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  • Deng Xiaoping and the 1983 Battle Over Hainan's Free Port Dream

    Deng Xiaoping and the 1983 Battle Over Hainan's Free Port Dream
    2026/06/06
    In 1983, Deng Xiaoping faced one of his toughest reform battles: turning Hainan Island into a free port. This episode unpacks the fierce debate between reformers like Liang Xiang, who pushed for radical opening, and conservatives led by Chen Yun, who feared losing control. We explore the 'Hainan fever' that drew thousands of traders to the island, the smuggling scandals that threatened the experiment, and how Deng's personal intervention in 1985 saved the free port vision. Along the way, we meet the forgotten figures behind Hainan's transformation—local officials, entrepreneurs, and even a young Xi Jinping, who served as a secretary in the region. A story of ambition, corruption, and the high-stakes gamble that reshaped China's southern frontier. #DengXiaoping #Hainan #FreePort #LiangXiang #ChenYun #HainanFever #ReformAndOpeningUp #SpecialEconomicZone #XiJinping #1980sChina #Smuggling #Yangpu #ChinaHistory #EastAsia #FexingoHistory #Podcast #History #EconomicReform Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    7 分
  • Deng Xiaoping 1987 Talks with Gorbachev: The Three Obstacles

    Deng Xiaoping 1987 Talks with Gorbachev: The Three Obstacles
    2026/06/05
    In May 1989, Deng Xiaoping met Mikhail Gorbachev in Beijing, ending a three-decade rupture between China and the Soviet Union. This episode unpacks the secret pre-negotiations, the 'Three Obstacles' that Deng insisted be removed — the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia, and Soviet troops along the Chinese border — and how Gorbachev's reforms, especially glasnost and perestroika, alarmed Deng even as he sought normalization. We explore the 1987 earlier contacts via Eduard Shevardnadze, the role of Qian Qichen, and why Deng ultimately welcomed Gorbachev not as an ideological ally but as a pragmatic partner to counterbalance the United States. A story of cautious diplomacy, ideological rivalry, and the last major Cold War rapprochement. #DengXiaoping #MikhailGorbachev #SinoSovietRelations #1989Summit #ThreeObstacles #ColdWar #Perestroika #Glasnost #QianQichen #Shevardnadze #Afghanistan #Cambodia #Vietnam #China #SovietUnion #1980sDiplomacy #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    5 分
  • Deng Xiaoping's 1985 Military Academy Overhaul: The Knowledge Revolution

    Deng Xiaoping's 1985 Military Academy Overhaul: The Knowledge Revolution
    2026/06/05
    In 1985, Deng Xiaoping ordered a sweeping reform of China's military education system, transforming the People's Liberation Army from a peasant army into a modern, professional force. This episode explores the closure and merger of dozens of military academies, the introduction of Western-style curricula, and the resistance from old-guard commanders who valued revolutionary experience over technical expertise. We follow the story of Zhang Zhen, the reformist general tasked with overhauling the National Defense University (NDU), who pushed for joint-service training and a shift from political indoctrination to strategy, technology, and management. The episode also covers the controversial decision to send officers abroad for training, the creation of the NDU in Beijing, and the tension between Deng's vision and the entrenched military bureaucracy. Key figures include Yang Shangkun, Liu Huaqing, and the Soviet-educated strategist Li Desheng. The reforms laid the groundwork for China's modern military—but at a cost: thousands of veteran officers were forced into early retirement, creating lasting resentment. #DengXiaoping #PLAReform #MilitaryAcademy #NationalDefenseUniversity #ZhangZhen #YangShangkun #LiuHuaqing #LiDesheng #Modernization #1985 #ChinaHistory #MilitaryEducation #MillionManCut #ColdWarChina #ReformAndOpeningUp #History #FexingoHistory #EastAsia Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    8 分
  • Deng Xiaoping's 1979 War with Vietnam: The Border Lesson

    Deng Xiaoping's 1979 War with Vietnam: The Border Lesson
    2026/06/04
    In 1979, Deng Xiaoping ordered a punishing invasion of Vietnam, codenamed Operation 1. Inside the command posts, Generals Yang Dezhi and Xu Shiyou led a million troops across the border into the mountainous jungles of Lang Son. This episode follows the secret debates in Beijing's Central Military Commission, the brutal street fighting in Lang Son, and the geopolitical chess match with the Soviet Union. We examine Deng's dual motives: to 'teach Vietnam a lesson' for its invasion of Cambodia and to prove China's military modernization was on track. Drawing on declassified Chinese war memoirs and Vietnamese accounts, Lucas and Luna explore the cost—over 20,000 Chinese casualties—and the strategic aftermath that reshaped Southeast Asia. This is the story of a war that no one wanted but everyone knew was coming. #DengXiaoping #SinoVietnameseWar #LangSon #YangDezhi #XuShiyou #Operation1 #BorderWar #1979 #Cambodia #SovietUnion #PLA #ChineseArmy #MilitaryHistory #SoutheastAsia #ColdWar #EastAsia #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    7 分
  • Deng Xiaoping's 1979 War with Vietnam: The Border Lesson

    Deng Xiaoping's 1979 War with Vietnam: The Border Lesson
    2026/06/04
    In February 1979, Deng Xiaoping ordered Chinese forces to invade northern Vietnam in a punitive campaign that would last just 28 days but reshape Southeast Asian geopolitics. This episode explores the Sino-Vietnamese War through the eyes of the Chinese commanders on the ground, the strategic miscalculations on both sides, and the long aftermath that pushed Vietnam deeper into Moscow's orbit. We examine how Deng used the conflict to send a message to the Soviet Union and test his newly reformed People's Liberation Army after the million-man cuts. Key figures include General Yang Dezhi, who led the Eastern Front, and General Xu Shiyou, the fiery commander of the Western Front. We discuss the battle at Lang Son, the use of artillery and human-wave tactics, and the war's impact on China's border security and international standing. A complex episode about a short but brutal war that Deng hoped would prove China's resolve — and did, but at a cost. #SinoVietnameseWar #DengXiaoping #1979 #YangDezhi #XuShiyou #LangSon #PLA #ColdWar #Vietnam #China #BorderWar #SovietUnion #PunitiveCampaign #February1979 #MilitaryHistory #EastAsia #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    6 分
  • Deng Xiaoping's 1987 Battle to Restore the Communist Party

    Deng Xiaoping's 1987 Battle to Restore the Communist Party
    2026/06/03
    After the 1986 student protests across China, Deng Xiaoping faced his gravest political challenge since returning to power: a movement for political reform that threatened to tear the Party apart. This episode follows the dramatic months from late 1986 through early 1987, when student demonstrations erupted in Shanghai, Beijing, and other cities, calling for democracy and an end to corruption. We explore how Deng, in his final act of major political intervention, purged Party General Secretary Hu Yaobang, who had been his protégé and ally, and launched the Campaign against Bourgeois Liberalization. The story weaves through the power struggle between conservatives like Peng Zhen and reformers, the role of Deng Liqun as ideological enforcer, and the surprising aftermath that included Zhao Ziyang's rise and the eventual Tiananmen tragedy. We also look at the overlooked role of Chinese intellectuals like Fang Lizhi and Liu Binyan, and how the 1987 crisis set the stage for the violent crackdown two years later. #DengXiaoping #1987 #HuYaobang #ChineseStudentProtests #BourgeoisLiberalization #ChineseCommunistParty #PoliticalReform #FangLizhi #DengLiqun #PengZhen #ZhaoZiyang #Tiananmen #1980sChina #EastAsianHistory #ColdWar #History #FexingoHistory #ModernChina Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    9 分
  • Deng Xiaoping's 1980 Military Reform: The Million-Man Cut

    Deng Xiaoping's 1980 Military Reform: The Million-Man Cut
    2026/06/03
    In 1985, Deng Xiaoping announced a stunning decision: China would reduce its People's Liberation Army by one million soldiers. This episode explores the strategic, economic, and political forces behind that cut. Lucas and Luna walk through the Beijing military conference where Deng declared that peace and development were the new global themes, the resistance from senior generals like Yang Dezhi, and the difficult transition for millions of demobilized soldiers into civilian life. They discuss the simultaneous modernization push — the shift from a mass army to a smaller, more professional force with better training, new equipment, and restructured military regions. Deng's gamble was that a smaller army could actually defend China better, and that the money saved would fuel economic reform. But the human cost was real: entire units disbanded, officers lost their careers, and rural families lost a key source of income. This is the story of how China's military was remade for the Reform era — a quiet revolution that reshaped the PLA and the nation itself. #DengXiaoping #PLA #MillionManCut #MilitaryReform #ChinaHistory #ColdWar #ReformAndOpeningUp #YangDezhi #Demobilization #MilitaryModernization #1980s #DefenseCuts #ChineseMilitary #FexingoHistory #EastAsia #DengXiaopingEra #MilitaryTransformation #History Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    7 分
  • Deng Xiaoping's 1984 Decision to Open 14 Coastal Cities

    Deng Xiaoping's 1984 Decision to Open 14 Coastal Cities
    2026/06/02
    In 1984, Deng Xiaoping pushed to expand China's opening beyond the initial four Special Economic Zones by designating 14 coastal cities as development zones. This episode follows the architects behind the policy—Gu Mu, the pragmatic vice-premier who traveled the world studying export processing zones, and Chen Yun, the cautious economic planner who feared losing control. We explore the tension between opening up and maintaining socialist orthodoxy, the selection of cities like Dalian, Tianjin, and Shanghai, and the creation of Economic and Technological Development Zones (ETDZs) that would reshape China's coastline. Listeners will learn how the 14 coastal cities became a second wave of reform, the role of foreign investment and joint ventures, and why Shanghai initially resisted the model. We also cover the legacy of these zones in transforming China into a manufacturing powerhouse. #DengXiaoping #14CoastalCities #ReformAndOpeningUp #GuMu #ChenYun #SpecialEconomicZones #ETDZ #Shanghai #Dalian #Tianjin #ChinaHistory #1980s #EconomicReform #ForeignInvestment #JointVenture #CoastalDevelopment #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    11 分