The Fifth Modernization

"The Fifth Modernization" is an essay by human rights activist Wei Jingsheng, originally begun as a signed wall poster placed on the Democracy Wall in Beijing on December 5, 1978.[1]

The Fifth Modernization
AuthorWei Jingsheng
Publication date
1978
The Fifth Modernization
Simplified Chinese第五个现代化
Traditional Chinese第五個現代化
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinDì wǔ ge/gè xiàndàihuà
di4 wu3 {ge5 ge4} xian4 dai4 hua4
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutpingdai6 ng5 go3 jin6 doi6 faa3

Summary

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The poster called on the Chinese Communist Party to add democracy to the list of the Four Modernizations, which already included industry, agriculture, science and technology, and national defense.[2] It openly stated democracy was an additional modernization that needed to be pursued if China truly wanted to modernize itself.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Brook, Daniel. [2005] (2005). Modern revolution: social change and cultural continuity in Czechoslovakia and China. University Press of America. ISBN 0-7618-3193-2, ISBN 978-0-7618-3193-8.
  2. ^ Schell, Orville. Shambaugh, David L. [1999] (1999). The China reader: the reform era. Random House, Inc. ISBN 0-679-76387-2, ISBN 978-0-679-76387-1.
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