Unprecedentedly Excellent Situation in
China’s Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution
[This article is reprinted from Peking Review, Vol. 11, #43, Oct. 25, 1968, pp. 19-21.]
NINETEEN years have elapsed since the founding of the People’s Republic of China — our great motherland. The people throughout the nation are filled with militant enthusiasm and triumphant joy as the great proletarian cultural revolution approaches all-round victory and the big campaign of struggle-criticism-transformation surges to a new high.
Never before has our country been so prosperous as at present. Never before have the masses of the people been so militant and our dictatorship of the proletariat been so powerful and so well consolidated. All this is the result of the wise leadership of our great leader Chairman Mao. The broad masses of workers, peasants, soldiers, revolutionary cadres, revolutionary intellectuals and revolutionary people of our various nationalities are enthusiastically acclaiming the great victory of Mao Tse-tung’s thought and the great victory of Chairman Mao’s proletarian revolutionary line.
The founding of the People’s Republic of China on October 1, 1949, marked the basic conclusion of the stage of the new-democratic revolution and the beginning of the stage of the socialist revolution in China; it marked China’s entry into a new historical period of socialist revolution and socialist construction.
In a socialist society after the socialist transformation of the ownership of the means of production is in the main completed, are there still classes and class struggle? Does the proletariat still need to continue the revolution? Is there any possibility of a capitalist restoration? Chairman Mao has comprehensively summed up the historical experience of the dictatorship of the proletariat both at home and abroad, particularly the lesson of how the Party and state leadership of the Soviet Union, the first socialist state, was usurped by a revisionist clique and of how capitalism was restored in the Soviet Union. With the dialectical materialist world outlook of the proletariat, Chairman Mao has, for the first time in the history of the development of Marxism, scientifically, systematically, and incisively analysed the contradictions, classes and class struggle in socialist society and expounded the laws of class struggle in socialist society.
The class struggle waged under the dictatorship of the proletariat, in the last analysis, remains a question of political power, that is, the proletariat wants to consolidate the dictatorship of the proletariat and the bourgeoisie wants to overthrow that dictatorship. This is because, after the proletariat has seized political power, the overthrown bourgeoisie is not reconciled to its defeat and will always try to stage a comeback. At the same time, small-scale production is incessantly engendering anew capitalism and the bourgeoisie, thus posing a threat to the dictatorship of the proletariat. Chairman Mao explicitly pointed out: “Socialist society covers a fairly long historical stage. In this stage, classes, class contradictions and class struggle continue, the struggle between the socialist road and the capitalist road continues and the danger of capitalist restoration remains. We must recognize the protracted and complex nature of this struggle.... Otherwise a socialist country like ours will turn into its opposite and degenerate, and a capitalist restoration will take place.”
“Those representatives of the bourgeoisie who have sneaked into the Party, the government, the army and various spheres of culture are a bunch of counter-revolutionary revisionists. Once conditions are ripe, they will seize political power and turn the dictatorship of the proletariat into a dictatorship of the bourgeoisie. Some of them we have already seen through, others we have not. Some are still trusted by us and are being trained as our successors, persons like Khrushchov, for example, who are still nestling beside us. Party committees at all levels must pay full attention to this matter.”
Chairman Mao has not only put forward a whole set of theories, line, principles and policies for continuing the revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat, but has, with great courage and spirit, personally initiated and successfully led the great proletarian cultural revolution, the first of its kind in human history. All this has, from theory to practice, thoroughly settled the fundamental questions of how a socialist state under the dictatorship of the proletariat should defend and consolidate the dictatorship of the proletariat and prevent the restoration of capitalism and how a country whose leadership has been usurped by revisionists should overthrow their rule and re-establish the dictatorship of the proletariat and effect a gradual transition to communism, and has thus greatly enriched and developed Marxism-Leninism.
The Bourgeois Headquarters Headed by
China’s Khrushchov Has Been SmashedAfter waging repeated, fierce and soul-stirring struggles in the present great proletarian cultural revolution, the proletarian revolutionaries, young Red Guard fighters and the revolutionary masses in China, under the brilliant command of Chairman Mao, have smashed thi bourgeois headquarters which, headed by China’s Khrushchov, lay hidden inside our Party. They have dragged out its agents in various places, taken one after another the reactionary fortresses in which these scoundrels bad entrenched themselves, seized back that part of the Party, government, financial and cultural power these persons had usurped and put it back into the hands of the proletariat. They have thus smashed the criminal plot of China’s Khrushchov and his agents to subvert the dictatorship of the proletariat and restore capitalism in China.
A host of facts prove that China’s Khrushchov and the rest of the handful of top Party persons in authority taking the capitalist road represent the interests of the Kuomintang reactionaries and the interests of imperialism and the bourgeoisie and of the landlords, rich peasants, counter-revolutionaries, bad elements and the Rightists. They are the most dangerous enemies of the proletariat under the conditions of socialism and a gang of counter-revolutionaries who had wormed their way into our Party. A considerable portion of them are remnants of the Kuomintang reactionaries. China’s Khrushchov, the No. 1 capitalist roacler in the Party, is a despicable renegade who prostrated himself before the imperialists and the Kuomintang reactionaries on many occasions. The other top Party capitalist roader and Tao Chu, Peng Teh-huai, Peng Chen, Tan Chen-lin, Lo Jui-ching, Lu Ting-yi, Yang Shang-kun, An Tzu-wen and others are all renegades, enemy agents or counter-revolutionary revisionists of every description lying hidden inside our Party. This pack of extremely cunning and malevolent men had usurped not a few important positions in our Party and government. Once conditions were ripe, they would have seized state power and turned the dictatorship of the proletariat into the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie and the socialist system into the capitalist system or a semi-feudal and semi-colonial system. Should this happen, China would have changed its political colour and repeated that historical tragedy which has taken place in the Soviet Union and those countries under the rule of revisionist renegade cliques where capitalism has been restored, and would have returned to the dark days under the rule of the Kuomintang reactionaries.
It is precisely as our great leader Chairman Mao has pointed out: “The great proletarian cultural revolution is in essence a great political revolution under the conditions of socialism made by the proletariat against the bourgeoisie and all other exploiting classes; it is a continuation of the prolonged struggle waged by the Chinese Communist Party and the masses of revolutionary people under its leadership against the Kuomintang reactionaries, a continuation of the class struggle between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie.” In the present great proletarian cultural revolution, it is a victory of great historic significance to have dug out these time-bombs buried within our Party and cleared this hidden danger out of our Party and state. This great victory has brought about profound revolutionary changes in the political, ideological, economic and cultural fields in our country.
Holding high the great revolutionary banner of criticism and filled with bitter hatred for China’s Khrushchov and his agents in various places, the hundreds of millions of the revolutionary people have carried on the campaign of revolutionary mass criticism and repudiation on a broader and deeper scale than ever before. They have trenchantly exposed and denounced the towering crimes of this handful of class enemies in opposing the Party, socialism and Mao Tse-tung’s thought and the counter-revolutionary revisionist line they pushed. They have vigorously repudiated the old ideas, old culture, old customs and habits of the bourgeoisie and all other exploiting classes, making a clean sweep of the dregs of capitalism, feudalism and revisionism. “All decadent ideology and other incongruous parts of the superstructure are crumbling as the days go by.”
Acting on Chairman Mao’s teaching “Never forget class struggle,” the broad revolutionary masses have closely combined revolutionary mass criticism with the purifying of the class ranks, dealt sure, accurate, and relentless blows at the handful of renegades, enemy agents and diehard capitalist roaders and at the unreformed landlords, rich peasants, counter-revolutionaries, bad elements and Rightists, and ferreted out one by one counter-revolutionaries who had hidden in dark corners making trouble and carrying on disruptive activities. Revolutionary mass criticism and the purifying of the class ranks have destroyed the social basis of the handful of top Party capitalist roaders headed by China’s Khrushchov for restoring capitalism and further enabled the proletariat to gain a dominant position politically, ideologically, theoretically and organizationally.
Revolutionary Committees Have Been Founded in All Provinces,
Municipalities and Autonomous Regions Except Taiwan ProvinceOur great leader Chairman Mao teaches us: “In every place or unit where power must be seized, it is necessary to carry out the policy of the revolutionary ‘three-in-one’ combination in establishing a provisional organ of power which is revolutionary and representative and enjoys proletarian authority. This organ of power should preferably be called the Revolutionary Committee.”
With the radiant sun of Mao Tse-tung’s thought shining over the length and breadth of the land, revolutionary committees have been established in all provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions throughout the country with the exception of Taiwan Province. This presents an extremely magnificent spectacle as all-round victory is being seized in the great proletarian cultural revolution. It is a most joyous event in the political life of the 700 million people of our country.
In the great struggle during the 20 months following the outbreak of the storm of the “January Revolution” in Shanghai, the armymen and civilians throughout the country have fulfilled Chairman Mao’s great call: “Proletarian revolutionaries, unite and seize power from the handful of Party persons in authority taking the capitalist road!” All across the land they have won decisive victory in the great proletarian cultural revolution. This is a great victory for Mao Tse-tung’s thought, a great victory for Chairman Mao’s proletarian revolutionary line!
Our great leader Chairman Mao points out: “There are three elements in the basic experience of the revolutionary committee: It embraces representatives of the revolutionary cadres, representatives of the armed forces and representatives of the revolutionary masses, constituting a revolutionary ‘three-in-one’ combination. The revolutionary committee should exercise unified leadership, eliminate duplication in the administrative structure, follow the policy of ‘better troops and simpler administration’ and organize a revolutionized leading group which links itself with the masses.”
The three-in-one revolutionary committees represent the fundamental interests of the labouring masses of workers and peasants and enable our political power of the proletariat to strike deep roots among the masses. Representatives of the revolutionary masses who have come to the fore during the great cultural revolution, especially representatives of the labouring masses of workers and peasants, are taking a direct part in administering the state and provide from below revolutionary supervision over the organs of political power at all levels. This plays a very important role in ensuring revolutionization of leading groups at all levels so that they always uphold the mass line and serve the people wholeheartedly.
The three-in-one revolutionary committees have strengthened the dictatorship of the proletariat. Thanks to direct participation of the representatives of the Liberation Army in the revolutionary committees at all levels, our dictatorship of the proletariat is better able to stand severe tests of every kind, smash the plots of all domestic or foreign enemies and display greater strength in the cause of socialist revolution and construction. The representatives of the Liberation Army have introduced into the revolutionary committees our army’s glorious traditions, advanced systems and fine style of work personally established and fostered by Chairman Mao. These have helped the revolutionary committees carry through their ideological and organizational revolutionization and developed to a new stage the unity between the army and the people.
There are also representatives of the revolutionary cadres in the three-in-one revolutionary committees. Having a rich fund of experience in waging class struggle, they are invaluable assets to the Party and the people. As a result of the severe tests they have undergone in the great cultural revolution and the education and help given them by the masses, they have further remoulded their world outlook. They play a backbone role in the revolutionary committees. The combination of representatives of the revolutionary cadres and representatives of the Liberation Army and of the revolutionary masses makes it possible to carry out Chairman Mao’s proletarian revolutionary line still better, grasp and implement the policies of the Party still better and correctly organize and lead the masses forward.
The three-in-one revolutionary committees enable our state organs of the dictatorship of the proletariat to meet still better the needs of the socialist economic base and the need to consolidate the dictatorship of the proletariat and prevent a capitalist restoration.
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