Former Chinese Communist Party chairman Hua Guofeng, who was designated as Mao Zedong’s successor, has remained in obscurity since his forced ouster and was almost forgotten after his death in 2008, was commemorated on Saturday by the Communist authorities in a high-profile ceremony to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth.
Mao Xinyu, the grandson of Mao Zedong, who has not been seen for a long Time, also attended the conference to commemorate the centenary of Hua Guofeng’s birth. Mao Xinyu, once a target of some Chinese media, has rarely appeared in public in recent years because of his penchant for telling “stories about my grandfather” and his sporadic remarks at the annual “two sessions,” which allegedly upset the Communist Party’s top leaders.
Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee, delivers a commemorative speech. Wang Huning counted the history of Hua Guofeng’s participation in the revolution until he “crushed the Gang of Four in one fell swoop” and “saved the Party and the cause of Chinese socialism”. He said “the party and the people will never forget the important contribution he made”. For the subsequent history, Wang Huning briefly mentioned that “with the support of the old generation of revolutionaries, he set things right and restored the normal order of the political Life of the Party and the country”.
Wang Huning briefly mentioned the history of Hua Guofeng who ceased to be the Premier of the State Council in September 1980 and the Chairman of the CPC Central Committee and the Chairman of the Central Military Commission in June 1981. Observers familiar with CCP politics point out that after Mao’s death, two coups took place in the CCP political arena, one in which Mao’s designated successor, Hua Guofeng, arrested the Gang of Four, including Mao’s wife Jiang Qing, in one fell swoop, making Hua the only person in CCP history who was also chairman of the CCP, secretary of the military commission and premier of the State Council. “But the good times did not last long, Deng Xiaoping and a group of former Communist leaders who were victims of the Cultural Revolution forced Hua Guofeng to hand over his power, and the Premier of the State Council was replaced by Zhao Ziyang, while the Chairman of the CPC Central Committee was Hu Yaobang, and Deng Xiaoping took control of China as the Vice Chairman of the Party, officially ending the Maoist era.
Hua Guofeng’s name was associated with the “Two Fangs”, which read: “We firmly uphold all decisions made by Chairman Mao; we consistently follow all of Chairman Mao’s instructions”, which became a charge for Deng Xiaoping to step down. Deng’s law after taking power was the “four insistences”, namely: “must adhere to the road of socialism; must adhere to the dictatorship of the proletariat; must adhere to the leadership of the CPC; must adhere to Marxism, Mao Zedong Thought.” Deng’s opposition to the complete liquidation of Mao and his insistence on the “three sevens” approach, which eventually became the spell that brought about the downfall of former CCP General Secretaries Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang, the flag bearers of CCP reform, explains why Deng Xiaoping ordered the massacre of demonstrators demanding the initiation of China’s democratization between June 3-4, 1989.
Hua Guofeng is often seen as the transitional CCP leader at the end of Mao’s reign, replaced by Deng Xiaoping, who initiated China’s reforms, but official discourse deliberately ignores Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang, who vigorously pursued reforms in the 1980s. Some analysts argue that the transition between Hua and Deng took place at a time when China’s economy and society were in total collapse and there was no way out without reform, so peasants in Anhui and Sichuan began to contract land privately. The process of modernization in China began.
“Tell the truth, be honest”
The late Li Rui, who served as Mao Zedong’s secretary, wrote the preface to the book “Hua Guofeng in the Turn of History”, commenting on Deng Xiaoping, Chen Yun and Hua Guofeng: “Deng and Chen were both involved in the high-level political contest during the Mao era, especially Deng, who was a true successor to Mao’s methods, and they were both political veterans. In comparison, Hua Guofeng is more pragmatic and has a far less intertwined background in the party than they do.”
Beijing‘s high-profile commemoration of Hua Guofeng’s centennial is seen by some analysts as related to Xi’s high-profile commemoration of the CPC’s centennial and paving the way for his own smooth continuation in power at the 20th National Congress. Xi’s need to draw in forces from all sides of the CCP seems to be illustrated by the presence of second-generation Red figures such as Mao Xinyu, who was once snubbed by Xi. Moreover, conceptually, Xi does not seem to see major differences between the Mao era and the Deng era, and he once said that the second three decades of CCP rule should not be viewed in isolation from the first three decades.
Beijing’s high-profile commemoration of Hua Guofeng is also seen as “for Xi’s use,” a point highlighted by Wang Huning’s speech. In his speech, he said: “We commemorate Comrade Hua Guofeng to learn from his political character of strong party spirit and loyalty to the Party”, and then transferred this “political character” to allegiance to Xi Jinping: “No matter how the times develop and conditions change, the political character of the Party will not be changed.
“No matter how the times develop, how conditions change, loyalty to the party is always the first requirement. The majority of party members and cadres should follow the requirements of General Secretary Xi Jinping, consciously enhance the “four consciousness”, firm “four self-confidence”, to “maintain the two”, and constantly improve political judgment, political comprehension, political implementation. Political comprehension, political implementation, always in ideology, politics and action with comrade Xi Jinping as the core of the Party Central Committee to maintain a high degree of consistency. “
Wang Huning next continued to use prose: “We commemorate Comrade Hua Guofeng, is to learn from his deep feeling of sticking to the original heart, heart for the people.” Then stressed: “the majority of party members, cadres in accordance with the requirements of General Secretary Xi Jinping, do not forget the original intention, remember the mission, always adhere to the people as the center, always pay attention to the people’s safety and warmth, do practical things for the people, do good things, solve problems, and constantly let the people share the fruits of reform and development, and constantly turn the people’s aspirations for a better life into reality. “
Wang Huning also said that Mao Zedong said Hua Guofeng “to speak the truth, is honest”, asked “the majority of party members, cadres to follow the requirements of General Secretary Xi Jinping, adhere to the discipline of self, prudent end like the beginning, always self-respect and self-policing self-promotion, to be prudent and prudent and prudent friends”.
Xi Jinping, after destroying the unwritten party rules established by Deng Xiaoping, such as the ten-year change of the top leader of the CPC and the designation of successors from one generation to the next, made it the highest standard for CPC cadres to be loyal to Xi’s core and to “speak the truth and be honest”.
Recent Comments