Radicalism eliminated by a single stroke at

Press, 14 October 1976, Page 8

Radicalism eliminated by a single stroke at

By

DAVID BONAVIA,

of

"The Times,” through NZPA

Hong Kong

The appointment of Mr Hua Kuo-feng as Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party is evidently the result of a secret understanding between himself and the military commanders. As a result of this, Chairman Mao’s widow, Chiang Ching, and other leading “radical” politicians, have been arrested. A Peking spokesman has officially confirmed what wall-posters had announced at the week-end: that Mr Hua was the new chairman of the parly as well as head of the party’s military affairs commission.

Whether he will long retain the post of Prime Minister as well is not clear: some people believe that it will go to the veteran economic administrator, Mr Li Hsieur-rien.

Chinese people have been grabbing for newspapers on the streets of Hong Kong, fascinated by banner headlines which proclaim: “Chiang Ching Arrested.” The best-informed diplomats and correspondents in Peking now seem convinced that Chiang Ching is, indeed, under some form of arrest — probably house arrest — in common with Mr Chang Chun-chiao, Mr Wang Hungwen and Mr Yao Wen-yuan.

By this single stroke, Mr Hua and the army have eliminated radicalism from the Politburo, and are probably preparing to dismantle large sectors of the “reforms” introduced during the Cultural Revolution 10 years ago. The apparently bloodless coup d’etat provides the answer to some of the mysteries of the week-end, when Mr Hua’s appointment to the Chairmanship seemed to be in doubt. It was thought then that Chiang Ching and the other radicals were pushing him forward just as they did after ousting Mr Teng Hsiao-ping from his posts as vice-chairman of the party and senior Deputy Prime Minister last April. However, military analysts now disclose that Mr Hua has over the last fewmonths been meeting secretly with the commanders of the People’s Liberation Army to grant them most of what they demand in terms of supplies, and allocations in exchange for the top political jobs.

This means that Mr Hua was a much more astute politician than he had previously been given credit for, and that he outwitted the radicals who thought of him as their best champion in the political arena during Chairman Mao’s terminal illness.

At one swoop, the army and Mr between them

have apparently eradicated: the personal sources of radi-j cal politics in China, so thatany resistance, whether in Peking or Shanghai or in the provinces, will doubtless be quickly overcome. Radical policies were never really popular, anyway. Mr Chang, latterly Chief ( Political Commissar of the Armed Forces, rose to pvwer as a result of the Cultural Revolution in Shanghai in 1966-67, and established a reputation as the most intelligent and capable of the entire faction. For this rea- ' son alone, his arrest would have seemed necessary to anyone planning to extirpate ' the radical group. Mr Wang had a weaker 1 political personality, and a less-obvious power base, having risen to the No. 3 position in the party in 1973 i while still only in his late thirties, apparently because Chairman Mao liked him and wanted him as a symbol of youth in the leadership. Mr Yao was a dedicated — some people believe fanatical — proponent of the Maoist view of social devel- , opment: one of his articles ( set off the Cultural Revolution in the first place. His ( control of the party press and mass media gave the radical group one of its strongest grips on Chinese political life, and made pos- ' sible the unseating of Mr Teng. i

i If Chairman Maos widow |can be arrested only a ;month after his death, nothing is ruled out in Chinese politics, even the return to a powerful position of Mr Teng himself, who has been the object of a bitter campaign of vilification since early this year. The new ruling group, which has yet to announce the configuration of its ranks, is expected to pursue policies of material incentive in industry and agriculture, concentrate on better quality in higher education, and tempt to modernise China's economy and armed forces through imports of advanced foreign equipment. These will probably be financed bv a resurgence of oil exports, which lagged this year. In foreign affairs, the Chinese Government is thought likely to become more nationalist, possibly seeking a limited understanding with the Soviet Union, supporting insurgent movements in countries whose regimes it dislikes, and being somewhat cooler towards the United States and the rest of the developed world. But the new trade links which China has forged with the West will militate against any real resurgence of xenophobia or a re-ahgn-ment with the Soviet Union.