Дит
CONFIDENTIAL
UK COMMS ONLY
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DIG LFM
GR 600
DE SKB Y
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1010302
CYPHER/CAT A
¿FM PEKING 1009002
CONFIDENTIAL
DESKBY 1010302
ADVANCE COPY
ADVANCE COPIES
PS to PUS......
mr bodazz
Mr Male. WYSED
HD NEWSD.
DID Cabinet office No to Powrming Sr.
TO IMMEDIATE F C O TELNO 733 OF 10 SEPTEMBER, 1976
INFO PRIORITY HONG KONG: MODUK:
INFO ROUTINE MOSCOW, TOKYO, WASHINGTON, SEOUL, KUALA LUMPUR, SINGAPORE.
"
INFO SAVING ULAN BATOR (ACTIONED BY.PEKING).
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copy lo
6
EEC Posts. Canberra
ISIAMAGA>
DEATH OF MAO. 1. *
Dethi
OHANA Wellington
CLITY
NA
1. PEKING IS QUIET TODAY. IT IS EARLY DAYS TO SPECULATE ON WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN CHINA FOLLOWING MAO'S DEATH BUT IT IS POSSIBLE TO SET OUT THE BACKGROUND OF THE POLITICAL SCENE AND SOME OF THE ISSUES WHICH WILL FACE THE CHINESE.
2. MAO'S DEATH MARKS THE END OF AN ERA. THE GAP LEFT BY THE DEATH OF THE LAST AND GREATEST OF THE FATHER FIGURES AND IN RECENT YEARS THE SOLE SOURCE OF CHINESE COMMUNIST ORTHODOXY IS HARD FOR NON-CHINESE TO APPRECIATE. SINCE JANUARY THE THREE GREAT PILLARS OF THE NATION, CHOU EN LAI, CHU TEH, AND MAO HAVE DIED AND A NATURAL DISASTER OF A MAGNITUDE UNPRECEDENTED IN COMMUNIST CHINA HAS STRUCK THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC. IN CONSEQUENCE THERE EXISTS A MOOD OF SOME PESSIMISM AND CONSIDERABLE ANXIETY.
3. MAO'S DEATH HAS TAKEN PLACE AT THE END OF A LONG SERIES OF CRISES OF INSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY. THE CONSENSUS AMONGST THE PARTY LEADERSHIP BROKE UNDER THE STRAIN OF THE GREAT LEAP FORWARD IN 1959 AND THE PARTY WAS TORN APART BY THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION