WREATHS LAID, SONGS PLAYED AS MEMORIES FADE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 019543 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/14/2031 TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI KCUL CH SUBJECT: WREATHS LAID, SONGS PLAYED AS MEMORIES FADE REF: A. FBIS CPP20060909004010 ¶B. FBIS CPP20060909052008 ¶C. BEIJING 10507 Classified By: Classified by Political Section Internal Unit Chief Susan A. Thornton. Reasons 1.4 (b/d). Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Party leaders allowed limited media coverage but no official commemoration of the 30th anniversary of Mao Zedong's death on September 9. In a carefully managed, low-key observance, the Party convened no official functions and issued no official statements to mark the event. Media and cultural events were orchestrated to portray Mao as a symbol of national pride and Party legitimacy and to boost support for the current leadership's reform agenda, while avoiding mention of potentially explosive themes such as the Cultural Revolution. At a September 8 gala musical tribute to Mao in the Great Hall of the People, poloffs observed many three-generation family groups in attendance. Crowds of people laid wreaths at Mao's tomb at Tiananmen Square on September 9. Comment: The Party's carefully calibrated commemoration of Mao's death appears to have been designed to exploit continuing admiration for Mao while avoiding provoking regime critics or whipping up public sentiment. End Summary and Comment. Low-Key Media Event -------------- ¶2. (C) Party leaders issued no official statements marking the 30th anniversary of Mao's death and sanctioned no authoritative commentary in China's Party-controlled media. CCTV's evening news did not even mention the anniversary during the week of September 9 and the Party's flagship newspaper, People's Daily, carried only one article, a personal memoir by Mao's children buried on page 8. Other mainstream Party papers, such as Guangming Daily, China Youth Daily and Beijing Youth Daily, were similarly devoid of Mao memorials. In fact, Beijing Youth Daily featured stories on a 1962 Party meeting that was highly critical of food shortages caused by Mao's "Great Leap Forward" (1959-1961) on the anniversary date. The next day it published a tiny report of elderly women inHenan province who built a memorial hall for ao with their own money. Most daily metropoltan papers carried no articles on the anniersary, although the popular Beijing News carried a photo on September 10 of citizens in Tianamen Squae laying wreaths to Mao. Mao made the cover of only one of the glossy news magazines, Life Weekly. ¶3. (C) Party-controlled internet news portals were more generous to the Chairman. The People's Daily website hosted a memorial page with a large, color photograph of Mao and links to details on his life and writings, along with some memorial pieces. The website of the Party's official press agency, Xinhua, featured nostalgic recollections, Mao's teachings, and other commemorative essays, while Mao postings outnumbered all other topics on the website's chat room discussions. Popular portals, Sina and Sohu, featured special columns discussing Mao's life and achievements. Singing Mao's Praises, But Not Officially -------------- ¶4. (C) The highlight of the commemorative period was a two-hour, unofficial musical extravaganza on Mao's life and character held in the Great Hall of the People on the night of September 8. Open to the public and entitled "The Sun is the Most Red and Chairman Mao is the Most Beloved," the program paid tribute to Mao through historical narrative, poetic readings, musical numbers, and odes to Mao's character and accomplishments, all read or played with great gusto to an enthusiastic audience. Tickets for the performance, some of which ran to more than USD 100, were sold out by the evening of the performance. ¶5. (C) Rousing musical scores sung by a choir of uniformed PLA veterans accompanied by the People's Armed Police orchestra were interspersed with readings from some of Mao's most well-known essays and solos by popular singers. The audience joined in singing old standbys such as "Chairman Mao, the Red Sun in Our BEIJING 00019543 002 OF 003 Hearts," "The East is Red," and "Sing the Praises of the Motherland." Pictures of historical sites and events depicting the CPC's rise to power were projected against a huge screen behind the musicians and a large work of calligraphy composed especially for the commemoration by a prominent artist was unfurled at the conclusion of the program. Mao's son and family were in attendance, according to Western news services, but were not introduced or mentioned. Nostalgic feelings ran high, but the popularity of the music and performers appeared to be as much a factor behind the enthusiasm as people's feelings toward the Great Helmsman. Playing it Safe: A Focus on Mao's Pre-1949 Exploits -------------- -------------- ¶6. (C) The program heralded Mao as China's greatest leader of the last century, father of the Communist revolution, and founder of the Chinese state, but stayed clear of politically controversial themes. Instead, the program focused on the early days of the revolution, the civil war with the Nationalists, and the war of resistance against the Japanese. The readings featured some of Mao's most famous treatises on revolution, guerrilla warfare, and national mobilization, such as "On Protracted War," "The Foolish Old Man Who Moved the Mountain," and "Serve the People," but did not touch on his theories of "continuous revolution" and other radical ideas later repudiated by his successors. A Family Affair -------------- ¶7. (C) Although the generational breakdown of those at the concert slightly favored the older and middle- aged, the audience nonetheless spanned a range of ages and included many family groups, often with three generations sitting together. Hefty ticket prices (USD 15 to 110) likely discouraged those from the lower rungs of society from attending. One young couple accompanying elderly parents said they had come "first for the music and second for Mao Zedong," but quickly commented that the Chairman's "status in China remains very high." When asked whether the majority of the audience consisted of officials and Party members or of ordinary people, they said the tickets were sold publicly and thus open to anyone. They had purchased their own tickets, "even though they were not cheap." In contrast, a couple in their fifties said that they had come primarily to pay tribute to Mao, who is "held in high esteem by the Chinese people." "I was a Red Guard," the wife unabashedly volunteered. Xinhua's Spin -------------- ¶8. (C) The concert themes anticipated Xinhua's treatment of the anniversary the next day, when it reported that crowds of people in Tiananmen Square were laying wreaths at Mao's memorial hall in tribute to "this great man of the century" and noted that people had brought their children and grandchildren to "help them understand the history of China" (ref A). One youthful netizen said he now understands why his parents mourned Mao's death, as "the chairman was a great figure who served the people with heart and soul" (Ref B). ¶9. (C) Xinhua also signaled the leadership's intent to use the anniversary to legitimize the reforms enacted after Mao's death and to boost support for the Party's current reform agenda. Elderly visitors paying their respects in Tiananmen, Xinhua reported, had come to tell Mao about the economic prosperity and personal opportunities the Chinese people now enjoy so he could "rest in peace," while others opined that "we should not forget Chairman Mao, for we owe the happy life of today to his efforts and those of other late leaders." In a more explicit plug for current policies, the report quoted a Beijing businesswoman, "who still wears a badge of Chairman Mao," as saying she hoped China would "stick unswervingly to the policies of reform and opening" in order to "strengthen the nation and enrich the people." Comment: The Party's Careful Balancing Act -------------- ¶10. (C) In this year of sensitive anniversaries (Ref BEIJING 00019543 003 OF 003 C),the Party's carefully calibrated commemoration of the 30th anniversary of Mao's death appears to be an effort to draw on the continuing admiration for Mao among some in order to boost the Party's legitimacy and increase support for the current leadership's reform agenda. It may also have been designed to create a heroic image of the leader for a younger generation that has no memory of the great suffering he inflicted on his countrymen. In doing so, however, it appears that Party leaders, whose own legitimacy is still closely tied to Mao's charisma as the father of the revolution and founder of the state, have been careful to balance their need to burnish the Chairman's reputation against the risk that a celebration of his legacy would give regime critics a chance to mobilize anti-Party sentiment, especially among those left behind by economic reform. RANDT