Chinese Leader Xi Presents Contradictory Positions on Mao’s Legacy Ahead of Regime’s 70th Anniversary

Chinese leader Xi Jinping walks past floral wreaths at the Monument to the People's Heroes during a ceremony at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on Sept. 30, 2019. Mark Schiefelbein - Pool/Getty Images

Just before the Chinese communist regime celebrates the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Peoples Republic, Chinese leader Xi Jinping commemorated founder Mao Zedong in a high-profile manner.

On Sept. 30, Xi and other Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leaders went to Mao’s mausoleum in Beijing, “bowed three times to Mao’s statue, and paid tribute to Mao’s remains,” according to a one-sentence report by Chinese state-run media Xinhua.