Committees begin pre-congress meetings
Military authorities in certain provinces, municipalities, military regions and military districts have convened congresses of representatives of members of the Chinese Communist Party among military and civilian cadres. More are likely to be called in the next few months. The primary intention is to assert and consolidate military control of Party organizations and send military supporters as representatives to the ninth national Party congress so as to obtain their share of power in the ninth Central Committee of the CCP.
Provincial military authorities have generally gained the cooperation of some of the former Party powerholders. Their joint endeavors manifest a strong conservative tendency toward the preservation of the old order. To retain their power, they have been fighting on two fronts: on one against the former top Party powerholders in their provinces those from whom power was seized in early 1967 by the leftist "rebels" and Red Guards - and on the other against these same leftists from whom the military leaders seized power in late 1967 or 1968.
Both categories of the enemy are formidable, but the leftist "rebels" and Red Guards are the more dangerous, because their words and deeds are true to the spirit of the "cultural revolution", because they are numerous and still strong despite their dispersion to the countryside and because they are the rising generation. Because they are the more dangerous, the leftists are being dealt the heaviest blows while the top Party powerholders, represented by Liu Shao-chi, are being denounced.
Only the Party congress of one province - Hunan - has announced study of the "draft constitution" of the CCP and has also held consultations on selecting representatives to the ninth national Party congress. It did not mention the result of the consultations or the selection. It is probable that other provinces are engaged in examining the "draft". If comments and suggested amendments are to be considered, the congress probably will be delayed.
The selection of representatives in Hunan indicates that when the congress is held it is likely to be an assembly of representatives selected by the various territorial units and professional units (chiefly the army), probably with some form of approval by Peiping leaders, rather than one entirely appointed by Peiping, as was indicated earlier. This will enable provincial military powerholders to wield greater influence.
New Party congresses cannot be likened to those that were held in the years before the "cultural revolution". The previous congresses were composed of representatives of all Party members in their respective provinces, military regions, etc. The current provincial congresses are attended only by representatives of the small number of Party members who are working as cadres in the offices of the provincial, municipal, administrative region and county revolutionary committees. They are actually "office Party congresses". Nevertheless, in the present circumstances they are given the status of pre-1965 provincial Party congresses. This indicates that the Party organizations in the provinces are far from being rebuilt. Only Party members who have been selected by the authorities to work as cadres in revolutionary committees at the county level and above are allowed to hold a congress, while the vast number of Party members who are not cadres at present are not only prevented from holding congresses but are not even regarded as valid Party members. These are reports from various provinces:
Kwangtung - The congress of Party members of the Kwangtung Provincial Revolutionary Committee was held from November 7 to 15 in Canton. More than 430 representatives attended and studied the communique of the 12th enlarged plenum of the Central Committee of the CCP and summed up experiences of the "cultural revolution".
Under the chairmanship of Kung Shih-chuan, first vice chairman of the Kwangtung Provincial Revolutionary Committee (and a "responsible person" of the Canton military region, probably its third political commissar), the congress passed various resolutions.
The congress said that "At present, the struggle between the restoration of the old and the opposition to the restoration of the old' is a reflection of the struggle between the two lines. If we do not recognize and launch a struggle against the restoration of the old, we shall slide into it".
According to Canton radio of November 11 and 17, the resolutions of the congress included the following:
-"We support the resolutions of the 12th plenum to convene the ninth national congress of the CCP at the appropriate time, to repudiate the adverse current of February, 1967, and the reversal of verdicts last spring for the February adverse current."
-"We must repudiate the reactionary 'theory of many centers', factionalism, mountaintopism, bourgeois old ideology, the old work style and the old customs."
-"All revolutionary committees at all levels and the revolutionary masses throughout the province must resolutely accomplish struggle-criticism-transformation, clean up the class ranks, rectify the Party, make a greater leap forward in next year's industrial and agricultural production and in all other construction projects and strengthen the unity of army and people."
Kweichow - The Kweichow Provincial Revolutionary Committee Party congress was held from November 8 to 22. The congress transmitted the spirit of Mao's and Lin Piao's speeches at the 12th plenum. It expressed support for the plenum's decisions to hold the ninth congress, to expel Liu Shao-chi from the Party and to dismiss him from all of his posts, to settle accounts for the "crimes" of Liu and his confederates, and to repudiate the 1967 "February adverse current" and the "wind" of last spring to reverse the verdicts on this adverse current.
The congress said that during the "cultural revolution", "Liu Shao-chi's agents in Kweichow", Chia Chi-yun, Chou Lin, Miao Chun-ting, Chen Pu-ju and some "capitalist roaders, renegades and spies", had been dragged out. Chia was the first secretary of the CCP's Kweichow provincial committee who replaced Chou Lin in 1965; Miao was a secretary and Chen an alternate secretary of that committee.
Kweichow radio reported on November 23 that the congress called on all CCP members and others to fulfill all the tasks in the various stages of struggle-criticism-transformation; to carry through the "cultural revolution" to the end; to consolidate, develop and perfect the newborn revolutionary committees; to repudiate Liu Shao-chi's agents; to clean up the class ranks; to discard the old and accept the new; to send cadres down to labor; to reform regulations and systems; to reform education; to grasp revolution and promote production; and to support the army and cherish the people.
Hunan - The Hunan Party congress of provincial, administrative region, municipal and county revolutionary committees was held from November 12 to 25 at Changsha. It transmitted and studied Mao's and Lin's speeches at the 12th plenum and the communique, studied the "draft constitution of the Chinese Communist Party", consulted on the selection of representatives of Hunan province to attend the ninth congress and denounced Liu Shao-chi.
Radio Hunan said the congress called on revolutionary ,committees at all levels to praise the "cultural revolution", Mao's thought, Mao's line, the "great merits" of the 'Central Group in Charge of the Cultural Revolution and that of the "Liberation Army", and to repudiate Liu and his line and the revisionist ideas of Liu's agents in Hunan, including Wang Yen-chun, former acting first secretary of the CCP Hunan Provincial Committee. Chang Ping-hua, the former first secretary, was not mentioned by the congress. He was attacked a few months ago as "the biggest capitalist roader in the Party in Hunan" but not denounced by name. The congress also resolved to repudiate the "February adverse current" and the "wind of reversal of verdict" on this adverse current; and to repudiate the theory of "I don't think so" which opposes Mao's "cultural revolution".
The congress also called for the dragging out of "counter-revolutionaries who have sneaked into the ranks of the masses and opposed rightist conservatism and restoration of the old".
Canton municipality - The Canton Municipal Revolutionary Committee Party congress was held from November 17 to 23 and was attended by 1,500 delegates. Wang Shou-tao, a vice chairman of Kwangtung Provincial Revolutionary Committee and a former secretary of the CCP's Central South Bureau, reported on the spirit of the 12th plenum, and Huang Jung-hai, chairman of Canton Municipal Revolutionary Committee and concurrently commander of the Kwangtung Provincial Military District, made a summation.
At the congress, "many revolutionary leadership cadres combatted self-interest and repudiated revisionism and confessed their mistakes in implementing Liu Shao-chi's line during the cultural revolution as a result of insufficient awareness of the struggle between the two lines". They pledged to revolutionize their ideologies and be forever loyal to Mao, Mao's thought and Mao's line.
Canton radio reported that the congress had demanded that all revolutionary committees should: launch great criticism against Liu; streamline the superstructure; send down cadres to labor; reform irrational regulations and systems; consolidate, develop and unite revolutionary committees; step up Party rectification and Party construction; reform education; grasp revolution and boost production and be ready for war; strengthen army-civilian unity; oppose rightist conservative thinking and the revival of the old; study the history of the struggle between the two lines; and draw in new blood.
Hupeh - The congress of CCP members of revolutionary committees above county level in Hupeh province was held from November 10 to December 1 in Wuhan. Attending were 1,639 official delegates and 16 "invitees with no power to vote".
This congress studied and reviewed the history of the struggle between the two lines, repudiated Liu Shao-chi's "crimes" and the February adverse current and the wind of the reversal of verdicts of last spring.
It also repudiated "the thought-trend which was left in form but right in substance and which interfered with Chairman Mao's line from the left" as attempting to confuse class fronts, direct the spearhead at the army and the revolutionary committees and as having caused serious harm to the "revolutionary cause". The "theory of many centers" was repudiated.
According to Hupeh radio, resolutions passed by the congress included:
- Revolutionary committees at all levels should mobilize the masses to carry out great criticism and cleanse the class ranks. These committees should strengthen investigation and research and attach importance to evidence instead of relying on confessions. They also should drag out the counterrevolutionaries who have sneaked into the revolutionary masses.
- Carry on Party rectification and building, with the cleaning up of class ranks as its basis.
- Intellectuals should accept re-education from workers, peasants and soldiers. Worker propaganda teams should stay in the schools permanently to take part in struggle-criticism-transformation and should lead the schools forever. In rural areas, poor and lower-middle peasants should manage the schools. Graduates of universities, colleges and middle schools should be sent to mountain and rural areas for permanent settlement.
- Industry and agriculture should engage in a "new leap forward".
- More cadres should be sent down to work. In rural areas, the leadership power of basic-level units, those controlled by bad elements, etc., should be regained by the poor and lower-middle peasants.
Wuhan military district-The enlarged meeting of the CCP committee of the "People's Liberation Army Wuhan Units" (the Wuhan military region) was held from November 9 to December 2 in Wuhan.
Participants praised the "splendid achievements" of the Central Group in Charge of the Cultural Revolution. They affirmed the "absolute necessity" of launching the "cultural revolution", supported the plenum's decisions against Liu Shao-chi, denounced Liu's "crimes" and pledged further criticism. They denounced the "ace generals of the February adverse current", repudiated the "theory of many centers", pledged to prevent and overcome all interference, whether from right or from extreme-left, and from those who are left in appearance but right in essence.
The meeting urged the revolutionization of army units to implement Mao's line on army building and Lin Piao's principles concerning the building of army politically. It called for launching a great criticism to eliminate the influence of Peng Te-huai and La Jui-ching in army building.
Commenting on the meeting, a joint editorial by Hupeh Daily and Changchiang Daily attacked the "rebels", whom they called "class enemies":
"In order to obstruct and sabotage the launching of the cleaning up of the class ranks, they have spread all sorts of rumors and slanders among the masses. They have babbled: 'The rebels are being suppressed! The old conservatives have turned up again!', etc. They have whipped up evil winds and kindled ghostly fires to sow discord between army and people and sabotage army-people unity."
Honan -The Honan Party congress of provincial, administrative region, municipal and county revolutionary committees was held from November 8 to 30 and was attended by 1,023 representatives. The congress praised the Honan provincial revolutionary committee for having opposed "rightist opportunism, rightist splittism, rightist capitulationism and the evil wind of reversing the verdicts on the February adverse current", for having criticized the "extreme-left, i.e., the thought-trend that is left in appearance but right in essence” and for having resisted interference from both the right and the extreme-left.
The congress said the "ace generals of the February adverse current" and those who take the attitude of "I don't think so" have instigated civil war, altered their tactics, distorted revolutionary slogans and made use of them, and disturbed the class front.
Attacking the leftist "rebels" and Red Guards, the congress said that in some areas "class enemies" had made use of revolutionary slogans on "opposing the restoration of the old" to direct the spearhead at the workers' propaganda teams, the "Liberation Army" and the revolutionary committees, in an attempt to bring about a counter-seizure of power.
The congress asserted that these class enemies' "opposition to the restoration of the old" was false, their counter-seizure of power was real, their emphasis on the "struggle between two lines" was false, their opposition to the leadership of the working class was real, their allegation that "the rebels are being suppressed" was false, their harboring of bad persons was real.
Commenting on the congress, a December 3 editorial in Honan Daily claimed that the "renegades, spies, diehard capitalist roaders, landlords, etc." were maneuvering backstage, while performing at the front of the stage were those who had been hit by sugar-coated bullets and had betrayed the principles and their souls, those who had gone in for independent kingdoms in a big way, who were selfish, greedy and ambitious and had indulged in the "theory of many centers".
The class enemies have changed their battle tactics, the editorial said. They have taken over the revolutionary slogan of "opposing revival of the old" and have distorted it and made use of it to form public opinion. Numerous "mosquito papers" -some very influential-have been published throughout the province. All kinds of individual writings have made an appearance.
The writers pretend to be revolutionaries, said the editorial. This is a struggle waged by the bourgeoisie to oppose the seizure of power by the proletariat. The editorial charged, "This evil wind is not too small. Those warriors opposing 'revival of the old' are directing their spearhead entirely at the revolutionary committees, the workers' propaganda teams and the Liberation Army".
Two of the most "malicious poisonous arrows" among the numerous” absurd theories and doctrines" were identified by the editorial as:
-"There are three mountains towering over the heads of the rebels. The propaganda teams have gathered black evidence against the rebels.
- "You have advocated the 'theory of taking account of class origin alone' and the 'theory of blood relationship'."
The editorial counterattacked the "rebels", saying: "When the cleaning-up of the class ranks is being carried to a greater depth ... you are mortally afraid of having your class origin and historical background checked."
Commenting on these two "arrows", Honan radio of December 5 disclosed that the "three mountains" were the revolutionary committees, the "Liberation Army" and the workers' propaganda teams. It said:
"The class enemies hold the flag of opposing 'the restoration of the old' and stage a counter-seizure of power from the proletarian revolutionaries, shouting 'Rebels have been suppressed!' They have successfully misled many people.
"You had no feelings of having been suppressed earlier, but you now feel that you are being suppressed while we are cleaning up the class ranks. You set up mountaintops, rally people of the same sort and set up independent kingdom. You are the stumbling blocks of the cleaning up of the class ranks.
"As for those who are clamorous, ambitious and in favor of setting up independent kingdoms, seizing power, gaining profit and shielding bad elements, there is nothing wrong in suppressing them. They shouted that they would throw out the workers' propaganda teams. They shouted: 'Do you want to beat us to death?' We say it is right and proper to suppress them."