Old Menace in New China
Coastal smuggling, illicit markets, and symbiotic economies in the early People's Republic
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3630481 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Philip Thai (Northeastern University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 51 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 1561-1597 |
| Publication date | 2017-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Modern Asian Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0026-749X • E-ISSN: 1469-8099 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0026749x16000688 |
| OpenAlex | W2642094216 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 41 |
This article explores the ambiguous role of coastal smuggling during the first decade and a half of Communist rule (1949-65). Fearing that the illicit flow of commodities siphoned critical revenues and undermined foreign policy, Communist China repurposed and expanded Nationalist China's war on smuggling while employing novel tactics of mobilization. Yet smuggling was not just a threat; it was also a lifeline that alleviated widespread material shortages and supplied the everyday needs of individuals and firms during the tumultuous transition to central planning. Businesses from 'underground factories' to state-owned enterprises relied on black markets to meet ambitious production targets and circumvent bottlenecks in official supply channels. Smuggling was thus more than just 'corruption' practised by officials-it was also a 'creative accommodation' employed by broad swaths of social actors coping with the enormous changes. This article argues that the nascent command economy and the vibrant underground economy existed symbiotically rather than antagonistically. Exploration into this complex relationship reveals many cross-border connections between Communist China and the capitalist world that both complemented and undermined domestic state consolidation
Business · China · Communism · Consolidation (business · Economics · Economy · Language change · Market economy · Nationalism · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Revenue · State (computer science · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Chinese history and philosophy · Law · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies
Chinese business under socialism
The Second Economy in Marxist States
The Socialist System
The Art of Not Being Governed
The Chinese Economy. Transitions and Growth
Economic recovery and the 1st Five-Year Plan
Low Power
The Chinese economy under stress, 1958—1965
Morality, Coercion and State Building by Campaign in the Early PRC
Communism Unwrapped
Dilemmas of Victory
City Versus Countryside in Mao's China
China Under Mao
Chinese Among Others
Fishing Wars and Environmental Change in Late Imperial and Modern China
Maoism at the Grassroots
Overseas Chinese in the People's Republic of China
Law, Sovereignty, and the War on Smuggling in Coastal China, 1928–1937
Pirates of the South China Coast, 1790-1810
Ethnic Minorities and Ethnic Policies in China
Chinese business under socialism
A Brief Outline of China's Second Economy
The socialist system
Ten Theses on the Chinese Revolution
Economic Cold War
Another Asian Financial Crisis
The Hong Kong Gold Market and the Southeast Asian Gold Trade in the 1950s
Conceptualizing Chinese Diasporas, 1842 to 1949
Ethnic Minorities and Ethnic Policies in China
Governing China
Canton Under Communism. Programs and Politics in a Provincial Capital, 1949-1968
Grey and Black
Pirates of the South China Coast, 1790-1810
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,67 |
| Citation span | 2023 - 2026 (4) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |