Comments on Mao Yuanxin’s Request Report Concerning the Communication of Work Arrangements for Hua Guofeng and Chen Xilian 2)
(January 31, 1976)


Notes
Read and approved. It would also be advisable to discuss this matter with Comrade Xiaoping [3].
5:00 p.m. on January 31
Printed from Mao Zedong’s handwritten draft.


[1] Mao Yuanxin was Mao Zedong’s nephew. At that time he served as Secretary of the Liaoning Provincial Committee of the CPC and Deputy Director of the Provincial Revolutionary Committee, while acting in Beijing as Mao Zedong’s liaison officer. During the “Cultural Revolution,” he actively participated in the factional activities of the Jiang Qing clique aimed at splitting the Party, seizing Party power, and usurping leadership. Following the downfall of the “Gang of Four” in October 1976, he was removed from all Party and non-Party posts, detained for investigation, and subsequently sentenced to seventeen years’ imprisonment.


[2] These comments were written on Mao Yuanxin’s request report to Mao Zedong dated January 31, 1976. The report stated: “I have already discussed this with Wang Hongwen (then Vice Chairman of the CPC Central Committee) and Zhang Chunqiao (then a member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Central Politburo), conveying the Chairman’s instructions regarding the work arrangements for Hua Guofeng and Chen Xilian. They expressed full support and pledged their backing, suggesting that after the Politburo has been informed, it should designate specific individuals to convey these instructions separately to the State Council vice premiers, the ministers of various ministries, and the members of the CMC Standing Committee and the heads of the various general headquarters. In my view, this is indeed necessary. Such a move would also serve as a signal to lower levels: Comrade Xiaoping has made mistakes. If the Chairman agrees, might we proceed as follows? First, among the State Council vice premiers and ministers: at the suggestion of the Chairman and with the unanimous consent of the Politburo, work within the State Council will be primarily overseen by Comrade Hua Guofeng. Second, among the members of the CMC Standing Committee and the heads of the various general headquarters: at the Chairman’s suggestion and with the Politburo’s unanimous approval, during Comrade Ye Jianying’s illness, work of the Central Military Commission will be primarily managed by Comrade Chen Xilian.”


[3] Xiaoping refers to Deng Xiaoping, who at that time held the positions of Vice Chairman of the CPC Central Committee, Vice Premier of the State Council, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, and Chief of the General Staff of the People’s Liberation Army.