“Some people fail to understand why, so far from fearing capitalism, Communists should advocate its development in certain given conditions. Our answer is simple. The substitution of a certain degree of capitalist development for the oppression of foreign imperialism and domestic feudalism is not only an advance but an unavoidable process. It benefits the proletariat as well as the bourgeoisie, and the former perhaps more. It is not domestic capitalism but foreign imperialism and domestic feudalism which are superfluous in China today; indeed, we have too little of capitalism. Strangely enough, some spokesmen of the Chinese bourgeoisie fight shy of openly advocating the development of capitalism, but refer to it obliquely.”
(Mao Zedong, “On Coalition Government”; Published April 24, 1945. Mao’s basic argument was that the expansion of the political system, greater inclusivity, and the incorporation of all groups and all voices into the country’s political process would be the only way to enable China to overcome the difficult domestic and foreign challenges it faced.)
Adam A. Azim 