At present there is a major ideological struggle occurring in China. The basic division is between those who want to revive the Chinese Communist Party and renew Chinese socialism and those who want to replace the CCP with a multi-party bourgeois democracy and dismantle socialism and replace it with full blown capitalism.
Within these two overarching trends of thought there are many divisions On the Chinese left there are those who think that socialism in China has already fallen to capitalist restoration and that revisionism is synonymous with capitalist restoration. In this case China is a capitalist country ruled by a fascist party that is communist in name only. Under those conditions the CCP has to be overthrown and replaced by a true M-L-M party. Others see revisionism quite differently, it is a transitory period during which the Party is taking the capitalist road and socialism is being eroded. As Mao said, during the transitional period of socialism class struggle between the proletariat and its allies against the bourgeoisie will continue and get more fierce as the struggle between the socialist and capitalist roads intensifies. Thus revisionism must be struggled against and reversed both inside and outside the Party. That is the position advocated in the following essay.
On the other hand there are those who advocate for continuing the current reform process by increasing marketization and engaging in more privatization of State Owned Enterprises. They also speak of the need for political reform and adherence to "universal values." These people are found both within and outside the CCP. Their line is similar to Gorbachev's perestroika and glasnost, which led to the dissolution of the CPSU and the collapse of the Soviet Union. It can be characterized as a long-term stealth strategy to turn the CCP into a bourgeois social democratic party and the PRC into a bourgeois democracy along the lines of what occurred in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. There are however those who call for the outright replacement of the CCP by a multi-party system and the wholesale importation of western values and institutions. That is the position of outright capitalist restoration and is promoted by the likes of Liu Xiaobo and Ai Weiwei and is put forth in Charter 8. Those who actively advocate that position are frequently harassed and at times prosecuted for subversion of state power and jailed.
Nevertheless, the range of opinion currently tolerated in China is quite broad. It ranges from those on the left who call for a return to M-L-M policies and practices to those on the right who call for an increased tempo of market-oriented reforms. Those on the far left or far right who call for the overthrow of the CCP are suppressed. Others who advocate diametrically opposite views regarding the future development of China are not. There are voices on both the right (Mao Yushi) and left (i.e. translation at this site) who are very critical of the policies and practices of the current leadership.
Which brings the discussion to the current Communist Party led government. In actual fact it is a coalition government that contains both rightist and leftist elements. The policies pursued are hence based on consensus building and compromise. There is intense two-line struggle and jockeying for power. A powerful illustration of this was the recent placement and removal of a statue of Confucius from Tiananmen Square.
The following essay refers to recent criticisms of Zhang Hongliang a well-known Chinese leftist, from those on the left who think his positions are too conciliatory and reformist. It is a justification of what can be called the renewalist position on the left which accepts the legitimacy of the CCP and advocates a struggle to reinvigorate it and revive the struggle for socialism in China.
Who is Zhang Hongliang? (Translated from Baidu Baike the Chinese equivalent of Google (Baidu) and Wikipedia (Baike)).
Within these two overarching trends of thought there are many divisions On the Chinese left there are those who think that socialism in China has already fallen to capitalist restoration and that revisionism is synonymous with capitalist restoration. In this case China is a capitalist country ruled by a fascist party that is communist in name only. Under those conditions the CCP has to be overthrown and replaced by a true M-L-M party. Others see revisionism quite differently, it is a transitory period during which the Party is taking the capitalist road and socialism is being eroded. As Mao said, during the transitional period of socialism class struggle between the proletariat and its allies against the bourgeoisie will continue and get more fierce as the struggle between the socialist and capitalist roads intensifies. Thus revisionism must be struggled against and reversed both inside and outside the Party. That is the position advocated in the following essay.
On the other hand there are those who advocate for continuing the current reform process by increasing marketization and engaging in more privatization of State Owned Enterprises. They also speak of the need for political reform and adherence to "universal values." These people are found both within and outside the CCP. Their line is similar to Gorbachev's perestroika and glasnost, which led to the dissolution of the CPSU and the collapse of the Soviet Union. It can be characterized as a long-term stealth strategy to turn the CCP into a bourgeois social democratic party and the PRC into a bourgeois democracy along the lines of what occurred in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. There are however those who call for the outright replacement of the CCP by a multi-party system and the wholesale importation of western values and institutions. That is the position of outright capitalist restoration and is promoted by the likes of Liu Xiaobo and Ai Weiwei and is put forth in Charter 8. Those who actively advocate that position are frequently harassed and at times prosecuted for subversion of state power and jailed.
Nevertheless, the range of opinion currently tolerated in China is quite broad. It ranges from those on the left who call for a return to M-L-M policies and practices to those on the right who call for an increased tempo of market-oriented reforms. Those on the far left or far right who call for the overthrow of the CCP are suppressed. Others who advocate diametrically opposite views regarding the future development of China are not. There are voices on both the right (Mao Yushi) and left (i.e. translation at this site) who are very critical of the policies and practices of the current leadership.
Which brings the discussion to the current Communist Party led government. In actual fact it is a coalition government that contains both rightist and leftist elements. The policies pursued are hence based on consensus building and compromise. There is intense two-line struggle and jockeying for power. A powerful illustration of this was the recent placement and removal of a statue of Confucius from Tiananmen Square.
The following essay refers to recent criticisms of Zhang Hongliang a well-known Chinese leftist, from those on the left who think his positions are too conciliatory and reformist. It is a justification of what can be called the renewalist position on the left which accepts the legitimacy of the CCP and advocates a struggle to reinvigorate it and revive the struggle for socialism in China.
Who is Zhang Hongliang? (Translated from Baidu Baike the Chinese equivalent of Google (Baidu) and Wikipedia (Baike)).
Zhang Hongliang, is a Professor at the Central University of Nationalities and the Securities Institute. He's a commentator on the current struggle between the right and left in China and his contributions are found on many blogs that focus on China's current financial situation, the people's livelihood, and other hot issues in international relations that reveal the current situation in Chinese society in order to wake people up.
Zhang Hongliang is a prominent critic of "genetically modified staple food” and the hazards they pose to humans. His essays are often found at the Maoist website Utopia. He gives talks at major universities and other academic establishments, participates in television programs and has a wide audience.
Should Zhang Hongliang's banner be cut down or raised up?
Recently, some who consider themselves left-wing revolutionaries have launched fierce attacks on Prof. Zhang Hongliang, accusing him of being a reformist and misleading the left by only being against corrupt officials but not the “emperor.”
I do not think this controversy is a bad thing, by means of this kind of debate we can better communicate and enhance our awareness of the underlying problem, rally the left, more clearly recognize some fundamental principles, and consolidate his status as a standard-bearer of the left. I declare my clear-cut support and full endorsement of his line and methods. Under the revolutionary situation of the new age that we find ourselves in Zhang Hongliang must be defended and supported. This is not just some personal preference.
Regarding the problem of Zhang Hongliang it's possible to talk about the dual aspects of strategy and tactics.
There is an old saying; “If the name is not correct, the words will not ring true.” Although there are things that smack of capitalist restoration in China, as long as China is still called a socialist country and the Communist Party still holds power it is both unjustified and undeserving to say that capitalism has been restored. It is illegal for those people and forces who want to bring down the banner of the Communist Party to carry out real deceptive restorationist activities.
I have repeatedly explained to one and all that the legacy of Mao Zedong has given the left enough breathing room to make a comeback, but we do not know how to use the conditions that Mao Zedong left us, and how to prepare and develop the space that he left behind.
Herein are some prerequisite plans that we should advance to implement renewal. If the premise is that we are a socialist country, then we must strive to perfect the operational economic mechanisms of the socialist system, that is to advance the renewal of socialism. Taking the road of the self-perfection of the socialist system, what's wrong with that kind of reform?
The main task of the current struggle for leftists is not to completely smash the state apparatus of the people's democratic dictatorship, but to enable the tools of the dictatorship to find their proper objective which strategically speaking requires that comrades on the left need to utilize the healthy power of the internal state apparatus to eliminate the obstacles to history's progress and lessen the expense of revolution.
If it is thought that China needs to produce something similar to a revolutionary war of liberation, that would be equivalent to rejecting out of hand Chairman Mao's historic contribution, starting from scratch and not conforming to the laws of changing historic developments.
In "Journey to the West" when the genuine Thunder Temple was reached and when the genuine Tathagata Buddha appeared was the time when the great quest for the Sutras was close to success. The Chinese Revolution is also close to success but at present our country is at a crucial turning-point in the battle between genuine or fake socialism and a genuine or fake Communist Party.
Second, since capitalism in China has not yet been completely and finally restored, China is still considered a socialist country and the Communist Party still holds power our whole struggle must be for the self-perfection and self-renewal of the socialist system, and the self-cleansing of the Communist Party. Therefore, the general trend of the current revolution is around the theme of renewal, we have to squeeze the already rotten blood and putrid pus out of the body of socialism and the Communist Party in order to reinvigorate Socialism. It was Mao's earlier nation building revolution, and his Cultural Revolution that prevented restoration, that has made it possible to have a complimentary struggle both inside and outside the Party to force a return to the path of Mao Zedong Thought. The targets and pre-conditions of the revolution are not the same. The principles, tactics and methods of struggle are not the same.
Some people harshly believe that revolution is better than renewal, this is typical of dogmatic empiricism that originates from book learning and subjective desire. It is the expression of an extremely naive way of thinking.
Third, the main battlefield in the current struggle is ideological, we must use all available media resources to expand the influence of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Thought, not only expand its strength, but at the same time to cause the collapse of the enemy, lessen the transformation of those to be won over and narrow the target of revolution. In that way can reduce the obstacles to revolution by reducing the object of the fight for revolutionary changes and curbing resistance to the the revolution. Therefore, Zhang Hongliang, Kong Qingdong, Dai Xu, Zheng Qiang, etc. who play a leading role in public opinion, are no less than the fighting strength of a division or army of the PLA during the War of Liberation. The role that these people play should be further strengthened, rather than constrained by irresponsible back-stabbing remarks.
Some people attack Zhang Hongliang due to naive thinking, while others purely out of ulterior motives, they want cut down Zhang Hongliang's banner to hoist their own, their method is to raise themselves up by bringing others down. Their hearts have no need for the great revolutionary cause, in their heart and bones they are only interested in fame and fortune.
Zhang Hongliang foresees that the great rejuvenation of Chinese socialism and the great rejuvenation of Chinese culture are both correct, history is developing in that direction. Zhang Hongliang is undoubtedly a pioneer of socialist revival, a crowing rooster, the morning star rising before the sun, playing the role of revolutionary standard-bearer amongst the left and the whole community. When he speaks he talks about principles, when criticizing he pays attention to politics, the attacks on Zhang Hongliang are in disarray, if it is said that Zhang Hongliang is for reform. I want to stand by his side and carry out his kind of reform to the very end.
We are not out to destroy the Communist Party we want to help the Communist Party fulfill its goals. We do not want to repeal the laws of socialism, but to invigorate the economic mechanisms of socialism, we want to return to communist beliefs and the path and direction pointed out by Mao Zedong Thought.
The growing trend of history is to reverse revisionism, the revisionists tried to castrate and revise Marxism-Leninism Mao Zedong Thought and alter its correct political line and policies, today we want to bring order out of chaos and correct the mistakes of the reform movement.
What's wrong with the renewal of the socialist system ? !
At present China has no shortage of people who want revolution, what China most lacks now are people who know how to make revolution and what kind of revolution to make. Strategy and tactics are the lifeblood of the Party and absolutely cannot be neglected. Confronting grave difficulties we must clearly distinguish between us and the enemy. Rally the great majority and win over the large number against the handful. Let our comrades unleash themselves to deal with the enemy and not be constrained by artificially adding confusion to the revolutionary cause.
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