Punished by History

"Anyone who opposes Chairman Mao Tse-tung, opposes Mao Tse-tung's thoughts, opposes the party central leadership, opposes the proletariat's dictatorship, opposes the correct way of socialism. Whoever that may be, however high may be the position and however old his standing, he will be struck down by the entire party and by the entire people."

Peking's People's Daily was not mentioning names last week, but its readers knew well enough who had been struck down: Peking Mayor Peng Chen, 67, long considered one of the most powerful men in Red China and now the latest victim of Mao's purge of "antiparty and anti-Socialist revisionists" (TIME, May 13). Quick-witted and confident, Peng was known to Westerners as Peking's "smiling mayor" and had risen to become first secretary of Peking's Municipal Communist Party Committee and a high-ranking member of both the national party's Central Committee and the Politburo. Then two months ago, Peng suddenly dropped from public view. Last week Peking radio finally broke its silence by announcing the appointment of Li Hsueh-feng, a 60-year-old party wheel horse, as Peking party boss, replacing Peng. Almost certainly, Peng would also be booted from the Central Committee, Politburo and his mayoralty.

No sooner was the news out than some 3,000 cheering Chinese poured into Peking streets, carrying huge portraits of Chairman Mao, waving red flags, singing revolutionary songs, lighting firecrackers and banging cymbals and drums. As Peng himself ironically declared last year: "Whoever spreads pessimistic and defeatist views will be punished by history."

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