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The Witch-Hunting Vanguard: The Central Secretariat's Roles and Activities in the Anti-Rightist Campaign*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 June 2011

Yen-lin Chung
Yen-lin Chung
Affiliation:
Academia Sinica. Email: dengzhoupeng@gmail.com
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Abstract

When the king went astray, the people suffered for it. Just as a wayward king needed loyal and capable courtiers to implement his wishes, so too did Mao Zedong in the People's Republic of China. The Anti-Rightist Campaign was one of Mao's controversial policies, and involved him delegating his trusted followers to implement his political initiatives. This article examines how the Central Secretariat, led by Deng Xiaoping, effectively implemented and strictly supervised the process, as well as the negative influences of the Central Secretariat on this witch-hunt-like campaign. It thus provides a case study of how the Central Secretariat operated and functioned as a powerful political apparatus in the political processes of the Chinese Communist Party during the pre-Cultural Revolution period.

Type
Articles
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 206 , June 2011 , pp. 391 - 411
Copyright
Copyright © The China Quarterly 2011

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References

1 Chinese-language publications published in Mainland China traditionally avoided talking about or even mentioning Deng's prominent role in the Anti-Rightist Campaign. Western publications have long noted it, but there has been no detailed empirical study related to Deng's role in this campaign. Similarly, there has been no study focusing on the Central Secretariat.

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