Editing Cultural Revolution (section)

== 1969–1971: Lin Biao ==
The [[9th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party|9th National Congress]] was held in April 1969. It served as a means to "revitalize" the party with fresh thinking—as well as new cadres, after much of the old guard had been destroyed in the struggles of the preceding years.<ref name=Mac/>{{rp|285}} The party framework established two decades earlier broke down almost entirely: rather than through an election by party members, delegates for this Congress were effectively selected by Revolutionary Committees.<ref name=Mac/>{{rp|288}} Representation of the military increased by a large margin from the previous Congress, reflected in the election of more PLA members to the new Central Committee—over 28%. Many officers now elevated to senior positions were loyal to PLA Marshal Lin Biao, which would open a new rift between the military and civilian leadership.<ref name=Mac/>{{rp|292}}
{{Quote box
 |quote  = We do not only feel boundless joy because we have as our great leader the greatest Marxist–Leninist of our era, Chairman Mao, but also great joy because we have Vice Chairman Lin as Chairman Mao's universally recognized successor.
 |source = — Premier Zhou Enlai at the 9th Party Congress<ref name=Mac/>{{rp|291}}
 |width  = 30%
 |align  = right
}}

Reflecting this, Lin was officially elevated to become the Party's preeminent figure outside of Mao, with his name written into the [[Constitution of the Chinese Communist Party|party constitution]] as his "closest comrade-in-arms" and "universally recognized successor".<ref name=Mac/>{{rp|291}} At the time, no other Communist parties or governments anywhere in the world had adopted the practice of enshrining a successor to the current leader into their constitutions. Lin delivered the keynote address at the Congress: a document drafted by hardliner leftists Yao Wenyuan and Zhang Chunqiao under Mao's guidance.<ref name=Mac/>{{rp|289}}

The report was heavily critical of Liu Shaoqi and other "counter-revolutionaries" and drew extensively from quotations in the ''Little Red Book''. The Congress solidified the central role of Maoism within the party, re-introducing Maoism as the official guiding ideology in the party constitution. The Congress elected a new Politburo with Mao, Lin, Chen, Zhou Enlai and Kang as the members of the new Politburo Standing Committee.<ref name=Mac/>{{rp|290}}

Lin, Chen, and Kang were all beneficiaries of the Cultural Revolution. Zhou, who was demoted in rank, voiced his unequivocal support for Lin at the Congress.<ref name=Mac/>{{rp|290}} Mao restored the function of some formal party institutions, such as the operations of the Politburo, which ceased functioning between 1966 and 1968 because the CCRG held de facto control.<ref name=Mac/>{{rp|296}}

In early 1970, the nationwide "[[One Strike-Three Anti Campaign]]" was launched by Mao and the Communist Party Central, aiming to consolidate the new organs of power by targeting counterrevolutionary thoughts and actions.<ref name="Song-2011a" /> A large number of "minor criminals" were executed or forced to commit suicide between 1970 and 1972.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Yan |first=Fei |date=2024-02-05 |title='Turning One's Back on the Party and the People': Suicides during the Chinese Cultural Revolution |journal=The China Journal |volume=91 |pages=67–88 |doi=10.1086/729112 |issn=1324-9347}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=December 14, 2016 |title=China: the Cultural Revolution |url=https://sites.tufts.edu/atrocityendings/2016/12/14/china-the-cultural-revolution/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240225111424/https://sites.tufts.edu/atrocityendings/2016/12/14/china-the-cultural-revolution/#_edn13 |archive-date=2024-02-25 |access-date=2024-03-16 |website=[[Tufts University]]}}</ref> According to government statistics released after the Cultural Revolution, during the campaign 1.87 million people were persecuted as traitors, spies, and counterrevolutionaries, and over 284,800 were arrested or killed from February to November 1970 alone.<ref name="Song-2011a" />

===PLA encroachment===
[[File:Mao Zedong and Lin Biao during the 1967 May Day parade.jpg|thumb|upright=1.81|Mao (left) and Lin (right) in 1967, riding in the back of a vehicle during an [[International Workers' Day]] parade|center]]

Mao's efforts at re-organizing party and state institutions generated mixed results. The situation in some of the provinces remained volatile, even as the political situation in Beijing stabilized. Factional struggles, many violent, continued at a local level despite the declaration that the 9th National Congress marked a temporary victory for the CR.<ref name=Mac/>{{rp|316}} Furthermore, despite Mao's efforts to put on a show of unity at the Congress, the factional divide between Lin's PLA camp and the Jiang-led radical camp was intensifying. Indeed, a personal dislike of Jiang drew many civilian leaders, including Chen, closer to Lin.<ref name="Jin">{{cite book |last=Jin |first=Qiu |title=The Culture of Power: Lin Biao and the Cultural Revolution |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-0804735292}}</ref>{{rp|115}}

Between 1966 and 1968, China was isolated internationally, having declared its enmity towards both the USSR and the US. The friction with the USSR intensified after [[Sino-Soviet border conflict|border clashes]] on the [[Ussuri River]] in March 1969 as Chinese leaders prepared for all-out war.<ref name=Mac/>{{rp|317}} In June 1969, the PLA's enforcement of political discipline and suppression of the factions that had emerged during the Cultural Revolution became intertwined with the central Party's efforts to accelerate [[Third Front (China)|Third Front]]. Those who did not return to work would be viewed as engaging in 'schismatic activity' which risked undermining preparations to defend China from potential invasion.<ref name="Meyskens2020" />{{rp|150–151}}

In October 1969, the Party attempted to focus more on war preparedness and less on suppressing factions.<ref name="Meyskens2020" />{{rp|151}} That month, senior leaders were evacuated from Beijing. Amid the tension, Lin issued the "[[Order Number One (Lin Biao)|Order Number One]]", which appeared to be an executive order to prepare for war to the PLA's eleven [[Military regions of the People's Liberation Army|military regions]] on October 18 without going through Mao. This drew the ire of the chairman, who saw it as evidence that his declared successor was usurping his authority.<ref name="Mac" />{{rp|317}}

The prospect of war elevated the PLA to greater prominence in domestic politics, increasing Lin's stature at Mao's expense.<ref name=Mac/>{{rp|321}} Some evidence suggests that Mao was pushed to seek closer relations with the US as a means to avoid PLA dominance that would result from a military confrontation with the Soviet Union.<ref name=Mac/>{{rp|321}} During his later meeting with [[Richard Nixon]] in 1972, Mao hinted that Lin had opposed better relations with the U.S.<ref name=Mac/>{{rp|322}}

==== Restoration of State Chairman position ====
{{Main|Abolition of the presidency in China}}
[[File:前中共國家主席劉少奇在文革中被鬥爭，並遭軟禁折磨，終於病逝河南，其遺體被秘密火化.jpg|thumb|PRC Chairman (President) Liu Shaoqi on his deathbed in 1969]]
After Lin was confirmed as Mao's successor, his supporters focused on the restoration of the position of State Chairman,{{Notetag|This position, effectively China's de jure [[List of state representatives of the People's Republic of China|state representative]], was renamed "President" in 1982.}} which had been abolished by Mao after Liu's purge. They hoped that by allowing Lin to ease into a constitutionally sanctioned role, whether Chairman or vice-chairman, Lin's succession would be institutionalized. The consensus within the [[Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party|Politburo]] was that Mao should assume the office with Lin as vice-chairman; but perhaps wary of Lin's ambitions or for other unknown reasons, Mao voiced his explicit opposition.<ref name=Mac/>{{rp|327}}

Factional rivalries intensified at the Second Plenum of the Ninth Congress in Lushan held in late August 1970. Chen, now aligned with the PLA faction loyal to Lin, galvanized support for the restoration of the office of President of China, despite Mao's wishes. Moreover, Chen launched an assault on Zhang, a staunch Maoist who embodied the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, over the evaluation of Mao's legacy.<ref name=Mac/>{{rp|328–331}}

The attacks on Zhang found favour with many Plenum attendees and may have been construed by Mao as an indirect attack on the CR. Mao confronted Chen openly, denouncing him as a "false Marxist",<ref name=Mac/>{{rp|332}} and removed him from the Politburo Standing Committee. In addition to the purge of Chen, Mao asked Lin's principal generals to write self-criticisms on their political positions as a warning to Lin. Mao also inducted several of his supporters to the Central Military Commission and placed loyalists in leadership roles of the [[Beijing Military Region]].<ref name=Mac/>{{rp|332}}

===Project 571===
{{Main|Project 571}}

By 1971, the diverging interests of the civilian and military leaders was apparent. Mao was troubled by the PLA's newfound prominence, and the purge of Chen marked the beginning of a gradual scaling-down of the PLA's political involvement.<ref name=Mac/>{{rp|353}} According to official sources, sensing the reduction of Lin's power base and his declining health, Lin's supporters plotted to use the military power still at their disposal to oust Mao in a coup.<ref name=Jin/>

Lin's son [[Lin Liguo]], along with other high-ranking military conspirators, formed a coup apparatus in Shanghai and dubbed the plan to oust Mao ''Outline for Project 571''{{snd}}in the original Mandarin, the phrase sounds similar to the term for 'military uprising'. It is disputed whether Lin Biao was directly involved in this process. While official sources maintain that Lin did plan and execute the coup attempt, scholars such as Jin Qiu portray Lin as passive, cajoled by elements among his family and supporters. Qiu contests that Lin Biao was ever personally involved in drafting the ''Outline'', with evidence suggesting that Lin Liguo was directly responsible for the draft.<ref name=Jin/>
==== Lin's flight and plane crash ====
{{Main|Lin Biao incident}}
[[File:Huayangpalace layers 2007 09.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Graffiti of Lin Biao's foreword to the ''[[Little Red Book]]'', with his name (lower right) later scratched out]]
According to the official narrative, on 13 September Lin Biao, his wife [[Ye Qun]], Lin Liguo, and members of his staff attempted to flee to the USSR ostensibly to seek political asylum. En route, Lin's plane crashed in Mongolia, killing all on board. The plane apparently ran out of fuel. A Soviet investigative team was not able to determine the cause of the crash but hypothesized that the pilot was flying low to evade radar and misjudged the plane's altitude.

The account was questioned by those who raised doubts over Lin's choice of the USSR as a destination, the plane's route, the identity of the passengers, and whether or not a coup was actually taking place.<ref name=Jin/><ref>Hannam and Lawrence 3–4</ref>

On 13 September, the Politburo met in an emergency session to discuss Lin. His death was confirmed in Beijing only on 30 September, which led to the cancellation of the [[National Day of the People's Republic of China|National Day]] celebration events the following day. The Central Committee did not release news of Lin's death to the public until two months later. Many Lin supporters sought refuge in Hong Kong. Those who remained on the mainland were purged.<ref name=Jin/>

The event caught the party leadership off guard: the concept that Lin could betray Mao de-legitimized a vast body of Cultural Revolution political rhetoric and by extension, Mao's absolute authority. For several months following the incident, the party information apparatus struggled to find a "correct way" to frame the incident for public consumption, but as the details came to light, the majority of the Chinese public felt disillusioned and realised they had been manipulated for political purposes.<ref name=Jin/>