 
South Korean President Yun Seok-yeol said Gorbachev was a statesman who led the way toward reconciliation and peace by ending the Cold War era of confrontation and conflict, and laid the foundation for friendly and cooperative relations between South Korea and Russia through the historic establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1990. Gorbachev's decisiveness and leadership, as well as his legacy of freedom and peace, will live on for generations to come.
 
The Three Baltic Nations　
 
The three Baltic nations were the first to proclaim their independence, before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, which would have been impossible without Gorbachev.  During World War II, the Soviet Union had signed treaties of friendship and mutual assistance with the three countries and stationed troops there.  In 1940, following the “transformation” of the Soviet Union, the three countries "voluntarily" joined the Soviet Union. Over the course of the following decades, the three countries became very bitter over the Soviet Union's strong-arm control, although they dared not speak out. Thus, freedom from Soviet control became a constant pursuit of the Baltic peoples for several generations. In the era of Gorbachev, they finally shook off Soviet control and gained their freedom. In the context of the current Russia-Ukraine war, the three countries have firmly supported Ukraine, the result of the seeds of hatred planed by the former Soviet presence.
 
Germany and Eastern Europe
 
With neither violence nor tanks, 350,000 Soviet soldiers withdrew from Germany.  The German people universally believe that Gorbachev brought about the end of the Cold War and hastened German unification, as well as pushing German democracy forward.  In June of 2005, the German Unification Committee awarded him the "Alpha Checkpoint" prize for German reunification. 
 
Following Gorbachev's death, the German capital, Berlin, decreed on September 1 that public institutions must lower their flags to half-mast during his funeral service. Berlin State Interior Minister Iris Spranger issued a statement saying: "We want to pay an appropriate tribute way to the achievements of our honorary citizen Mikhail Gorbachev, for his efforts to bring about political change in East Germany." Spranger, who on September 3 ordered public institutions to lower their flags to half-mast, added that Germany is eternally grateful to Gorbachev for making it possible to unify Germany after the Cold War. 
 
All of Eastern Europe is grateful to Gorbachev. In 1989, he allowed Eastern European countries to exit the Soviet orbit and move toward democracy. The people of Eastern Europe were finally free from Soviet domination. All these countries, which once belonged to the Warsaw Pact group, have since joined NATO. For the people of Eastern Europe, Soviet hegemony was based on the suffering of the weaker nations.  Explaining the upheavals in East Europe, Mieczysław Rakowski (1926-2008), leader of the Polish United Workers' Party, noted that they occurred "because in this system there was neither freedom nor justice." In an interview, the former Polish President Lech Wałęsa (b. 1943) said, "I am not against social democracy, I am only against Soviet communism because it is a rigid and dehumanizing social system." 
 
Gorbachev's death was also mourned in South Africa. Directly and indirectly, he helped to end apartheid.
 
Evaluation in CIS and in Russia 
 
Whether Gorbachev's reforms were a disaster or a blessing to the people of the former Soviet Union remains highly controversial. The reality is that Gorbachev's reforms gave the people more choices. He freed the CIS countries from Soviet control, allowed the people to make choices about the future of their countries, gave them more choices about their economic and political lives, and actually enhanced the freedom of those countries and peoples. 
 
The abuse of human life and dignity in the Soviet Union began in the mid-1920s and lasted for decades. Hundreds of thousands of people were subjected to physical and mental cruelty, and many of them were executed. The lives of their families and loved ones were transformed endless humiliation and suffering. Party leaders and those around them seized unlimited power and robbed the Soviet people of the freedoms that are considered God-given and inalienable in democratic societies. If Gorbachev dug the grave of the former Soviet Union, it was the brutality and corruption of this utopian empire that was responsible for its demise. Gorbachev merely gave the people back their freedom. 
 
Grigory Yavlinsky (b. 1952), veteran politician and founder of the Russian United Democratic Party, Yabloko, declared that: "Gorbachev gave us freedom. He gave freedom to tens of millions of people in and around Russia, and to half of Europe. How to use the freedom he gave us in Russia, what to make of this great potential, is our responsibility." 
 
On May 3, 2012, Gorbachev was awarded Russia's highest honor, the Order of St. Andrei.  Following Gorbachev's death, he received what was nearly a state funeral arrangement, including an honor guard. The Kremlin's official website released a statement on August 31, saying: "Please accept our deepest condolences on the death of Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev." Russian President Vladimir Putin said his statement that Gorbachev was a statesman and national leader who had a major impact on the course of world history and who "led our country during a time of complexity, dramatic changes, and important challenges in terms of foreign policy, economy, and society.”
 
China 
 
Commenting on his death, the Chinese Foreign Ministry stated on August 31 that “Mr. Gorbachev had made a positive contribution to the normalization of Sino-Soviet relations. We express our condolences on his death and extend our sympathy to his family.” 
 
Chinese society has a mixed opinion of Gorbachev.  However, it cannot be ignored that in the late 1950s the Sino-Soviet relations deteriorated and China had to increase its troop strength to more than 5 million, reaching an unprecedented 6.7 million by 1974.  More than half of these troops were deployed to defend against the Soviet Union. 
 
On July 28, 1986, Gorbachev's speech in Vladivostok led to the normalization of relations with China and the removal of the "three major obstacles" between China and the Soviet Union, especially the end of Vietnamese aggression against Cambodia and the withdrawal of troops from Cambodia, important steps in the way of progress.  On May 14, 1989, Gorbachev flew to Beijing to meet with Deng Xiaoping, normalizing relations between the two parties and countries. 
 
Gorbachev ultimately put to rest buried a country that had always had aims on China, from the 1938 Vladivostok massacre in 1938, the encouragement of the independence of Outer Mongolia, and even the attempts to force China into revisionism through the threat of nuclear weapons.  Gorbachev put an end to the troubles on China’s northern border, and as China invested its military savings and manpower in economic construction, China’s economy took off.  Was this a bad thing for the Chinese people? 
 
Within the Chinese Communist Party, there has always been a great controversy about how to judge Gorbachev.  But it is equally undeniable that Gorbachev shocked the CCP when he dissolved the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.   Why the shock?  Because the CPSU was a political party that had seriously grown apart from the people, had completely betrayed the people, and had finally been abandoned by the people.  The true lessen that the CCP learned from the failure of the CPSU is that it must never grow apart from the people and must always submit itself to the supervision of the people.  It must display no tolerance for corruption or for special privileges, must continue to press for reform, and must display the warmth and institutional advantages of socialism.  In short, the Party must always be with the people in order to maintain its own youthful vitality. It was the lessons learned from the failure of the Soviet Communist Party that enabled the CCP to take root in China and stand tall. Consequently, in this sense, the CCP should be grateful to Mikhail Gorbachev.

Notes

[1]陈剑, “应当怎样评价戈尔巴乔夫?” published on Aisixiang on September 9, 2022.