Chapter 05 Gao Gang committed suicide and lost his spare tire

Journalist: “How did Gao Gang commit suicide?”

Mao: “Zhou Enlai asked for the house arrest of Gao Gang, and I also thought that this would prevent Gao Gang from committing suicide again, and agreed to house arrest Gao Gang. In this way, Gao Gang was under close surveillance. In April 1954, Gao Gang handed in his ‘My Reflection’ and he kept expecting the Central Committee to talk to him. I was in a position to refuse to meet with Gao Gang for fear of being dragged down by him, and to add negative comments to the documents criticizing Gao Gang. The world thought I was the one who had fallen on my sword, but in fact I cleared myself first, and then tried to find a way to help him. Gao Gang lost his freedom and was not well-informed, making him more and more desperate, and finally could not bear the pressure. on August 1, 1954, Gao Gang took a lot of sleeping pills and killed himself.”

Journalist: “Gao Gang died, you feel sorry, right?”

Mao: “Yes, he is a talent, but just a spare tire for me. Afterwards I complained that Xi Zhongxun then how not to go to see, to give him a word? No one to talk to him, he can not think. Xi said that at that time Gao Gang was monitored, each person who talked to him had a record, plus the momentum of the fall of Gao Gang was tense, has been checking who Gao Gang contacted, who went to see Gao Gang, to him to convey a little whisper, may be beaten into the ‘Gao Rao anti-party group’ a member.

I said I should have said hello to Gao Gang, let him stay calm, he is too rigid. It was not my intention to put Gao Gang to death, but in the face of political pressure, I could only follow the central government’s resolution to publicly take a stand and distance myself from the stinky Gao Gang. I have said more than once, if Gao Gang does not make small moves, I still want to reuse him, in fact, I do not want to do anything to Gao Gang. I want to keep a spare tire, to 1971 Lin Biao fell dead in Mongolia, I have a sense of loneliness, if Gao Gang alive how good!”

Journalist: “How do you handle the aftermath of Gao Gang?”

Mao: “The day Gao Gang died, I called him at home and asked the Central Government to bury him in a good coffin, with a good coffin, and instructed the Central Organization Department to raise his children by the Party organization, Premier Zhou took my call at his home in No. 8 Dongjiao Minxiang Lane, and announced it in front of everyone.

Later, when I arrived in Beidaihe, I was still very angry. I lost my temper with Zhou Enlai, and I said, ‘You have complicated and expanded the handling of the Gao Gang issue. You do not agree with him to work in the central government, he can go to the local work, to Shaanxi as a local party secretary can, later good can also come to the central government. I heard that Gao Gang review sent up, and no one to talk to him, to listen to his views, this is what we should do? I asked you to tell him to retain the Central Committee members, why do not you go to him to say it? The Prime Minister pushed that the special case was under the control of Deng Xiaoping and Yang Shangkun.’”

Journalist: “Oh, you gave Zhou Enlai a lecture?”

Mao: “Yes, I had a comprehensive plan for Gao Gang. Gao Gang has the talent and courage to do, to engage in socialism, and to my taste. I want to fix him first, let him under my obedience, stay as a spare tire, and then release him to rise again in the future, for my use. I didn’t expect this accident, he died, it is a loss to me.”

Journalist: “Rao Shushi how to deal with it?”

Mao: “April 1, 1955, because Rao Shushi was found to have harbored counterrevolution and other political problems, he was taken into custody for examination.

On August 30, 1965, the Supreme People’s Court sentenced Rao Shushi to 14 years in prison, and in 1975 Rao Shushi died on toxic pneumonia.

The two forces, Gao (Gang) and Rao (Shushi), Liu (Shaoqi) and Zhou (Enlai), fought against each other. I with unfathomable power and strategy, across the board, both to get rid of Gao and Rao, but also weakened Liu and Zhou, so that the other is eliminated and this weak. My methods were so powerful and frightening that senior cadres were terrified. Whether they are trusted by me or suspected by me, the only way to protect themselves is to be loyal to me. The lesson of the Fourth Plenary Session is well known to all.”

Journalist: “You are subduing all sides so that you can manipulate them?”

Mao: “Yes, the fall of Gao Gang and Rao Shushi, by the way, solved the problem of administrative institutions at the regional level. April 27, 1954, I decided to abolish the party and government institutions at the regional level, to put an end to the independent kingdom.

By dealing with the Gao Rao incident, Deng Xiaoping for my appreciation, April 27, 1954 appointed Deng Xiaoping as General Secretary of the CCP Central Committee, April 4, 1955, added Lin Biao and Deng Xiaoping as members of the Central Political Bureau.”