| − | As the leader of China, Mao initiated the [[Great Leap Forward]], an economic plan intended to rapidly industrialize China's then largely rural economy. This led to an unprecedented famine. One cause was his 'Four Pests' campaign, which listed [[rats]], [[flies]], [[mosquitoes]], and [[sparrows]]. Because killing the sparrows encouraged insects to take out more crops, ornithologist Tso-hsin Cheng asked him to stop. | + | As the leader of China, Mao initiated the [[Great Leap Forward]], an economic plan intended to rapidly industrialize China's then largely rural economy. This led to an unprecedented famine. [[Deng Xiaoping]] claimed the death toll to be 16 million, while the lowest estimate is 8 million <ref>Mao: The Real Story by Alexander P. Pantsov with Steven I. Levine, pg. 472</ref> One cause was his 'Four Pests' campaign, which listed [[rats]], [[flies]], [[mosquitoes]], and [[sparrows]]. Because killing the sparrows encouraged insects to take out more crops, ornithologist Tso-hsin Cheng asked him to stop. |