Editing Cultural Revolution (section)

==== 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}}