Page 190 - Communism in Ambush

COMMUNISM IN AMBUSH
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from Maoism in China, or the strengthening of the economic aspect of
Maoism? The same article states:
Even after the denouement of the Cultural Revolution—the humiliation of
Mao's wife and the other members of the Gang of Four—the cult of Mao
lived. Although veneration had, for the time being, receded among the
Chinese people, the party continued to occupy itself intellectually with
Maoism. Two main groups emerged, Maoist fundamentalists (fanshipai)
and nostalgists (huanyuanpai) who yearned for the golden age of the
1950s. The party Maoists kept the faith alive, but, with the barbarity of the
Cultural Revolution still fresh in familial memories, they could not much
fan it openly. For the nationalist-communist philosophy of Maoism to
blossom fully again, there needed to appear a threat to China, an event that
would awaken among the people the resting fear that China might lose its
greatness, might fall prey to the depredations of the West. This event oc-
curred on June 4, 1989, when Chinese troops mowed down student pro-
testers at Tiananmen Square. In the wake of Tiananmen, the idea of China
descending into chaos and collapse prompted the party to revive the idea
of class struggle. . . . China, Jiang [Zemin] said, would continue to pursue
economic reforms, but no one should be deluded that democratization
would take place. Under Jiang's supervision, t the party has promoted
"thought reform" in the countryside and carried out Maoist-style educa-
tion campaigns.
Much of the firepower for these attempts to restore Maoism has come from
a group of young intellectuals clustered around party elder Deng Liqun.
These Marxist fundamentalists control the People's Daily, the ministry of
propaganda and numerous journals such as Seeking Truth. . . . In 1995 and
1996, they issued two "ten-thousand-word documents" calling for a return
to class struggle and Maoism." 135
Obviously, Maoism still dominates China. It's not simply an inheri-
tance of aged Communist Party administrators from Mao's time, but a
living inheritance for a younger generation still blindly bound to
Marxism. Peasants and the uneducated masses view Mao as a supreme
being; most intellectuals consciously espouse and disseminate Marxist-
Leninist-Maoist ideology. Chinese capitalism is simply hiding and
strengthening Maoism.