The Chinese Communist Party, under Mao’s direction, launched the Anti-Rightist Movement in 1957 to purge China’s intellectual elite, which was considered to be an ideological threat to the regime. More than 550,000 teachers, lawyers, writers, academics and intellectuals thought to be critics of communism became victims of a brutal crackdown. Most were sent to labor camps or banished to remote areas to work as peasants and were subjected to harsh conditions and treatment, including public criticism and torture.
After Mao’s death, about 20 years later, rightist convictions were overturned, but the Chinese regime has never responded to victims’ demands for compensation for their physical and emotional suffering and the loss of income during those years.
Only a few thousand former rightist victims are still alive today, but these seniors are becoming exceedingly more outspoken in their demand for justice.
In March 2007, the 50th anniversary of the Anti-Rightist Movement, 61 elders sent an Open Letter to the CCP’s Central Committee, People’s Congress, and the State Council to ask for justice and compensation to the victims. Over 2,000 people signed the petition at that time.
Since then, the CCP’s Central Propaganda Department has imposed a media ban on all discussions of the Anti-Rightist Movement.
The victim’s most recent strategy is to bring Mao to justice.
Tie Liu, meaning “Iron Current,” is the pen name of Huang Zeronga, a prominent Chinese journalist and former editor of Chengdu Daily and a survivor of the Anti-Rightist Movement. Tie Liu was slapped with the rightist label in 1957 and spent 23 years in a labor camp, until his case was overturned in 1980.
Since April 2007, Tie Liu has regularly made public appeals to Hu Jintao to denounce Mao Zedong. In 2008, he and fellow rightist victims began publishing a series of newsletters, called “Traces of the Past,” which featured recollections of rightists. But authorities confiscated and banned the publication in August 2009.
In 2010, Tie Liu established the Tie Liu News Foundation to assist journalist and writer victims of the movement.
Enemy of the People
On June 1, in a daring move, Tie Liu sent out a letter calling for a class-action lawsuit that was posted on canyu.org, a human rights website founded by overseas Chinese.
The letter says: “Unite, all 1957 rightist victims across China! File at the Supreme People’s Court a lawsuit against Mao Zedong for his ruthless crimes of trampling China’s Constitution, contempt for life, and committing murders in violation of the law.”
Already Tie Liu has received numerous supportive responses from fellow ‘57-elders, as they sometimes call themselves.
Ji Zengshan and Wang Shuyao, fellow victims from Peking University, Peng Mutao and Liu Bing, victims from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, and Niu Lihua, a victim in Chongqing, said they are calling for the prosecution of Mao, the murderer, to uphold justice and alleviate people’s anger.
Hu Xianzhong, also a former rightist, said: “Great! The prosecution has to be carried out publicly. All rightists and their children should sign. I support it wholeheartedly. We should bring the lawsuit to the Hague International Criminal Tribunal. Mao declared people guilty based merely on [displeasing] words, which is a violation of China’s 1954 constitution and of universal principles of human rights.”
Taking Mao Off the Pedestal
Another supporter of the class-action lawsuit to bring Mao to justice is a renowned Beijing economist by the name Mao Yushi—not related to Mao Zedong. Shortly prior to Tie Liu’s appeal, Mao Yushi published an article recommending that Mao Zedong’s status be officially lowered from his highly controversial, exalted status to that of an ordinary commoner.
The proposal has received a wave of support on the Internet. But leftist CCP hard-liners retaliated, saying Mao Yushi should be arrested for “viciously attacking Mao Zedong, demonizing CCP history, intentionally stirring up incidents, and creating disorder.”
Mao Yushi also wrote, thanking Tie Liu and saying the proposed prosecution of Mao Zedong was a great idea. “It is an action that conforms to justice. It is widely acknowledged by people all over the world that Mao ranks with Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin as one of the top three most ruthless killers of the 20th century. China remains the only country that holds Mao dearly on a pedestal. It is a country where the CCP has turned things completely upside down, blurred the distinction of what is right and what is wrong. It’s a nation where facts have been covered up and the future is most perilous if we don’t correct this situation now.”
Tie Liu replied: “No need to thank me, this is what I must do. Their attempt to prosecute you is the same as if they’re prosecuting me. I have to fight back.”
Ye Guangting, an anti-rightist victim from Hangzhou, also thought the proposal important and most timely, and he denounced leftist threats to bring charges against Mao Yushi.
“These Maoist clowns are out of their minds,” Ye said. “How can they stop the wheels of history? Even if they have the support of the regime, the people are not willing to go back to Mao’s old days. They have shown their contempt for the people, and we want to take the opposite side to show them that the public cannot be humiliated. We rightists have spines. We are not afraid of crackdowns. We will show everyone that we can live like men. If the Supreme People’s Court refuses to take the case, we take the charges to the United Nations! Let the world know that China’s rightists are not to be intimidated.”
Liu Wu from Shenzhen said: “Thank you for initiating the prosecution of Mao Zedong, an enemy of the people. You have my complete support. Mao is the source of all of China’s various crimes. Failing to dig out this root cause of countless evils, neither the country nor the people will have a single day of peace. I hope everyone will shout: ‘Kick Mao’s decomposed body out of the memorial, peel Mao’s portrait off the [Tiananmen] wall!’ Unite, 1957 victims! Crush the counterattacks from the Maoist adherents! Most anti-rightist victims were China’s elite ... this is the final opportunity to validate our conscience.”
Chen Kerong, another victim, said: “Maoists and crony capitalists have joined forces. Their strategy is forced oblivion, to wait for all elderly rightists to pass away. We cannot sit back passively. This is the final showdown. Resolutely prosecute Mao, the dictator. The truth is on our side. People around the world are on our side. Let’s all join hands and go for it!”
Mao is credited with the violent deaths of over 60 million Chinese people during times of peace.
Read the original Chinese article.
