A Chinese Maoist website announced on Feb. 20 that it was shutting down after being notified by authorities. Although the reason behind the closure is unknown, a China expert suggests that the political influence of Maoists poses a threat to the rule of Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
The Maoist website mzdbl.cn, founded in 2004, announced on Tuesday that it would close down due to a notice from “relevant authorities,” who deemed the information on the site “unsuitable for dissemination.”
Maoist Faction
The Australia-based China expert Yuan Hongbing revealed that Xi faces political challenges from the increasingly influential Maoists, according to a recent report by the Chinese edition of Vision Times.Mr. Yuan received information from sources within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) indicating that the growing Maoist faction is pressuring Xi to become their political representative and spokesperson instead of their leader.
“Xi Jinping’s policy of returning to Mao Zedong’s orthodox ideology has contributed to the rise of the Maoists within the party; however, the Maoists want more,” said Mr. Yuan
Insiders told Mr. Yuan that the Maoists now demand public criticism of Deng Xiaoping’s revisionist path of capitalist elites. Deng sought to reverse Mao’s destructive economic measures by promoting “reform and opening up” policies that began in the late 1970s.
“They are calling for the public exoneration of the Cultural Revolution,” said Mr. Yuan, adding that the Maoists see Bo Xilai as their political ideological leader. Mr. Bo, formerly a member of the Politburo and the ex-party secretary of Chongqing, was convicted of corruption and given a life sentence. Mr. Bo was also Xi’s main political rival before the latter assumed leadership of the CCP.
According to Mr. Yuan, the high-ranking cadres were all victims of Mao’s Cultural Revolution, and their offspring—known as the second-generation reds—were also politically marginalized.
Recently, the second-generation reds—led by Liu Yuan, the son of former chairman Liu Shaoqi—have called for Xi to step down. Xi, in turn, is seeking to leverage the remnants of Maoism to intimidate his rivals.
However, according to Mr. Yuan’s sources, the Maoist faction refuses to abide by Xi’s rule; instead, they are pushing him to become their political mouthpiece and representative.
Moreover, the expert said, the Maoist faction is currently drafting a detailed critique of Deng’s political and economic strategies, which were believed to have contributed to the corrupt ruling bourgeois faction.
Faced with challenges such as a declining economy and domestic and international pressures, Xi is caught in a difficult position to meet the demands of the Maoist faction, Mr. Yuan added.
Inconsistent Crackdowns on Maoist Websites
Other Maoist platforms, like Utopia and Red China, haven’t been shut down. Some of these sites openly ridicule Deng without encountering any official intervention.The Red China article remained uncensored as of Feb. 23—a rare occurrence under the CCP’s tight censorship.
In addition, there is a significant amount of comments on the Chinese internet opposing Deng’s economic policies.
“This undeniably reflects Xi Jinping’s ongoing efforts to downplay Deng Xiaoping’s legacy,” said Qin Peng, a U.S.-based current affairs commentator.
“In recent years, there has been growing recognition that Xi Jinping has essentially concluded the era of ’reform and opening up,'” Mr. Qin said in his Chinese language show “Qin Peng Observing” on NTD, the sister media outlet of The Epoch Times.
China observers noted that on the eve of the anniversary of Deng’s death, the Hunan government issued a provincial-wide campaign to discuss “emancipating the mind,” a slogan first introduced by Deng in December 1978. It referred to the CCP’s efforts to launch crucial market reforms following Mao’s death in 1976.
However, the Hunan authorities didn’t focus on Deng’s legacy but emphasized Xi’s goals and teachings, known as “Xi Jinping Thought.”
