Mao: The Unknown Story

These words were part of a document called “Outline of Project 571.” Tiger chose the name because “571”—wu-qi-yi—has the same pronunciation in Chinese as “armed uprising,” and a coup was what the friends had in mind. The Outline was a razor-sharp indictment of Mao, describing China under his rule as “state rich, people impoverished,” which they wanted to change to “people rich and state powerful.” Their aim was “to give the people enough food and clothing and a peaceful life”—the antithesis of Mao’s goals.

They described Mao as “the biggest promoter of violence,” who “sets … people against people,” “a paranoid and a sadist,” and “the biggest feudal tyrant in Chinese history.” They accused him of “turning the Chinese state machine into a meat grinder, slaughtering and crushing people.” These observations were truly remarkable for the times. Tiger dubbed Mao “B-52” after the US heavy bomber, referring to the fact that Mao, as he put it, had a big stomach full of evil thoughts, each one like a heavy bomb that would kill masses of people. Tiger’s attitude to Mao was completely different from that of Mao’s opponents among the old guard. He saw right through Mao, whom he regarded as evil, and unfit to run the country. He also realized that with him no dialogue or compromise was possible. In this sense, he was the nearest thing China produced to a Claus von Stauffenberg, the German officer who tried to assassinate Hitler in 1944.

Tiger and his friends began to talk about assassinating Mao when Tiger saw that Mao was coming after his parents. The friends mooted many ideas, but all in very general terms, like “using poison gas, germ weapons, bombing …,” and there is no sign that they ever got as far as actually preparing any of these. Mao had the most stringent rules on arms and troop movements, and phenomenal security. Moreover, as Tiger’s group themselves observed, “the blind faith of the masses in B-52 is very deep” (thanks partly, ironically, to Tiger’s father), and so they did not dare to reveal their project to most of their friends, or to Lin’s major cronies at the top of the military. Tiger left a copy with his parents, but Lin was non-committal.

IN MARCH 1971, some seven months after the rift with Lin erupted at Lushan, Mao decided to convene a conference for about a hundred of the elite to hear Lin’s wife and major army cronies perform their self-abasements. Mao sent Chou En-lai in person to ask Lin, in unusually strong terms, to appear and “say a few words.” Lin refused. This was a huge snub to Mao’s authority, and he went berserk. He ordered Chou to deliver a blistering denunciation of Lin on 29 April (though not naming him), saying that the army leadership had been “following a wrong political line.”

A furious Lin retaliated. Two days later was May Day, when the leadership traditionally gathered on Tiananmen Gate. Protocol was very important in the Communist world, and any absence could be interpreted as signifying discord at the top. On the night, however, there was no sign of Lin. Chou stared anxiously at the empty seat facing Mao and Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia, next to the prince’s wife, while frantic phone calls were made to Lin’s home. A dejected-looking Lin eventually appeared, long after the fireworks display had begun.

The official photographer, Du, described the scene to us:

When I saw Lin Biao sitting down, I snapped a shot. I didn’t intend it to be published at all. I wanted to wait for [Mao and Lin] to start talking … But they didn’t even look at each other … Then Lin Biao got up and left. I thought he had gone to the toilet, but half an hour later and he was still not back. I wondered how come Vice-Chairman Lin took so long in the toilet. In fact, he had left. We were all dumbfounded. As soon as the show was over, Premier Chou asked me: “Did you take a photo of Vice-Chairman Lin?” … I said: “One.” He said: “What about film and television?” I said I didn’t know. The premier had the crews fetched, and gave them a dressing-down those old guys remember today as if it had been yesterday.

Lin had stayed less than a minute, and had greeted no one, not the Sihanouks, not Mao.

Lin knew that Mao would not forgive him for what happened. After this, Tiger went to Canton to check out the Hong Kong escape route. He went right up to Lowu, the main crossing-point into Hong Kong, getting so close to the actual border that his entourage was worried the Hong Kong police might open fire.

Lin would soon defy Mao again, in June, when Romania’s tyrant duo, the Ceau?escus, came to town. Lin declined to come to a meeting with them, claiming that he was “sweating,” and Mrs. Lin had to go down on her knees to get him to go. Lin did finally show up, but left the room after Mao made a few digs at him, and went and sat outside the door in a slouching posture, his head lolling. Shortly afterwards, Tiger made another recce of the border with Hong Kong, by helicopter.