Who Was Hua Guofeng? Why Does the CCP Suddenly Commemorate Him?
Hello, everyone, welcome to “Inconvenient Truths”. I am your host Jennifer Zeng.
If you are closely familiar with Chinese politics, you may have heard the name Hua Guofeng mentioned. Otherwise, you might never know who this person was. Actually, many people in China, especially younger people, don’t know who Hua Guofeng was, and what he did either. He was a forgotten man in Chinese politics. However, recently the CCP suddenly held a very high profile event to commemorate him. This unusual move caused a lot of China experts to ponder why the CCP would do such a thing, and what it means to Chinese politics. So today let’s discuss this issue.
The CCP’s event to commemorate Hua Guofeng’s 100th birthday on Feb 20, 2021 in Beijing.
Who Was Hua Guofeng
First of all, let’s talk briefly about who Hua Guofeng was.
Mao Zedong’s photo at Tiananmen Square
If you don’t know Hua Guofeng, you must know Mao Zedong. Let’s show Picture 1 and 2. These are photos of Mao’s picture still at Tiananmen Square today. Mao was the founder of the CCP’s People’s Republic of China, and is regarded as the First Generation leader of the CCP. He started the Great Culture Revolution and many other political movements in China, which killed dozens of millions of Chinese people.
Mao Zedong and Hua Guofeng
Mao Zedong and Hua Guofeng
Now let’s show Picture 3. This is a picture of Mao Zedong and Hua Guofeng. So in short, Hua Guofeng was Mao’s immediate successor after Mao died in 1976.
Now Let’s show Picture 4. This is a very commonly used propaganda photo of Mao and Hua Guofeng together.
It was said that Mao Zedong personally designated Hua Guofeng as his successor before he died, with a message saying that, "I am at ease knowing that you are doing the job,” or “I feel relieved that you are going to do the job.” This message was once a household slogan in China to show why Hua Guofeng was the new leader of China after Chairman Mao, because he was chosen by Mao .
So after Mao Zedong died, Hua Guofeng became the new paramount CCP leader, with 3 titles: the Chairman of the CCP, the Premier of China, and the Chairman of the CCP’s Central Military Commission. So he controlled the party, the government, and the military, and was the almighty powerful of China then.
Short-Lived Power and Two Legencies
However, his al-mighty power was very short-lived. He was ousted between 1980 to 1981, with his three job titles taken away one by one, and Deng Xiaoping became the new de facto leader of the CCP.
In his very short-lived political career, Hua Guofeng left over two political legacies. One was the two “Whatevers” that he promoted: "Whatever Chairman Mao said, we will say and whatever Chairman Mao did, we will do." By promoting the two “Whatevers”, he wanted to firmly continue with whatever Mao had been doing.
Hua Guofeng’s second legacy was the removal of the so-called Gang of Four. The members of Gang of Four included Mao Zedong’s widow Jiang Qing. Let’s show Picture 5, a picture of Jiang Qing, and Picture 6, which shows Jiang Qing and Mao Zedong together.
Jiang Qing
Mao Zedong and Jiang Qing
The removal of the Gang of Four was later regarded as the official end of the Cultural Revolution and the start of the next era of China, the so-called “Reform and Opening up to the outside world.”
Sometimes people also say that Hua Guofeng was related to two coups: the first coup was the removal of the Gang of Four, in which he played an important role. The second coup was the removal of himself, in which he was the victim.
Three Rumors or Facts Related to Hua Guofeng
There are three other rumors, or facts, that are related to Hua Guofeng. The first one was that he was actually the eldest, but an illegitimate son of Mao Zedong.
The second one was that Deng Xiaopend had asked Hua Guofeng to take up a key military post and to assist with the crackdown of the pro-democracy student movement in 1989, but Hua Guofeng refused.
The third one was that Hua Guofeng had quit the CCP many years before he died in 2008, because he thought the CCP had become very bad and he didn’t want to be a member anymore.
Anyway, these rumors are hard to verify or falsify, although many Chinese people believe they are true.
Four Theories about the Messages Behind the Commemoration of Hua Guofeng
So, given Hua Guofeng’s background, given the fact that he was seldom mentioned, and was even forgotten by most Chinese, why did the CCP suddenly commemorate his 100th birthday in such a high profile manner?
There are several different theories about this.
Theory 1: A Warning Message
This first one is that Xi Jinping was giving a warning message to the so-called “Second Generation Red” and other CCP officials.
“Second Generation Red” refers to the children of the first generation CCP officials who had been involved in the so-called “founding of New China”. These people always think they are special, so all their family members should enjoy special treatment, as China belongs to them.
Because of Hua Guofeng’s famous “Two whatevers” slogan, he was considered a good example of being loyal to Mao and to the CCP. So commemorating him means asking the “Second Generation Red” and other CCP officials to stay loyal to the CCP and its leader Xi Jinping.
Theory 2: Appointing a Successor
The second interpretation is that Xi Jinping is considering appointing a successor, or he wants to show the world that he will appoint a successor soon. For any kind of regime, the smooth transition of power is very important. In democratic countries, there are regular elections to ensure this. In CCP’s China, although there are no real elections, some sort of compromise, or understanding, as who is going to be the next leader of the CCP also needs to be reached among those who are in control of the power.
Although everyone knows that Xi Jinping is seeking to be the president for life after he removed the two-term limit on the presidency in China’s constitution back in 2018, not having an appointed successor is still a potential threat to the safety and stability of the regime, as nobody can guarantee that Xi Jinping won’t encounter any unexpected events including health issues. If anything happens to Xi, who can be the next leader? This is of course a question that needs to be considered, and Xi will surely be under some kind of pressure to make some sort of arrangement. So some people think that by commemorating Hua Guofeng, Xi wants to show the outside world and other CCP leaders that he IS considering appointing a successor, just like Mao had appointed Hua Guofeng as his successor before he died.
Theory 3: Fighting Back Against Criticism
The third theory is that Xi did this to fight back against those inside the party who oppose and criticize him.
We all know now that Hua Guofeng was virtually removed and replaced by Deng Xiaoping, who was later called "the chief architect of China's economic reforms and China's socialist modernization".
In the meantime, Hua Guofeng was considered as a symbol of the rigid old era of Mao, who was dead set on carrying on with whatever Mao had been doing.
So in this sense, Deng Xiaoping and Hua Guofeng were opposite to each other. They were political rivals.
If we understand this, we will understand why Xi Jinping suddenly commemorated Hua Guofeng now.
In recent years, because of Xi Jinping’s mishandling of many issues, he encountered a lot of pressure from within the party. Some party members started to say Deng Xiaoping’s policies were better, and that Xi Jinping shouldn’t have gone back to Maoism.
So commemorating Hua Guofeng is a fight back against the criticism inside the party. Hua Guofeng once asked to stick to “whatever” Mao had been saying and doing; now Xi Jinping is demanding the same kind of treatment: he wants everyone to stick to whatever he says and does.
Theory 4: Another Coup is Looming
The fourth theory is that another coup is looming.
As Hua Guofeng’s second legacy is to remove the Gang of Four, the purpose for Xi commemorating him is to send out a signal that Xi Jinping might do the same thing to get rid of political rivals.
Back in 2012, the CCP’s rising political star Bo Xilai was arrested. (Show P7. Let’s show a picture of Bo Xilai. ) He served as a member of the CCP’s Politburo, as well as the party secretary of Chongqing City before he was arrested. It was widely believed that although Xi Jinping was designated as the new leader of the CCP then, Bo Xilai had the ambition to replace him and become the new leader himself. It is also believed that Bo Xilai belonged to former CCP leader Jiang Zemin’s faction.
However, as their coup intention was leaked in advance, Bo Xilai was arrested. Both Xi Jinping and his predecessor Hu Jintao were involved in the arrest of Bo Xilai.
But the arrest of Bo Xilai also triggered a counterattack by Jiang's forces, and caused an unprecedented internal crisis for the CCP.
Later on Xi had to choose to reach some kind of compromise with Jiang’s faction to preserve his power, and it seemed that a new balance had been achieved somehow.
However, in recent years, because of the series of President Trump’s heavy blows to the CCP, the interests of the powerful families inside the CCP were badly damaged. As a result, Xi’s handling of the situation was also questioned and challenged within the party.
So, under this kind of circumstance, commemorating Hua Guofeng can be understood as a sign that Xi Jinping is preparing to get rid of another Gang of Four within the party.
But it could also be understood as a sign that Jiang Zemin’s faction is preparing to get rid of Xi Jinping instead.
Given the fact that Xi Jinping himself didn’t attend the ceremony to commemorate Hua Guofeng, and it was Wang Huning who hosted the event, some China experts believe it could be more of a sign that Xi Jinping could be the target of another coup.
Why do people think so? Let’s show a picture of Wang Huning first.
Wang Huning
Wang Huning is currently a member of the CCP's Politburo Standing Committee, and the First Secretary of the Central Secretariat of the CCP. The CCP's Politburo Standing Committee has altogether only 7 members, and Wang Huning is one of them. So he is among the top 7 CCP leaders.
Wang Huning comes from Shanghai, and started his political career in Shanghai. Jiang Zemin also comes from Shanghai, and was the mayor and party secretary of Shanghai City before he became the CCP’s Paramount leader in the early 1990s, after the Tiananmen Massacre. So it is a common understanding that Wang Huning belongs to Jiang’s clique.
So, the fact that it was Wang Huning, not Xi Jinping, who hosted the ceremony to commemorate Hua Guofeng leads some people to believe that it is a sign that Jiang Zemin’s faction is working on launching a coup against Xi Jinping, not the other way around.
Whatever the case, it seems that the year 2021 is destined to be a dangerous year for the CCP. At the top level, another Gang of Four could be arrested; or another top leader could be replaced, just like how Hua Guofeng was replaced by Deng Xiaoping many years ago.
What will actually happen? We will have to wait and see.
Well, that’s all for today. Truth saves lives. Please do subscribe to my channel, and check out my other videos.
Thank you. See you soon!
3/1/2021 *
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