Chairman Mao took measures.

I have heard many Europeans say to me: but why didn't Chairman Mao do something about it, for instance, arbitrarily kick them out of the Politburo say in 1973 or 1974? If you are Chinese, you understand that the best way to get somebody to hang themselves is to give them a lot of rope.

I have seen myself the documents which show that it is absolutely certain that since 1974 Mao Tsetung had been taking measures very quietly to stamp them. Between 1971 and 1973, after the crash of Lin Piao in 1971, the 'gang of four' did not appear to be very much in the limelight. But then they emerged in 1973 at the Party's Tenth Congress. But already in 1974 we know the re-emergence of Teng Hsiao-ping, obviously a move to block them, and this re-emergence was due to Mao Tsetung himself. In 1974 Mao also began to warn the Politburo against Chiang Ching and against the forming of the 'gang of four.'

In January 1975 Teng was given great power by Mao both in the party, in the army and in the State Council; whereas Mao refused to let Chiang Ching, Yao Wen-yuan and Wang Hung-wen have any share in the formation of the State Council of the National Assembly, and and this was very obvious. The documents today do reveal that before the holding of the Fourth National Assembly the 'gang of four' did go to Mao and requested to form the cabinet. Well, they didn't get it. So this proves that Chairman Mao knew what he was doing.