The battle against opium in the People's Republic of China proved to be a formidable task, as the drug had been ingrained in the nation's social fabric for more than a hundred years.
This long-standing connection between opium and Chinese society drove the newly created People’s Republic of China to conduct a comprehensive and orchestrated campaign to ultimately eradicate its presence from the country.
In 4 years, China had gone from having large sectors of the economy dependent of the drug trade to ultimately eradicating it.
Location
The cultivation of poppies, driven by the demand for opium, was widespread in rural China, particularly in southern regions such as Yunnan, Guangxi, Sichuan, and Guangdong. ‘
Farmers were drawn to poppy farming because it required less land and yielded higher profits compared to traditional crops. This led to the proliferation of poppy fields in many villages across Sichuan, Yunnan, and other agricultural areas. Furthermore, cities like Shanghai and Nanjing were plagued with drug factories, dealers, and addicts, making the task of eradicating opium even more daunting.
KMT Suppression 1930-1949
KMT Plans for suppression failed because of widespread corruption. And the use of opium to pay for military costs. In the 1930s both the Kwantung Army of the IJA and Green Gang were the biggest traffickers and refiners of opium. Warlords also prevented action.
Many of the very people who were relied upon to end the opium trade were the biggest benefactors of the trade. The people had become dependent on opium as a cash source, and resisted any attempts to eradicate it.
The Kuomintang also lacked the bureaucracy, legitimacy, and coordinated support to eliminate the drug. Much of country was divided between Japanese and Communists (CPC), while corrupt officials blocked any attempts to cull it. This problem wasn’t helped the KMT selling the drug to fund arms purchases to fight the Japanese.
Suppression failed as a result of corruption, poor economic conditions, and a lack of an alternative cash crop for peasants. KMT campaigns had failed since soldiers had simply uprooted the plants, and taxed the peasants. Which bred resentment. This changed after the fall of the KMT in 1949, to the People’s Republic of China.
People’s Republic of China Suppression (1949 -1954)
The PRC inherited a massive issue with their victory. Addicts and drug networks in the cities. Farmers growing it in the countryside. And millions of addicts. And a society normalized to this after the British introduced it during the opium war.
Plans targeted both rural and urban China. Prior to each provincial campaign, planning and information-gathering was extensively done. Each provincial campaign accounted for the unique factors that affected each province. Generally, provincial campaigns ultimately focused on two distinct plans: rural and urban.
Rural Plan
The rural plan used propaganda to win over the masses, bureaucratic infrastructure, outlawed cultivation, and focused on drug rehab.High taxes on poppies, land redistribution, and giving the farmers seed and fertilizer were used to stop cultivation.
Rural revenue from opium was usually used to purchase food, necessities, and to ease pain from hard labor.
So the government gave farmers seeds to cultivate grain and cash crops without relying on poppy revenues. Clinics were opened to treat injuries and opioid addictions.
Urban Plan
In urban areas, opium was often used as currency instead of money - due to its value. Consumption was high. To combat it, public relations campaigns were used. Propaganda equated quitting with being a patriot. Public rallies were used to raise support.
To help renew citizens’ trust in the PRC government, cities began organizing meetings and rallies in conjunction with propaganda campaigns to inspire locals. Along with supporting opium suppression, these rallies also fostered a sense of patriotism among Chinese citizens.
The rallies were highly effective - they increased unity and gave momentum to the urban suppression campaign. Addicts were able to avoid punishment by publicly registering for treatment. Urban govs also encouraged citizens to participate in decisions on anti-drug operations.
Building Support
The propaganda campaign was very important in motivating Chinese citizens. Many doubted the campaign’s potential for success. In many cities, locals saw little to no change in the level of drug activity despite hearing claims that law enforcement was attempting to curb the issue.
There was plenty of stick to go with the carrot. The PRC focused on aggressively finding drug networks and punishing leaders and distributors with severe sentences. Mass arrests were used against these networks in the rural and urban areas. Addicts were given light sentences.
This shifted resources and energy from focusing efforts on arresting individual drug users to the source of the problem. These individuals were important in maintaining the underground network of smugglers and dealers that fed drug trade in urban areas.
Fighting Corruption
To combat corruption, the Interior Minstry focused on increasing punishments for drug offences, and changing bonuses offered to law enforcement. Previously, law enforcement had been awarded on the amount of opium seized. Which encouraged law enforcement to confiscate opium but fail to arrest and punish the drug dealers.
Eliminating bonuses took away a significant motivation for officers to overlook drug violations. Additionally, multiple districts received instructions mandating harsher penalties for apprehended individuals involved in drug offenses.
These changes helped cities confront corruption and bribery among law enforcement agents.
Results
Cities were the first to successfully eradicate opium. By the early 1950s, centers of the trade, Shanghai and Nanjing reported a total stop to opium networks. By the 1954, the rural areas had completely uprooted the crop, even in places dependent on it like Yunnan.
A primary factor was the degree of collaboration by the Central Ministry of Public Security in orchestrating the anti-drug campaign throughout various cities and rural areas.
The Ministry was responsible for identifying areas requiring additional intelligence, deciding when to make arrests, and determining the locations for spreading propaganda.
Another contributing factor was the large-scale involvement of urban dwellers. In the rural areas, it was the land reform and replacement with cash crops donated by the government to farmers.
These more lenient measures, rather than arrests and executions, most likely played a more significant role in the success of the campaign. While executions and mass arrests were occasionally used to intimidate drug offenders into either turning themselves in or ceasing their illegal behavior, they had little long-term effect.
Conclusion
The PRC plans emphasis on the economic, cultural, and cutting vital pillars that kept the traffic going. Not only that, but they mobilized the support of the public. Which was essential in the eradication efforts. Planning, Economics and popular support were the keys to success.
Incentivizing citizens to give up opium proved to be a more reliable method because it provided peasants and other members of society a means through which to end their reliance on opium.