Hua Hostile to Maoists

On these latest purges, there are a couple of questions that remain to be answered. One concerns the apparent contradiction that since Hua was personally appointed by Mao as premier and first vice-chairman of the party, why was Hua hostile to the four Maoists?

To answer this question, we have to understand first of all the nature of the Maoist leadership and the way it operates. True to the Stalinist tradition, Mao elevated people who would be loyal and obedient to him in his own interest. For example, Mao appointed Lin Piao as his successor because of Lin's personal loyalty and obedience, especially his contribution during the Cultural Revolution when he helped to destroy Liu Shao-chi's faction. Yet when Lin began to build up his own influence and proved to be a threat to Mao, Mao had no qualms in eliminating Lin and his followers.

Hua Kuo-feng had never played any role in the Revolution. Mao had promoted him from a local cadre to vice-premier of the government and minister of security only because of his subservience. While Mao was alive, supporters of his faction were rewarded with posts in the party and government. But after his death, these people must find other ways to maintain their privileged position.

This is precisely what Hua did. There were reports which revealed that-differences arose over who should fill the posts of premier and party chairman after Mao's death. The four are said to have proposed Chiang Ching as party chairman and Chang Ch'un-ch'iao as premier. Hua naturally disagreed because that would remove him from his newly-acquired posts. So he turned to the old leaders of the so-called 'moderates' for support.

The old leaders, in particular Defence Minister Yeh Chien-ying, were only too pleased to oblige and help destroy the Maoists. At the same time, since among the Stalinist leadership of the CCP the ideology and methods of operation are identical, Mao's prestige can serve Hua as well as it did his own.

We must remember that Hua has no base and prestige of his own in the party, the government or the army. He was appointed to high leadership by Mao, so must continue to use Mao's authority as his political capital. He is also carefully separating Mao from his followers so that Mao's reputation can continue to be used as a tool to deceive and control the masses.