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Salient. Official Newspaper of Victoria University of Wellington Students Association. Volume 40, No. 5. 27 March 1977

The Fall

The Fall

Lin now felt strong enough to openly oppose the general line of the Party. Two attacks among others were launched.

Firstly, Lin wanted to build up the army. He wanted it extended further into society with parallel organisations to all major societal institutions. This was a direct challenge to the leading role of the Party. He also wanted a massive increase in the means for fighting modern warfare. This would have meant a dislocation between a highly modernised defence industry and a more backward generally industry. Mao believed the two should march in step.

Secondly. Lin believed that the US and Japan were China's major enemies. But the border in-cedents and the case of Czechoslovakia had demonstrated that in fact the Soviet Union was the main threat. Lin opposed the breaking of China's diplomatic isolation which was to be a means of combating this threat and also a substitute for extreme modernisation of the army.

But Lin found no support outside his circle. Mao and Chou En-lai gained support. During or just after the second meeting of the Ninth Central Committee Lin's most powerful follower Chen Po-ta was purged for ultra-leftism. Lin was now trying various transparent schemes to increase further his standing in the party but his failures were increasing.

In the end the coup was planned. It was based on the assassination of Mao and the ascension to power of Lin. It is possible that the impetus for this came from Lin's followers rather than Lin himself. But once it started going wrong (it was launched on September 8 1971) Lin was inextricably involved. He fled China on September 13 1971 with most of his close followers before the other Party leaders were aware of what was happening. He died in a plane crash in the Soviet dependency of Mongolia the same day.

The Soviet Union which has a vested interest in disproving the 'official' story has never denied the story of the crash. Also the book makes clear that it was not until the announcement of the finding of the plane crash by the Mongolians at the end of September that the Party leadership in Peking knew what had happened to Lin Piao.