China's Abandonment of Self-Reliance and Sino-American Opening before 1979

This article re-examines why and how China abandoned one of the core ideological principles of the Mao era: self-reliance. This did not occur after 1978 and Deng Xiaoping's ascent to paramount power, but instead from 1971, when technocratic Chinese leaders redefined self-reliance to include importing advanced technology to better develop China's resources, including for export - a change that anticipated the policies of post-1978 Reform and Opening. The article argues that this redefinition was possible because Sino-American rapprochement and the end of the US technology and economic embargo on China provided previously unprecedented levels of access to US and Western technology.