Elite Conflict in the Post-Mao China

Abstract

Almost five years have elapsed since the demise of Chairman Mao Zedong in September 1976. In spite of his physical absence, however, the late chairman continues to cast a long and powerful shadow over China's political landscape. No matter how the post-Mao leaders choose to treat Mao's memory, the Maoist legacy (which includes not only his ideological corpus but also the consequences of many of his actions and policies) has structured and will continue for years to structure the policy alternatives of his successors and affect the parameters within which they solve China's problem. Indeed, one most crucial and thorny issue of contention inside the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in recent years has been: how to evaluate Mao's role in history and his legacy. To affirm or negate Mao is By no means an idle intellectual exercise-it makes or breaks political careers and directly impinges on policy.