VZCZCXRO2782
OO RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #9543/01 2570847
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 140847Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7046
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 019543 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/14/2031 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI KCUL CH
SUBJECT: WREATHS LAID, SONGS PLAYED AS MEMORIES FADE 
 
REF: A. FBIS CPP20060909004010 
 
     ¶B. FBIS CPP20060909052008 
     ¶C. BEIJING 10507 
 
Classified By: Classified by Political Section Internal Unit Chief 
Susan A. Thornton.  Reasons 1.4 (b/d). 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (C) Party leaders allowed limited media coverage 
but no official commemoration of the 30th anniversary 
of Mao Zedong's death on September 9.  In a carefully 
managed, low-key observance, the Party convened no 
official functions and issued no official statements 
to mark the event.  Media and cultural events were 
orchestrated to portray Mao as a symbol of national 
pride and Party legitimacy and to boost support for 
the current leadership's reform agenda, while avoiding 
mention of potentially explosive themes such as the 
Cultural Revolution.  At a September 8 gala musical 
tribute to Mao in the Great Hall of the People, 
poloffs observed many three-generation family groups 
in attendance.  Crowds of people laid wreaths at Mao's 
tomb at Tiananmen Square on September 9.  Comment: 
The Party's carefully calibrated commemoration of 
Mao's death appears to have been designed to exploit 
continuing admiration for Mao while avoiding provoking 
regime critics or whipping up public sentiment.  End 
Summary and Comment. 
 
Low-Key Media Event 
------------------- 
 
¶2.  (C) Party leaders issued no official statements 
marking the 30th anniversary of Mao's death and 
sanctioned no authoritative commentary in China's 
Party-controlled media.  CCTV's evening news did not 
even mention the anniversary during the week of 
September 9 and the Party's flagship newspaper, 
People's Daily, carried only one article, a personal 
memoir by Mao's children buried on page 8.  Other 
mainstream Party papers, such as Guangming Daily, 
China Youth Daily and Beijing Youth Daily, were 
similarly devoid of Mao memorials.  In fact, Beijing 
Youth Daily featured stories on a 1962 Party meeting 
that was highly critical of food shortages caused by 
Mao's "Great Leap Forward" (1959-1961) on the 
anniversary date.  The next day it published a tiny 
report of elderly women inHenan province who built a 
memorial hall for ao with their own money.  Most 
daily metropoltan papers carried no articles on the 
anniersary, although the popular Beijing News carried 
a photo on September 10 of citizens in Tianamen 
Squae laying wreaths to Mao.  Mao made the cover of 
only one of the glossy news magazines, Life Weekly. 
 
¶3.  (C) Party-controlled internet news portals were 
more generous to the Chairman.  The People's Daily 
website hosted a memorial page with a large, color 
photograph of Mao and links to details on his life and 
writings, along with some memorial pieces.  The 
website of the Party's official press agency, Xinhua, 
featured nostalgic recollections, Mao's teachings, and 
other commemorative essays, while Mao postings 
outnumbered all other topics on the website's chat 
room discussions.  Popular portals, Sina and Sohu, 
featured special columns discussing Mao's life and 
achievements. 
 
Singing Mao's Praises, But Not Officially 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (C) The highlight of the commemorative period was 
a two-hour, unofficial musical extravaganza on Mao's 
life and character held in the Great Hall of the 
People on the night of September 8.  Open to the 
public and entitled "The Sun is the Most Red and 
Chairman Mao is the Most Beloved," the program paid 
tribute to Mao through historical narrative, poetic 
readings, musical numbers, and odes to Mao's character 
and accomplishments, all read or played with great 
gusto to an enthusiastic audience.  Tickets for the 
performance, some of which ran to more than USD 100, 
were sold out by the evening of the performance. 
 
¶5.  (C) Rousing musical scores sung by a choir of 
uniformed PLA veterans accompanied by the People's 
Armed Police orchestra were interspersed with readings 
from some of Mao's most well-known essays and solos by 
popular singers.  The audience joined in singing old 
standbys such as "Chairman Mao, the Red Sun in Our 
 
BEIJING 00019543  002 OF 003 
 
 
Hearts," "The East is Red," and "Sing the Praises of 
the Motherland."  Pictures of historical sites and 
events depicting the CPC's rise to power were 
projected against a huge screen behind the musicians 
and a large work of calligraphy composed especially 
for the commemoration by a prominent artist was 
unfurled at the conclusion of the program.  Mao's son 
and family were in attendance, according to Western 
news services, but were not introduced or mentioned. 
Nostalgic feelings ran high, but the popularity of the 
music and performers appeared to be as much a factor 
behind the enthusiasm as people's feelings toward the 
Great Helmsman. 
 
Playing it Safe: A Focus on Mao's Pre-1949 Exploits 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶6.  (C) The program heralded Mao as China's greatest 
leader of the last century, father of the Communist 
revolution, and founder of the Chinese state, but 
stayed clear of politically controversial themes. 
Instead, the program focused on the early days of the 
revolution, the civil war with the Nationalists, and 
the war of resistance against the Japanese.  The 
readings featured some of Mao's most famous treatises 
on revolution, guerrilla warfare, and national 
mobilization, such as "On Protracted War," "The 
Foolish Old Man Who Moved the Mountain," and "Serve 
the People," but did not touch on his theories of 
"continuous revolution" and other radical ideas later 
repudiated by his successors. 
 
A Family Affair 
--------------- 
 
¶7.  (C) Although the generational breakdown of those 
at the concert slightly favored the older and middle- 
aged, the audience nonetheless spanned a range of ages 
and included many family groups, often with three 
generations sitting together.  Hefty ticket prices 
(USD 15 to 110) likely discouraged those from the 
lower rungs of society from attending.  One young 
couple accompanying elderly parents said they had come 
"first for the music and second for Mao Zedong," but 
quickly commented that the Chairman's "status in China 
remains very high."  When asked whether the majority 
of the audience consisted of officials and Party 
members or of ordinary people, they said the tickets 
were sold publicly and thus open to anyone.  They had 
purchased their own tickets, "even though they were 
not cheap."  In contrast, a couple in their fifties 
said that they had come primarily to pay tribute to 
Mao, who is "held in high esteem by the Chinese 
people."  "I was a Red Guard," the wife unabashedly 
volunteered. 
 
Xinhua's Spin 
------------- 
 
¶8.  (C) The concert themes anticipated Xinhua's 
treatment of the anniversary the next day, when it 
reported that crowds of people in Tiananmen Square 
were laying wreaths at Mao's memorial hall in tribute 
to "this great man of the century" and noted that 
people had brought their children and grandchildren to 
"help them understand the history of China" (ref A). 
One youthful netizen said he now understands why his 
parents mourned Mao's death, as "the chairman was a 
great figure who served the people with heart and 
soul" (Ref B). 
 
¶9.  (C) Xinhua also signaled the leadership's intent 
to use the anniversary to legitimize the reforms 
enacted after Mao's death and to boost support for the 
Party's current reform agenda.  Elderly visitors 
paying their respects in Tiananmen, Xinhua reported, 
had come to tell Mao about the economic prosperity and 
personal opportunities the Chinese people now enjoy so 
he could "rest in peace," while others opined that "we 
should not forget Chairman Mao, for we owe the happy 
life of today to his efforts and those of other late 
leaders."  In a more explicit plug for current 
policies, the report quoted a Beijing businesswoman, 
"who still wears a badge of Chairman Mao," as saying 
she hoped China would "stick unswervingly to the 
policies of reform and opening" in order to 
"strengthen the nation and enrich the people." 
 
Comment:  The Party's Careful Balancing Act 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶10.  (C)  In this year of sensitive anniversaries (Ref 
 
BEIJING 00019543  003 OF 003 
 
 
C), the Party's carefully calibrated commemoration of 
the 30th anniversary of Mao's death appears to be an 
effort to draw on the continuing admiration for Mao 
among some in order to boost the Party's legitimacy 
and increase support for the current leadership's 
reform agenda.  It may also have been designed to 
create a heroic image of the leader for a younger 
generation that has no memory of the great suffering 
he inflicted on his countrymen.  In doing so, however, 
it appears that Party leaders, whose own legitimacy is 
still closely tied to Mao's charisma as the father of 
the revolution and founder of the state, have been 
careful to balance their need to burnish the 
Chairman's reputation against the risk that a 
celebration of his legacy would give regime critics a 
chance to mobilize anti-Party sentiment, especially 
among those left behind by economic reform. 
RANDT