First Published: The Forge, Vol. 4, No. 5, February 9, 1979
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Malcolm and Paul Saba
Copyright: This work is in the Public Domain under the Creative Commons Common Deed. You can freely copy, distribute and display this work; as well as make derivative and commercial works. Please credit the Encyclopedia of Anti-Revisionism On-Line as your source, include the url to this work, and note any of the transcribers, editors & proofreaders above.
Since his death just over two years ago, Mao Zedong (Mao Tsetung) has come under fierce attack from opportunists in Canada and around the world. Canada’s counter-revolutionary sects,whether it’s In Struggle, Bolshevik Union, The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) or their various splinter groups, have all scrapped Mao Zedong. His picture has been torn from the wall and his books removed from the shelves.
Most of these groups didn’t dare attack this great Marxist-Leninist while he was alive and in fact heaped hypocritical praise on him. It was after Mao Zedong’s death that the attacks rained down.
The guru of the counter-revolutionary groups is Albanian leader,Enver Hoxha. The various sects are now lining up to read, his newest book, Imperialism and Revolution, recently announced by the Albanian Telegraphic Agency.
According to the review of this masterpiece in the Jan. 6, 1978 ATA, Hoxha affirms that: China plans to become a social-imperialist superpower; China was never socialist; and the Communist Party of China was never a true Marxist-Leninist Party.
But that’s not all. Hoxha stresses, according to the ATA, that “Mao Zedong Thought is a variant of revisionism that began to take form even before the Second World War, in particular after 1935 when Mao Zedong took power” Mao Zedong was elected Chairman of the CPC in 1935.
And as for the “racist”, “chauvinist” and “counter-revolutionary” theory of three worlds, if it was Mao “who formulated this pretended theory for the first time, that’s another proof that Mao Zedong is not a Marxist”, writes Hoxha.
Brezhnev could not have asked for more. At a time when the Soviet Union is launching a world-wide offensive and sending its Vietnamese allies into Kampuchea, the supposed great anti-revisionist fighter Hoxha writes a book on, believe it or not.. “Chinese social-imperialism”.
The Albanian leaders have in fact tried to cover up the invasion. They have given no support to the armed resistance of the Kampuchean people led by comrade Pol Pot.
Hoxha must have a short memory. A quick look at history reveals that since Mao Zedong’s death Hoxha has done a complete about face. Back in 1969, for example, in the heat of the struggle against Khruschev’s revisionist line, Hoxha wrote, “Consult and collaborate with the Chinese comrades...we defend the CPC only because its upholds a correct Marxist-Leninist line”.
And then in 1974, two years before Mao Zedong’s death, Hoxha wrote, “...Mao Zedong, is the great and beloved leader not only of the Chinese people and communists but also the dear and respected leader of all the peoples and communists of the world”.
Hoxha waited until Mao Zedong’s death to attack the three worlds theory at the Party of Labour’s 7th Congress. But Hoxha didn’t let the mask drop completely and in another section of the Congress report he praised the “ construction of socialism” in China and wrote, “The Albanian communists and people will always honour the memory of comrade Mao Zedong, who was a great friend of our Party and people.”
In Hoxha’s latest work, the mask has vanished. This hypocrite, who for some 30 years defended Mao Zedong, now spits on him after his death. This is a typical opportunist manoeuvre, just like the attack Khruschev launched against Stalin after the death of that great Marxist in 1952.
The Albanian leadership is increasingly abandoning Marxism-Leninism. And the counter-revolutionary sects in Canada are flocking to the Albanians’ side.
Recently the “CPC(ML)” declared that “Mao Zedong Thought is neither Marxist, nor Leninist, but is the most reactionary, pragmatist and counter-revolutionary ideology and political line of the Chinese revisionists”. (Nov. 26,1978)
More than a year ago In Struggle removed all mention of Mao Zedong Thought from their paper and other documents. They explained that their “draft program for the proletarian party” did not mention Mao Zedong because IS was “not sure” whether his contributions were “valuable” enough. They have added their voice to the attacks on Mao Zedong by reprinting Albanian slanders and articles by China’s reactionary “gang of four”. So far, however, the revisionist leaders of IS haven’t had the guts to come out and attack him openly.
Mao Zedong Thought has been proven in practice to be a powerful force in the struggle against opportunism and revisionism. And this is why the Tirana clique and the opportunists that hang on to its coattails attack it so violently.
It is a powerful weapon in the hands of the proletariat in their struggle for liberation. The Chinese revolution is living proof of this. Mao Zedong applied Marxism-Leninism to China’s revolutionary struggle and enriched the science of proletarian revolution. Thus an attack against this great revolutionary is an attack against Marxism-Leninism.
A clear line of demarcation has been drawn in Canada. The various opportunist groups are wracked with internal splits and contradictions as their members are unable to keep up with the various twists and turns in line on the question of Chairman Mao.
Since its founding, the League has constantly upheld Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought. By applying Chairman Mao’s teachings to the concrete situation in Canada, the League is advancing rapidly towards the founding of the new party of the working class.
The League calls upon honest militants who support Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought and who want to fight for socialism to rally to its ranks.