Report says Lin was killed

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32789, 14 December 1971, Page 17

Report says Lin was killed

fN.Z. Pre«« Association—Copyright) NEW YORK, December 13. Lin Piao, the Chinese Minister of Defence who once was considered next in line to succeed Chairman Mao Tse-tung, and other top-ranking Chinese military figures were killed between Dr Henry Kissinger’s two visits to Peking in July and October, “Newsweek” magazine says.

The columnist, Stewart Alsop, reported that “by now nobody in the intelligence business doubts that it is a fact” that Lin and other top military officials were killed, apparently after a plot to assassinate Chairman Mao failed.

The English - language “Hong Kong Star” newspaper carried a similar report yesterday. Alsop said that Chinese Communist Party cadres had been told the plotters died when an airliner they seized to escape crashed over Mongolia. But, Alsop said, the Russians, who found the wreckage, said that none of the victims was over 50 years old.

Most of the plotters were considerably older, giving rise to speculation that they died in the conventional way, with a bullet in the cranium.

After Dr Kissinger’s first Peking visit, the Western world was rife-with speculation about what happened in China. All domestic flights were cancelled and many of the top members of the politburo, the ruling council of China, were not seen in public, including Lin.

The traditional anniversary celebration of Mao’s victory over President Chiang

Kai-shek also was toned down considerably. In addition to, Lin, Alsop listed five other top ranking military figures: Mrs Lin, a Politburo member, Huang Ungg-heng, chief of the Armed Services, . Li Tsopeng. Commissar of the Navy, Chiu Hui-tso, chief of the Logistics Command, and Wu Fa-hsien, the commander of the Air Force.

Alsop said that Lin and the others assigned a trusted Communist to assassinate Mao, but when he approached the Chairman of the Communist Party, the would-be assassin fell to his knees and revealed the plot When the conspirators heard of the failure to assassinate Chairman Mao, Alsop reported, they seized a plane and flew in the direction of Mongolia. According to the official Communist explanation, Chairman Mao foresaw that the plane had insufficient fuel and would crash, which it did.

Alsop, however, suggested that the plotters were executed.

“It is even possible that Lin Piao died a natural death,” Alsop calculated, “and that the pro-Lin military then attempted a desperate coup, were caught and executed.’*