[This article is reprinted from Peking Review, #16, April 16, 1976, pp. 3-4.]
ON the proposal of our great leader Chairman Mao, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Connnunist Party of China has unanimously agreed to appoint Comrade Hua Kuo-feng First Vice-Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, and has unanimously agreed to dismiss Teng Hsiao-ping from all posts both inside and outside the Party. This is an important measure Chairman Mao and the Party Central Committee have taken to combat and prevent revisionism and ensure that our Party and state will continue the revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat; it is a great victory in beating back the Right deviationist attempt to reverse correct verdicts.
The people are overjoyed at these happy tidings. The capital is astir as is the whole country. Armymen and civilians in their hundreds of millions have turned out to parade amid cheers and the beating of drums and gongs to hail the happy news. Grand rallies have been held in various parts of the country and messages sent to Chairman Mao and the Party Central Committee, warmly acclaiming and resolutely supporting the two wise decisions. A revolutionary scene of unity in struggle prevails throughout China, with the whole nation determined to carry through to the end the great struggle to beat back the Right deviationist attempt.
Teng Hsiao-ping has been the arch unrepentant capitalist-roader in the Party. Over a long period of time, he has opposed Chairman Mao, opposed Mao Tsetung Thought and Chairman Mao’s proletarian revolutionary line. Before the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, he worked in collaboration with Liu Shao-chi in pushing a counter-revolutionary revisionist line; during the early stage of the Great Cultural Revolution, he, together with Liu Shao-chi, suppressed the masses and pushed a bourgeois reactionary line. Through criticism by the masses, he expressed his willingness to mend his ways and declared that he would “never reverse the verdict.” Chairman Mao saved him and gave him the chance to resume work. But he did not live up to Chairman Mao’s education and help. Once back in a position to wield that portion of power in his hands, he relapsed into error and tried to reverse the correct appraisal of the Great Cultural Revolution and settle accounts with it. He dished up the revisionist programme of “taking the three directives as the key link,” continued to pursue the counter-revolutionary revisionist line and took the lead in stirring up the Right deviationist wind.
With farsightedness, Chairman Mao saw through Teng Hsiao-ping’s activities to reverse correct verdicts, and has since last October made a series of important instructions and led the whole Party, whole army and the people of the whole country in waging a great struggle to counterattack the Right deviationist attempt to reverse correct verdicts. Chairman Mao points out: “This person does not grasp class struggle; he has never referred to this key link.” “He knows nothing of Marxism-Leninism; he represents the bourgeoisie. He said, he would ‘never reverse the verdict.’ It can’t be counted on.” Chairman Mao’s instructions hit Teng Hsiao-ping squarely in the vulnerable spot and exposed his reactionary class nature.
At a time when the broad masses of cadres and people throughout the country were criticizing Teng Hsiao-ping’s counter-revolutionary revisionist line in accordance with Chairman Mao’s instructions, a counter-revolutionary political incident was perpetrated at Tien An Men Square by a handful of class enemies who openly hoisted the ensign of supporting Teng Hsiao-ping and carried out counter-revolutionary activities. This was by no means accidental. These counter-revolutionaries frenziedly directed the spearhead of their attack at our great leader Chairman Mao, tried to split the Party Central Committee headed by Chairman Mao, sang paeans for Teng Hsiao-ping and attempted to cast him in the role of Nagy, the chieftain of the counter-revolutionary incident in Hungary. This clearly shows whose interests Teng Hsiao-ping represents. This is how the capitalist-roaders in the Party are connected with the bourgeoisie and the unreformed landlords, rich peasants, counter-revolutionaries, bad elements and Rightists in society. The heroic worker-militia of the capital, working in co-ordination with the people’s police and the army guards, enforced the dictatorsliip of the proletariat over the handful of class enemies, winning support and praise from the broad masses of the people. In view of the counter-revolutionary political incident at Tien An Men Square and Teng Hsiao-ping’s latest behaviour, the Party Central Committee held that the nature of the Teng Hsiao-ping problem had turned into one of antagonistic contradiction and decided to dismiss him from all posts both inside and outside the Party. This has greatly heightened the morale of the revolutionary people and deflated the reactionary arrogance of the class enemies.
The counter-revolutionary political incident at Tien An Men Square provided for us an extremely profound lesson in class struggle by negative example. It tells us how sharp class struggle is in the period of the socialist revolution. First, it took place in our capital; second, it occurred in Tien An Men Square; third, vehicles and barracks were set on fire and worker-militiamen, people’s police, P.L.A. men and revolutionary masses were manhandled. How unbridled was the counter-revolutionary arrogance! It also shows how complex class struggle is. In a premeditated, planned and organized way, the counter-revolutionaries unscrupulously fabricated political rumours, made reactionary speeches, posted reactionary poems, distributed reactionary leaflets and agitated for the setting up of counter-revolutionary groups. They tried to hoodwink the masses and created disturbances. They were extremely insidious and ruthless! This incident also demonstrates that the broad masses of the people want revolution and have a deep hatred for these counter-revolutionaries. No matter how frenziedly this handful of class enemies behaved, they could not withstand a single blow and they disintegrated in no time when confronted by the revolutionary masses and the powerful dictatorship of the proletariat.
The two resolutions of the Party Central Committee have greatly inspired the revolutionary fighting will of the whole Party, the whole army and the people throughout the country. This will inevitably advance the struggle against the Right deviationist attempt to new heights. We are determined to carry this great struggle through to the end. We must firmly keep to the general orientation of the struggle and concentrate our criticism on Teng Hsiao-ping, his revisionist programme of “taking the three directives as the key link,” his counter-revolutionary revisionist line, and his crimes of trying to reverse the correct appraisal of the Great Cultural Revolution and settle accounts with it, and attempting to subvert the dictatorship of the proletariat and restore capitalism. We should heighten our revolutionary vigilance and pay attention at all times to the new trends of class struggle. We must realize that the class enemies who are unreconciled to their defeat will wage a death-bed struggle. We must resolutely strike at all conspiracies and sabotage activities of the class enemies. It is necessary to pay attention to distinguishing between the two types of contradictions which are different in nature, educate those people who were duped and do ideological work well among them.
Let us unite and defend Chairman Mao, the Party Central Committee and Chairman Mao’s proletarian revolutionary line by winning still greater victories in repulsing the Right deviationist attempt to reverse correct verdicts.
(“Renmin Ribao” editorial, April 10)
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