ISTURBING events are tak- ing place in China these days, events which are of

concern to all progressive-mind- ed Canadians, to all Commun- ists, to all genuine friends of China.

In the name of a so-called “proletarian cultural revolution”, books, works of art, music, monuments—all part of the cul- tural heritage of China and of mankind—are being destroyed. At the same time leaders of the Communist Party have been ar- bitrarily removed from office, the Young Communist League pushed into the background, universities and schools, news- papers and magazines either re- organized or closed down while specialists in various fields of endeavor have been pilloried, as- saulted in many cases, and re- moved from office.

These acts of vandalism and of organized violence are being carried out by the Red Guards, a para-military organization of teenagers, students and teach- ers which is spearheading this so-called “proletarian cultural revolution”.

The question could be asked:

How is it possible to place in the hands of school children and students such a vital problem as that of culture? Where is the working class? Where are the - party and government institu- tions, the trade unions and other public organizations in such an undertaking? The question could also be asked: What concept is it which associates socialism

with the destruction of culture and with the exercise of violence against workers and peasants, intellectuals and party officials?

Socialist culture values the cultural heritage of mankind, utilizes and builds upon its pro- gressive aspects for the further development and flowering of socialist culture. But this is not what is taking place in China

today. The activities of the Red

On the

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outside the bounds of party de- mocracy. In the name of pre- venting “revisionism” and the “restoration of capitalism” in China, Mao Tse-tung’s théory— in fact a repetition of Stalin’s thesis—that as socialism is being built the class struggle sharpens, has become the pretext on which to attack all those “ghosts and monsters” in the party who have begun to question present policy

By WILLIAM KASHTAN

General Secretary, Communist Party of Canada

Guards not only discredit the Communist Party of China; they cause great harm to the noble aims of socialism. These crude excesses, and: worse, are an ex- pression of nihilism, of anarch- ism. Neither they nor the so- called “proletarian cultural revo- lution” have anything to do with socialist culture or with Marx- ism-Leninism. No Communist worthy of the name can asso- ciate himself with such actions.

The “prolearian cultural revo- lution” is being used as a cover to suppress among the people and in the party all opposition to the present course and policies of some of the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party. The Red Guards are being directed to conduct that struggle, over the heads of party committees and

RED GUARDS in Shanghai (above) tear down a 48-year-old sign on a department store called “Yung An” (Eternal Tranquility) because it was named by a capitalist in pre-revolutionary China. They suggested the name be changed to “Eternally Red” or “Eternal Struggle.” At right: the same Red Guards at a meeting proclaim the 16-point decision of the Communist Party

on the “proletarian cultural revolution.”

and are striving to modify or change it. j

It is in this context that one can understand some of the im- plications behind the deification of Mao Tse-tung. Its aim is to stifle creative thinking and crush all opposition to the pre- sent dogmatic, fanatical and anti-Soviet policy of the leader- ship of the Communist Party of China. This deification of Mao Tse-tung and his thoughts, which the Chinese party’s central com- mittee meeting in August raised to fantastic proportions, stands in sharp contrast to the decision of that party’s 8th Congress which stressed the importance of combatting “‘the glorification and exaltation of individuals’.

There is a direct relationship between the cult of Mao Tse-

proletarian cultural re volution’ in China

tung and the stifling of inner party democracy and of social- ist democracy. How far this has gone can be seen in the fact that

there has been no party con-—

gress since 1958. The August central committee meeting was the first one held after four years. The cult of the infallibi- lity and of dogma has replaced creative thinking, while the cult of the personality has replaced collective leadership and a de- mocratically functioning party.

What is taking place in China serves as yet another serious warning of the dangers which befall-a Communist Party when it departs from Communist de- mocratic practice and permits the cult of the personality to take over. The similarity in the excesses seen in China today around Mac Tse-tung and in the past around Stalin is striking not only in the fact that some of them relate to the same insti- tutions, but also in their direc- tion. If the Chinese people do not act against it, it can have dire consequences.

Some of these consequences are already to be seen in the setbacks suffered by China in its foreign as well as its domestic policies. These setbacks arise from the adventurous course

. pursued by the leaders of the

Communist Party of China. On the international arena this ad- venturous course brought defeat to the Indonesian Communists and split the Indian Communist Party, while internally, the course of splitting from the so-

i

- class struggle on a world S©

tional workingclass moveme

October 21, 1966—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 10

| — | | |

cialist states and “relying one’s own resources” has mad? — more difficult the task of ove! coming heritages of the past . which weigh so heavily on Chin@ ; é today. 4,

It is no wonder, therefore, that some parties which previous? —

‘supported the line of the Com —

munist Party of China have D& gun to re-examine their positions and change them and that the present adventurous course pul” sued by the Chinese leaders 8 leading to self-isolation 1% China.

If the leaders who at preset — carry the banner of Mao TS® tung should succeed in crushins all opposition in China then the logic of the struggle will 5° them in hostile relationships the Soviet Union and other 8& cialist countries, weaken China and jeopardize the fruits of the: revolution.

The course of the ‘‘proletatia” cultural revolution” points ™ the fact that the leaders of tH?” Communist Party of China al

“not only distorting Mararted

Leninism; they have depart from Marxism-Leninism. They have likewise departed from Pf) letarian internationalism and taken the path of nationalis™ —

and great power chauvinism.

The August meeting of tt? Chinese Communist Party’s °°” tral committee underscores 8% position. The previous prete™, of support for the line adopl® at the 1957 and 1960 meetin of Communist and Workers Pa ties, in which they participate” — has been abandoned. It has Lo | replaced by the “thoughts” 4 line of Mao Tse-tung. 4

What is this line? It deni } the possibility of preventing ae imperialists from unleashing h world nuclear war in our epo% and counterposes to the ne and struggle for peaceful © existence a policy based on the inevitability of war. It replace” the Marxist-Leninist theory ¢ % the main contradiction in

Se

fime is between the workilé class and monopoly, betwee? * cialism ‘and imperialism, by ‘a unscientific theory of a world divided into zones, instead class relations. Such a line nothing in common with :

a Y or with proletarian international ism. It is a line which separa” : the national liberation mov — ments from the socialist syst” of states and from the inter™

and thus weakens each and all. d

While in words, according uf the August central commit? — meeting, imperialism is said -

CHINA—Page I1