Word: guofeng
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
After Mao Zedong's death in 1976, Hua Guofeng succeeded Mao as chairman of China's Communist Party. Though Hua's tenure at the head of the party was short-lived--he was all but powerless by 1978 and was formally replaced by the more radical Deng Xiaoping in 1981--it was his administration that brought an end to the violence of China's decade-long Cultural Revolution by arresting the extreme leftist Gang of Four, including Mao's widow...
...There is no consensus in Beijing on whether such an outcome is likely. But with rumors swirling, cancellation of the Olympic stadiums gained added significance. Older Chinese remember that in 1979, Deng Xiaoping signaled his rise to power by canceling 10 massive industrial projects championed by his rival, Hua Guofeng. In all likelihood, says a well-placed Beijing academic, the scaling back of the Olympic plans relates to a "struggle" between Hu and Jiang...
...That places Hu, a smart but bland technocrat, in the awkward position of having to consolidate his power through Machiavellian wiles. Every Chinese leader since Mao has signaled his own arrival by ousting his predecessor's followers. Deng Xiaoping cast out Mao's choice, Hua Guofeng, to become China's supreme leader in 1978. And Jiang himself declared his independence in 1995 by ordering the arrest on corruption charges of Deng's faithful Beijing Party chief, Chen Xitong. "The congress has resolved very little, and Hu will have to move against someone" in Jiang's camp to show his strength...
...into the shoes of the nonagenarians who joined Mao on the Long March and have have ruled the country since 1949. Jiang is the third would-be Deng successor in nearly 15 years, and most Chinese wonder whether he will be any luckier than Mao's chosen heir, Hua Guofeng...
Much has been made of the differences between Mao and Deng. Mao was massive; Deng is diminutive. Mao was an ideologue; Deng is a pragmatist. But they have had one shared frustration: arranging an orderly succession. First Liu Shaoqi and then Lin Biao disappointed Mao; Hua Guofeng, his last designated successor, held power after the Chairman's death, from 1976 to 1978. In 1980 Deng put his approved team in place -- Hu Yaobang as party General Secretary and Zhao Ziyang as Premier. Seven years later, Hu was forced from power as a deviationist. Now Deng is purging Zhao and other...