M A Qureshi V P Kharband Since 1976, the Chinese policy-makers have re-emphasised the importance of Science and Technology for the realisation of the Four Modernisations. This view has not been adopted without challenge. Earlier, during periods of intense ideological conflict, Science and Technology were made secondary to the policy of "putting politics in command. This a 'ticle sums up the implications of these conflicts since 1950 on policy towards Science and Technology, DURING the last three decades Science and Technology (ST) policies in China have undergone rapid changes which have been the result of struggle between the radicals and the moderates to modernise China. The radicals stressed self-reliance and ideological purity. They tended to denounce the importance of expertise and oppose bureaucratism. The moderates, inclined to be pragmatic in trying to solve problems, favoured relatively orderly incremental economic and social changes through international co-operation. They wanted achievements through rapid industrialisation by importing Industrial plants and technology and acceelerating economic efficiency. The radicals demi- nated the periods of the Great Leap Forward and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (GPCR) and the early 1970s while moderates dominated during the First Plan, the period of readjustment (1961-1964), and the post- Mao era.
