LAST week marked the 120th anniversary of Mao Zedong, one of the greatest leaders of the freedom movement in the world. From the cave of Yenan, he led the Northern division of the Chinese Army along with Kuoming Tang’s General Chiang Kai Shek to fight the Japanese. The KMT was riddled with corruption and as head of the Communist Party of China, he established the People’s Republic of China. The red star over China went from strength to strength. Mao died and Chinese communism went through phases of change. Deng Xiaoping started the opening up of the Chinese economy. Under President Xi Jinping it is moving towards increasing privatization in the infrastructure sector, lands reform and so on. But the party remains supreme. The younger generation may not share the veneration of the elders who made a pilgrimage to Mao’s birthplace on his 120th anniversary.
Xi Jinping is moving towards free enterprise but is aware that he cannot consolidate his position without paying homage to Mao. He chose the occasion to send out a stern warning to officials of the Communist Party of China indicating that he would be as strict in enforcing discipline as his great predecessor. He was bent on fighting party ‘tumours’. He revived Mao Zedong Thought as a source of guidance. Mao’s legacy, the emphasized, would always serve China even though it had a few faults. Xi used Mao’s thought to strengthen is new “mass line” programme which had resulted in widespread crackdown on corrupt and inefficient officials. He called for maintaining “flesh and blood ties” between the party and the people. There was de-Stalinization in Russia in the 1950s. But Mao’s statue still dominates the Chinese political scenario.
