Pol Pot was Mao’s proud and true disciple. In the end, Pol Pot fell from power within the Khmer Rouge, was placed under trial, and died quietly of illness. Mao felt a sense of regret. After meeting Sihanouk, Mao also hoped to see Pol Pot. Pol Pot’s most famous legacy was the “Genocide Museum.”

Throughout his life, Pol Pot visited China several times to study and met with Zhang Chunqiao and Mao Zedong. He was regarded as an inheritor of the theory of continuing revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat. Mao very much wished to see Pol Pot again, to reminisce and discuss new matters.

Near midnight, Pol Pot’s spirit appeared before Mao. Mao hurried forward, warmly shook his hand, and greeted him.

Pol Pot said: “Thank you for traveling all the way to Phnom Penh. Today you took the trouble to visit my ‘masterpiece.’ I feel rather embarrassed. I have not yet formally repented before the Jade Emperor. He has ordered me to deepen my reflection. I almost return every day to that terrifying prison of mine, wandering above it.”

Mao said: “You are my proud disciple—surpassing the master.”

Pol Pot replied: “I went further than my teacher and developed things even more.”

Mao said: “I know you began your rise by eliminating General Secretary Tou Samouth. At the time, Tou Samouth was highly valued by Sihanouk and was even romantically involved with a princess. You made him ‘disappear,’ and you became General Secretary. It was similar to how I handled Zhang Guotao and Liu Zhidan—removing serious threats. But my methods were more subtle, so people hardly noticed.”

Pol Pot said: “I became General Secretary in 1960. In 1965, I secretly went to Beijing to study.”

Mao replied: “November 1965 was a good time for you to come. Indonesia had just experienced the September 30 Incident; half a million members of the Indonesian Communist Party were killed, and its General Secretary Aidit was murdered. I was deeply saddened and even wrote a poem mourning him. The last two lines were: ‘When flowers fall, they bloom again; their fragrance waits for another year.’ I never expected that while Aidit’s flower fell, yours would bloom—you stepped in at just the right time.”

Pol Pot said: “In 1965 I studied in Beijing for three months. In February 1966, I returned to Cambodia via the Ho Chi Minh Trail. I did not meet you then; you were preparing to launch the Cultural Revolution and were very busy. Chen Boda and Zhang Chunqiao received me and passed on their teachings—about political power growing from the barrel of a gun, class struggle, dictatorship of the proletariat, and line struggle. I returned and carried out armed struggle accordingly.”

Mao said: “You learned and applied it cleverly—‘learn and apply flexibly,’ as Lin Biao said—and you added your own innovations.”

Pol Pot said: “I wanted to learn from Jiang Qing. She surpassed the master, and I wanted to do the same. You invented grain coupons and cloth coupons. I abolished even those—abolished money entirely—completely material distribution, truly distributing according to need under communism, returning to the ideal paradise of primitive communism. Even marriages were arranged by designated personnel. Men and women worked separately in labor brigades, with communal dining halls and total collectivization—going even further than your People’s Communes.”

Mao said: “My Great Leap Forward failed. What I could not achieve, you achieved. Truly surpassing the master.”

Pol Pot replied: “You learned from Stalin and surpassed him. Stalin collectivized in the 1930s; you collectivized in the 1950s. Stalin did not carry out a Great Leap Forward—you innovated it. Stalin did not launch a Cultural Revolution—you innovated that too. Stalin was the grandfather, the patriarch; you were his son, and I the grandson—each generation more formidable, each building upon the previous.”

Mao said: “You are right. Much of what I did came from Stalin, but I made it more ‘artistic.’ I studied ancient imperial techniques and applied them flexibly. Stalin simply executed his opponents en masse. I was more ‘refined’: I would torment people, make them suffer repeatedly before death, all while maintaining a dignified façade—the Red Sun rising gradually.”

Pol Pot said: “I admire you. I lacked the scholarly refinement for such subtlety, but I was bold and ruthless. You sent students to the countryside; I expelled the entire urban population to the countryside. Phnom Penh became an empty city. Furniture and cars were discarded as bourgeois items. I added propaganda and intimidation, claiming American planes would bomb Phnom Penh, forcing everyone out.”

Mao said: “You were thorough; without your ruthlessness it could not have been done.”

Pol Pot said: “A student who learns only 80% is not a good student—at least 100% is required. You learned from Stalin to 120%. I learned from you to 150%. In thirty years you caused seventy million deaths—one-tenth of the population. In twenty years I caused two million deaths—one-quarter of the population. That too is surpassing the master.”

Mao asked: “Do you think you surpassed Hitler?”

Pol Pot replied: “Hitler was ruthless in killing Jews, but I could not kill so many foreigners. Yet Hitler did not kill his own people; he treated Germans well. That is something neither you nor I could match. We specialized in killing our own compatriots—also learned from Stalin. Stalin–Mao–Pol Pot are one system; Hitler is not. If compared, Hitler does not surpass me.”

Mao said: “You have a point. Hitler still had parliamentary democracy; he rose through elections. You, Stalin, and I rose by eliminating rivals. Different methods.”

Pol Pot continued: “I mastered your ‘line struggle.’ You said the Chinese Communist Party had ten line struggles in fifty years. In my three years and eight months in power, I carried out ten major purges. Former officials and soldiers of the old regime were eliminated in large numbers; merchants, monks, and intellectuals were also physically exterminated. In 1976 I said ‘the Party’s body is sick’—your equivalent of line struggle. Comrades who had fought beside me—from the Paris Marxist-Leninist study group to jungle comrades—were bloodily purged. Almost the entire top leadership was executed, including ministers of interior, economy, agriculture, public works, intelligence, communications, trade, industry, and rubber plantations, vice chairmen of the State Presidium, the deputy prime minister in charge of the economy, and even two founders of the Cambodian Communist Party—my close comrades Phu Nim and Hou Yuon. In the army, nearly all of the revolutionary general staff were captured and killed, except for Son Sen. It was the same as your ‘cleansing of class ranks.’”

Mao asked: “And what was your final outcome?”

Pol Pot said: “In 1996, the number-two leader Ieng Sary defected with two divisions. In 1997, the commander Son Sen plotted defection; when I learned of it, I ordered him and his wife and eight children shot. This enraged and terrified Khmer Rouge officers and soldiers. For the first time, they turned their guns toward me, the top leader. I fled but was captured. They held a public trial and sentenced me to life imprisonment. The Khmer Rouge hoped to improve its image and find a way out, but as I was its soul and symbol, my trial further demoralized them. I died of a heart attack in 1998. After my death, the remaining Khmer Rouge gradually left the jungle and surrendered. In December 1998, eight generals led thousands to surrender; Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea returned. The Khmer Rouge came to an end.”

Mao said: “Your ending was little better than Aidit’s in Indonesia. Aidit died at the enemy’s hands; you effectively died at the hands of your own. In the end you disintegrated from within—tragic indeed. Aidit retained a touch of heroism; for you, I cannot write a poem. But your death meant Cambodia’s rebirth and the end of disaster.”

Pol Pot said: “My death is insignificant. For thirty years you gave Cambodia enormous aid—from weapons and ammunition to clothing and supplies—all provided by China. Without China, there would have been no Cambodia. I cherish two memories most. First, in 1975 you received me at Zhongnanhai for an hour and spoke about line struggle, saying there would still be two-line struggles even a hundred years from now. That deeply shaped me. I followed your advice, continually eliminating dissent until everything collapsed and I could no longer stand. Second, in September 1977, I visited China again—my fourth and most glorious visit, and the last. Hua Guofeng and hundreds of thousands welcomed me. It was when I was most successful and proud in Cambodia. Chairman Hua’s praise made me overconfident. Yet just over a year later, the Vietnamese captured Phnom Penh. I returned to the jungle and held on for another twenty years.”

Mao said: “From your capture of Phnom Penh in 1975 to Vietnam’s capture in 1979 were your proudest years. But you went too far—imprisoning Sihanouk, forbidding him from contacting even China. You know he was my old friend.”

Pol Pot replied: “Sihanouk and communism were fundamentally incompatible. If revolution was to be thorough, he could not remain. But you had already passed away; I could no longer seek your guidance.”

Mao said: “In terms of communism, you were indeed exemplary—Stalin’s worthy grandson. I cannot match you. But twenty years have passed since your death, and forty since mine. The Jade Emperor commands us to reflect upon the disasters we brought to our nations and peoples. I am reflecting in hopes of leniency. I am contacting the spirits of old comrades to reflect together. You must reflect seriously as well.”

Pol Pot said: “Very well. You were my teacher in life and remain so now. If you say reflect, I will reflect. As you repent, so will I. When you set the example, I will follow.”

Mao said: “Good. I will contact you again.”

Seeing that the conversation had run its course, Pol Pot rose to take his leave. Mao escorted his old student. For a long time afterward, he could not sleep.

NEXT: 18. Nicolae Ceaușescu (1918–1989)