The Mystery of Mainland China
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| "A Mao Zedong Thought propaganda team spreads Mao's instruction at Harbin University of Industry; Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, October 6, 1968" (Photo by Li Zhensheng - source) |
Bill Downs
ABC Washington - Information Reports
January 9, 1968
Washington's China Watchers, which include a large section of the State Department, the Pentagon, and the Central Intelligence Agency, agree that Mao Tse-tung is having second thoughts about his Cultural Revolution that loosed the so-called Red Guard cadres on the nation. Now the politburo in Peking appears to be trying to end the purges and get the nation back to a semblance of normality.
However, if reports from the China mainland are true, Mao and his comrades may be too late to bring complete tranquility to the people, because among other things which the Red Guard tried to purge was love.
It seems that Mao's brand of communism regards love as a capitalistic bourgeoisie condition which distracts the proletariat from revolutionary discipline. In other words, if a young Chinese girl and boy are smitten in love, then they cannot concentrate on the sacred thoughts of Mao Tse-tung.
The Shanghai newspaper Wenhui Bao, for example, cites a letter from a local textile worker charging that his cotton mill was in "monstrous danger" because 40 out of 230 workers were either in love or friendly with someone else.
A recent edition of a Red Guard journal published in Peking also established a Communist Party line for husbands and wives. It seems that China, as in less perfect societies, the men sometimes fight with their women. But, says the Red Guard editorial, if the husband and wife quarrel over political matters, there should be no compromise or reconciliation, because it's against the thoughts of Mao. "Personal life," added the journal, "has no significance. It must give way to political needs.
And then there's the classic case reported from Peking. A local merchant was denounced by the Red Guard as a capitalist. He was ordered expelled from the Party and banished from his home. Thereafter his four children put up posters on their garden wall welcoming their sire's downfall. Said the posters: "The glorious Party is Daddy and Mommy to us now."
Shall we all go out now and throw up?
The is Bill Downs in Washington for Information Reports.
