Merry Mao-mas!

[Randy W]

in the SCMP

 

Faithful gather in praise of former Communist leader Mao Zedong in Hunan on his birthday

Despite officials’ efforts to deter attendance, thousands of devotees descend on chairman’s hometown

 

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Tens of thousands of people have spent Christmas Day and Boxing Day celebrating the life of the former Communist leader Mao Zedong (ëɖ|) in his former hometown amid signs that authorities are increasingly uneasy that some are using the event to criticise the direction of government policy.

 

The commemorations were held in Shaoshan county in Hunan () province where Mao was born on December 26, 1893.

 

. . .

 

Many used the occasion to vent their grievances against government market-oriented policies and the current state of the nation.

 

Maoists on the mainland hark back to what they deem as the purer form of communism in the early years after the formation of the People’s Republic in 1949.

 

They favour a full welfare state, resent private ownership and have in recent years become increasingly critical of political policy formulated in Beijing.

 

. . .

 

Zhu Deqing, 70, from the neighbouring city of Shaoyang (/span>), said 14 of his friends were stopped from attending the Mao commemorations.

 

“They were told they would be arrested if they came.”

 

. . .

.

“People miss Mao because they’re not content with the current situation,” he said. “Today corrupt officials are everywhere.”

 

. . .

 

“I don’t think Chairman Mao had any flaws. And the Cultural Revolution was the right decision,” Tang said. “If Mao didn’t start the Cultural Revolution, he would have lost power.”

 

. . .

 

“The Cultural Revolution was Mao’s greatest contribution. The Cultural Revolution suppressed elite-centric thoughts in the party. It was an attempt to let the people supervise the government,” he said, adding that he was a professor in Hong Kong, but did want to be named.