Zhang Zhixin, who was persecuted to death during the Cultural Revolution. (Photo source: Internet)
As the centennial anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party approaches, the “red media” at Home and abroad are starting to build momentum. The Beijing-based Dovetail News published an article on March 18 about Zhang Zhixin, Chen Shaomin and Liu Shaoqi, who were involved in high-level infighting during the Cultural Revolution.
The article, headlined as a series of reports on the centennial of the Communist Party’s founding, said Beijing had included Zhang Zhixin, who was killed for questioning Mao Zedong, on its list of honorees in 2019, the 70th anniversary of the Communist Party’s founding, “which is undoubtedly an improvement and deserves recognition” compared with the 60th anniversary of the Communist Party’s founding in 2009, praising Xi Jinping across the pond.
After Xi gave the title of “Most Beautiful Struggler” to 278 people, including Zhang Zhixin, in 2019, Lu Nan, a Renmin University of China alumnus settled in the United States, told Voice of America that it did not mean much.
“Many people, young people, don’t know who Zhang Zhixin is anymore… When many of the atrocities of the Cultural Revolution, including the perversion of Mao Zedong and the starvation of tens of millions of people, are not known, it doesn’t mean much to bring this up again. This Time has passed. When they (the authorities) bring it up again, it means they don’t want you to pay attention to the social problems of the present. This matter has not caused a big reaction in Renmin University and among NPC alumni. They have become numb to this matter. The problem to be solved now is not this problem, but many social problems.”
Zhang Zhixin was arrested and shot with his throat slit for expressing his inability to understand many things during the Cultural Revolution, questioning the crackdown on Liu Shaoqi and other senior Chinese Communist Party officials, and arguing that there should be no personal worship of Mao Zedong. But before and after honoring Zhang Zhixin, Xi Jinping also repeatedly ordered the re-characterization of the Cultural Revolution.
According to Lu, Chinese textbooks changed the disaster of the Cultural Revolution to “arduous exploration” a few years ago, and recently Xinhua News Agency issued an article denying the Cultural Revolution and calling it “ten years of civil unrest,” which shows that the attitude of the highest authorities in Beijing towards the Cultural Revolution is still wavering.
Beijing 798 artist Yan Zhengxue also said that Beijing’s attitude toward the Cultural Revolution has been erratic, and has never relaxed its suppression of dissidents, and that he himself was often monitored during sensitive periods, and was even subjected to tourism before the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, so in this context, Zhang Zhixin’s recognition does not mean anything, and it does not mean that the official characterization of the Cultural Revolution has been reflected and corrected.
Dovi also mentioned Chen Shaomin and Peng Dehuai this time. Both of them were high-ranking Communist Party officials during the Cultural Revolution.
After Mao Zedong launched a campaign to criticize Liu Shaoqi in 1966, Chen Shaomin took the initiative to talk to Liu Shaoqi in public under the pretext of reporting on his work, and refused to raise his hand when voting on the resolution to “expel” Liu Shaoqi from the party at the 12th Plenary Session of the 8th CPC Central Committee in 1968, and was therefore persecuted.
Peng Dehuai died in an unjust prison during the Cultural Revolution because he questioned Mao’s policies and personal worship.
In other words, Zhang Zhixin, Chen Shaomin and Peng Dehuai were all victims of the internal strife in the CCP initiated by Mao Zedong. None of the three ever challenged or questioned the CCP system.
Therefore, in response to the CCP’s recognition of Zhang Zhixin, the public questioned: “What about Lin Zhao and Mao Luoque? Are they more deserving of mourning than Zhang Zhixin?” “Zhang Zhixin was heavily promoted by the CCP because she was not anti-party.” “CCP covered the grave of whistle blower Li Wenliang so that people can’t find it, crayon ball was put on TV to confess guilt, preventing the people’s mouth is more than preventing the river, commemorating Zhang Zhixin is just making a show.”
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