China tries its history

Press, 26 November 1980, Page 24

China tries its history

The upheavals and contortions of the Cultural Revolution in China which lasted 'from 1966 until the death of Mao in 1976 gave the country an enigmatic and at times a bizarre face. The trial of the “Gang of Four” and various others, bringing the number to 10, has similarly many puzzles for observers. The charges which are being made against the accused include several which would rate as criminal charges in most countries. Yet when the “Gang of Four” were arrested in October of 1976 the point of their arrest was not that they were criminals in the ordinary sense of the word but that they formed a political clique whose activities and the theories they based them on were considered to have a disruptive effect on the whole of Chinese society. Just as some of the accused are considered to have become tainted by their association with the ‘‘Gang of’Four,” so the whole of the Cultural Revolution, in its case rather unfairly, has become associated with the “Gang of Four” and is being rejected, ... ‘ ' '■ ■ ’ ? Although many people died during the Cultural Revolution, the purpose of

the revolution was far removed from the purges often associated with revolutions in various societies. Chairman Mao considered. that the gains of the Chinese revolution which brought communism to power would be lost if China reverted to a hierarchical system such as it had had for the previous 2000 years or so. It will be difficult for those conducting the trials—and the public campaign associated with the trials seems designed to involve most of China — to keep the policies of Mao and the activities of the “Gang of Four” separate. Not only is a former wife of Mao 'one of the “Gang of Four” but one of the puzzles is how much was known to Mao or even had his agreement? At the moment China seems embarked on a different course than the one set by Mao. If Mao was right in seeing the need to do away with the centuries of lethargy in China has his prescription worked? ,The final chapter on China’s history of the Cultural Revolution will not be found in the trial of the “Gang of Four,” but will become known by what happens in China over the next few years.