Chapter 82 Rectify Wang Ming and Zhou Enlai surrender 1943

Journalist: “Yan’an rectification your biggest goal is to rectify Wang Ming and Zhou Enlai? What was the result?

Mao: “Yes, almost two years, Wang Ming finally review, I know his review is false, not from the heart, is forced to my power.

Zhou Enlai after three months of rectification and introspection, wrote 30,000 words of introspection notes and review outline, from November 15, 1943, he spoke in the Politburo for five consecutive days to review, according to the tone I set, to their own outlines, hats, pouring sewage, systematically liquidate the mistakes in Jiangxi period and the early days of the war, to their own hats anti-Mao. In Jiangxi outlined four stages against me: Xiang Ying stage, to cancel my purge as the peak. Wang Jiaxiang and Ren Bishi stage, with the Soviet Party Congress as the peak. Zhou Enlai stage, with the Ningdu meeting to withdraw me as the peak. The stage of Bo Gu and Luo Fu, with the Fifth Plenary Session as the peak, the anti-I completed, lasting almost three years. At the beginning of the war, he reviewed the combination of dogma and experience sectarianism, represented by Wang Ming, Zhou Enlai, Peng Dehuai, Xiang Ying, as I pointed out.
Zhou Enlai understood that under my authority, he could not pass without such a review. I also know that although his review was forced, but really obeyed me as a subject, since then he fell at my feet, dare not say no to me again.”

Journalist: “You wanted to solve Wang Ming and Zhou Enlai completely, to drive them out of the leadership circle?”

Mao: “Yes, I intended to finally drive them out of the leadership circle and settle them completely, but on December 22, 1943 Dimitrov cabled me that my campaign to straighten Wang Ming and Zhou Enlai was wrong and that they should be retained and used to the full. I was not convinced by his telegram and was very unhappy, but he was the secretary of the Comintern, and although the Comintern was dissolved in 1941 and was no longer in command, its long-established authority and influence still existed, and at the moment I was still at the mercy of Mochiko in many ways, so I could not stalemate relations.

Wang Ming, Zhou Enlai, although they did not kill the whole, but also has been half-dead, can be said that 80% of the purpose has been achieved, I am also happy to push the boat, take advantage of the momentum to close the troops and declare the end of the whole campaign. My most important three secretary leadership (me, Liu Shaoqi, Ren Bishi) formed, absolute leadership in hand.”

Journalist: “In Yan’an you poisoned Wang Ming?”

Mao: “Yes, it’s a long story. In October 1941, the International Communist Dimitrov sent me a telegram with 15 severe questions, asking me what practical action I was going to take to fight Japan? How to stop Japan and Germany from attacking the Soviet Union in the middle? The telegram was seen by Wang Ming, who understood that Moscow was dissatisfied with me and seized the opportunity to criticize my anti-Japanese policy at the Politburo meeting, saying that it was not I but he who was right on the anti-Japanese issue, demanding a debate at the General Assembly and a lawsuit at the International Communist Party. At this time has been prepared for the ‘7th Congress,’ 500 delegates are concentrated in Yan’an, I decided to stop opening, at this time to open the party congress is not good for me.

During this period, I was very angry. The stones in Wang Ming and Mao’s pit were both foul-smelling and hard. I was furious and agitated, so I wrote nine consecutive articles bitterly criticizing Wang Ming and others, including Zhou Enlai, calling them ‘stinking Marxists’ who didn’t even possess half of Marx’s qualities. It was a significant release of my frustration and anger.

After Wang Ming challenged me, he suddenly fel il and was hospitalized. In the hospital, he wrote a poem, ‘Fighting for my moral integrity, not bowing down,’ saying that I was anti-Soviet and anti-party, a dictatorship within the party and a military dictatorship.

I was so desperate for the stinky and hard Wang Ming that I instructed Kang Sheng to poison him even if it didn’t kill him. The first thing that I did was to ask the chief doctor, Dr. Jin, to act. Wang Ming had been hospitalized for 4-5 months and was getting ready to be discharged when Dr. Jin deliberately proposed to pull his teeth, cut his hemorrhoids and tonsils. Just about to be discharged, Director Jin gave him medicine, eat down dizziness, vomiting, heart area pain, liver pain, the diagnosis is acute cholecystitis, hepatitis, hepatomegaly, is a symptom of poisoning. Later, Dr. Jin gave him large doses of glycerol plus baking soda, causing mercury poisoning. The doctor’s consultation hosted by Fu Lianzhang concluded that it was chronic poisoning.

At this time, I was afraid that Dr. Jin would reveal a flaw, and asked Jiang Qing to go to Sun Ping (Soviet liaison officer in Yan’an) to take precautions, alleging how unreliable Dr. Jin was, perhaps a secret agent, ready to let him be the scapegoat if necessary.

The conclusion of the consultation in July 1943 stated that Dr. Jin had given Wang Ming poison, he signed the conclusion, and during a meeting he knelt down in front of Wang Ming’s wife Meng Qing Shu and cried for a long time, asking for forgiveness, saying that he had not done it on purpose and was wrong.

Wang Ming asked to go to Moscow for treatment, the Soviet Union agreed, at this time the plane came to Chongqing to agree, I lied that the Kuomintang would not let Wang Ming leave, in fact, I was afraid that Wang Ming went to the Soviet Union to report me, I held him in Yan’an not released.

My son Mao Anying had arranged to return to Yan’an at this time, but the Soviet Union plane came to see Anying off the plane, I understand that Mosco is not happy with me, I detained Wang Ming, they also detained my son. I was not anxious about my son, but Wang Ming was a big deal, I held Wang Ming, Dimitrov could not do anything about it. Wang Ming went to Moscow and complain me.

Journalist: “You asked Wang Ming in Yan’an to help you write the history of the Party as your personal history? To give you all the credit?

Mao: “Yes, on April 1, 1944 in Yan’an, I went to Wang Ming’s residence and said to him: the most important thing is to write the history of the Party as my personal history and to create Mao Zedong Thought, I asked Wang Ming for two things: first, to give me credit for his anti-Leftist Three-Red- Line (Lisan Line), and second, to give me credit for his formulation of the anti-Japanese national united front. Wang Ming had written a book against the Lithan line, and I asked him to give me the credit for the anti-Lisan line, so that the party cadres would think that the anti-Lisan Line was led by me, although at that time I was only a political commissar of the Red Army and did not support the Lisan Line. But the second time I fought in Changsha, I actually committed left-leaning adventurism again and was implementing the Lisan Line.

Regarding the formulation of the anti-Japanese national united front policy, I asked Wang Ming to acknowledge that it began with my report on the Wajao Fort meeting in December 1935, but in fact Wang Ming had raised the slogan of the anti-Japanese united front after the September 18, 1931 Incident, and he had raised similar slogans continuously for several years afterwards.

Wang Ming did not accept my request for that conversation, and I asked him to keep it a secret and not to tell anyone about it.

On December 18, 1948, at my residence in Xibaipo, Hebei Province, I invited Wang Ming to talk to me again. Although the 7th Congress in 1945 had established my Mao Zedong Thought and that the correct history of the Party was my personal history, Wang Ming never affirmed his recognition. I wanted to ask him again to recognize me as a representative of the correct line, and the key was the two issues raised with him in 1944, namely, to give me credit for anti-Lisan Line and to give me credit for formulating the anti-Japanese united front. But after we argued for two hours, Wang Ming still did not accept my request, and I finally had to say ‘I must keep my mouth shut and not speak to anyone. Once I did, I could do anything.’”

Journalist: “Your biggest goal in the Yan’an Rectification was to bring down Wang Ming and Zhou Enlai? What was the result?

Mao: “Yes, almost two years, Wang Ming finally review, I know his review is fake, not from the heart, is forced by my authority. Zhou Enlai after three months of rectification and introspection, wrote 30,000 words of introspection notes and review outline, from November 15, 1943, he spoke in the Politburo for five consecutive days to review, according to the tone I set, to their own outlines, hats, pouring sewage, systematically liquidate the mistakes in Jiangxi period and the early days of the war, to their own hats anti-Mao. In Jiangxi outlined four stages against me: Xiang Ying stage, to take my purge as the peak. Wang Jiaxiang and Ren Bishi stage, with the Soviet Party Congress as the peak. Zhou Enlai stage, with the Ningdu meeting to withdraw me as the peak. The stage of Bo Gu and Luo Fu, with the Fifth Plenary Session as the peak, the anti-My-ownself completed, lasting almost three years. At the beginning of the war he reviewed the combination of dogmatic experience sectarian, represented by figures such as Wang Ming, Zhou Enlai, Peng Dehuai, Xiang Ying, as I pointed out.

Zhou Enlai understood that under my authority, he could not pass without such a review. I also know that although his review was forced, but really obeyed me as a subject, since then he fell at my feet, dare not say no to me again.

Journalist: “You wanted to solve Wang Ming and Zhou Enlai completely, to drive them out of the leadership circle?

Mao: “Yes, I intended to finally drive them out of the leadership circle and settle them completely, but on December 22, 1943 Dimitrov cabled me that my campaign to straighten Wang Ming and Zhou Enlai was wrong and that they should be retained and used to the full. I was not convinced by his telegram and was very unhappy, but he was the secretary of the Comintern, and although the Comintern was dissolved in 1941 and was no longer in command, its long-established authority and influence still existed, and at the moment I was still at the mercy of Moscow in many ways, so I could not stalemate relations.

Wang Ming, Zhou Enlai, although they did not kill the whole, but also has been half-dead, can be said that 80% of the purpose has been achieved, I am also happy to push the boat, take advantage of the momentum to close the troops and declare the end of the whole campaign. My most important three secretary leadership (me, Liu Shaoqi, Ren Bishi) formed, absolute leadership in hand.”