c) MAO book of
Lin Biao
On 23, Nov 2015 | In c) MAO book of | By foster eastman
Lin Biao (Piao) was a major Chinese Communist military leader who played a pivotal role for the communist victory in the Chinese Civil War against Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang government. Lin advocated a strategy of protracted guerilla warfare to weaken the enemy through feints, ambushes, encirclements and surprise attacks. In order to protect himself from the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, he gave absolute support to Mao always at his side in public appearances waving a copy of ‘the little red book’. Lin was rewarded by being promoted to First-ranking Vice Premier of the Peoples Republic of China and Mao’s designated successor. Mao became uncomfortable with Lin’s growing power and asked all principal generals to write self-criticisms on their political positions and unconditional support. The official narrative states that Lin, harbouring a strong desire to seize power organized a coup with his son titled ‘project 571’…. later aborted. He attempted to flee to the Soviet Union to seek asylum boarding a plane which ran out of fuel and crashed killing all… including his wife and son. Within a month 93 people close to Lin were arrested and over 1000 senior military officials were purged. Scholars outside China are skeptical that one of the most successful Communist generals would attempt a poorly planned abortive coup. Eyewitness accounts state that Lin, convinced that he and his family were to be purged planned an escape. Lin’s daughter ‘Doudou’ reported this plan to the authorities and the doomed flight departed in haste while still refueling. A propaganda campaign ‘Criticizing Lin Biao and Confucius’ began to scar his image and after Mao’s death, he was blamed for many negative aspects of the Cultural Revolution…. accused of taking advantage of ‘Mao’s mistakes’ to advance his own political goals. (years of service 1925-1971)