Francisco Sarrión was a -born , mostly known as the leader of a small, short lived Maoist sect in Sweden in 1968.
Sarrión lived in the People's Republic of China for a while in the 1960s where he came in contact with group of Maoists visiting China. He decided to move to Sweden, where he in 1968 became the indisputable leader of a small extremist Maoist sect, called ''Rebellerna'' . The Rebels rebelled against the broader Leftist and Maoists movement, which they considered corrupted. They even went to the Chinese embassy in Stockholm were they demanded to become members of the Communist Party of China. When they were denied membership, because they weren't Chinese citizens, Francisco Sarrión declared that the embassy was under the control of reactionary bureaucrats who had betrayed Mao Zedong.
In Sweden, Sarrión sometimes used the pseudonym Fredrik Svensson.
Francisco Sarrión was a charismatic leader who could gather and control a group of young, dedicated followers around him. Witnesses have described Sarrión acting more like a fanatic religious preacher than a politician.
The Rebel Movement only lasted for a couple of months, but during this time, its members rapidly broke off all contact with the rest of society, including their families. The group of approximately 100 members was divided into smaller cells, living isolated in 7 apartments in Stockholm and one apartment in Uppsala, where they were to study the works of Mao and prepare for the coming ''World Revolution''. Only the leadership, the ''Central Committee'', with Sarrión as chairman, knew were the different cells were located.
Eventually the sect imploded and Francisco Sarrión, after having failed to obtain a Swedish citizenship, moved back to Spain and lived the last years of his life in the Canary Islands, working in the tourist industry until his death.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Dai Chung
Dai Chung , a Taiwanese resident, self-proclaimed a "Taiwan Province branch" of the Communist Party of China without applying for official status as a political party and without any support or interest from the Communist Party of China. He staged a minor political protest following the . The party has operated since 2000 despite opposition from the Republic of China government.
He was born in Taiwan but is a waisheng ren of Hunanese descent. The ROC government has made numerous attempts to disband his organization. the Taiwanese Communist Party was active from 1928-1945 in resisting Japan, and 1945-1949 in resisting the KMT but was crushed after the KMT fled the mainland. Numerous attempts to restore the party were foiled in the 1990s due to clauses in the constitution. After the lifting of martial law in 1987, attempts have been made to re-establish a legal party of the same name. However, these applications to the ROC Ministry of the Interior have been rejected on the grounds that Article 2 of the Civic Organization Law forbids civic organizations and activities from promoting communism.
"Its wrong to say that if I love the mainland so much, I should move there. If I do that, Taiwan will only be left with independence supporters" -Dai Chung
He was born in Taiwan but is a waisheng ren of Hunanese descent. The ROC government has made numerous attempts to disband his organization. the Taiwanese Communist Party was active from 1928-1945 in resisting Japan, and 1945-1949 in resisting the KMT but was crushed after the KMT fled the mainland. Numerous attempts to restore the party were foiled in the 1990s due to clauses in the constitution. After the lifting of martial law in 1987, attempts have been made to re-establish a legal party of the same name. However, these applications to the ROC Ministry of the Interior have been rejected on the grounds that Article 2 of the Civic Organization Law forbids civic organizations and activities from promoting communism.
"Its wrong to say that if I love the mainland so much, I should move there. If I do that, Taiwan will only be left with independence supporters" -Dai Chung
Cornelius Cardew
Cornelius Cardew was an avant-garde composer, and founder of the ''Scratch Orchestra'', an performing ensemble. He later rejected the avant-garde in favour of a politically motivated "people's liberation music".
Cardew was born in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire. He was the second of three sons whose parents were both artists — his father was potter Michael Cardew. The family moved to Wenford Bridge Pottery Cornwall a few years after his birth where he was later accepted as a pupil by the Canterbury Cathedral School which had evacuated to the area during the war due to bombing. His musical career thus began as a chorister. From 1953-57, Cardew studied piano, cello, and composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London. In 1957, he performed in the British premiere of Pierre Boulez's ''Le Marteau sans ma?tre'' . Having won a scholarship to study at the newly established Studio for Electronic Music in Cologne, Cardew served as an assistant to Karlheinz Stockhausen from 1958 to 1960. He was given the task of independently working out the composition plans for the German composer's score ''Carré'', and Stockhausen noted:
As a musician he was outstanding because he was not only a good pianist but also a good improviser and I hired him to become my assistant in the late 50s and he worked with me for over three years. I gave him work to do which I have never given to any other musician, which means to work with me on the score I was composing. He was one of the best examples that you can find among musicians because he was well informed about the latest theories of composition as well as being a performer.
Most of Cardew's compositions from this period make use of the integral and total serialist languages pioneered by Boulez and Stockhausen.
In 1958, Cardew witnessed a series of concerts in Cologne by John Cage and David Tudor which had a considerable influence on him, leading him to abandon post-Sch?nbergian serial composition and develop the indeterminate and experimental scores for which he is best known. He was particularly prominent in introducing the works of American Avant-Garde composers such as Morton Feldman, La Monte Young, Earle Brown, Christian Wolff, and Cage to an English audience during the early to mid sixties and came to have a considerable impact on the development of English music from the late sixties onwards.
Cardew's most important scores are '''' , a 193-page which allows for considerable freedom of interpretation, and '''', a work in seven parts or "Paragraphs," based on translations of Confucius by Ezra Pound. ''The Great Learning'' instigated the formation of the Scratch Orchestra. During those years, he took a course in graphic design and he made his living as a graphic designer at Aldus Books, in Fitzroy Square, London.
In 1966, Cardew joined the free improvisation group which had formed the previous year and included English Jazz musicians Lou Gare, Eddie Prévost, Keith Rowe, and one of his first students at the Royal Academy Christopher Hobbs. Performing with the group allowed Cardew to explore music in a completely democratic environment, freely improvising without recourse to scores.
While teaching an experimental music class at London's Morley College in 1968, Cardew, along with Howard Skempton and Michael Parsons formed the Scratch Orchestra a large experimental ensemble, initially for the purposes of interpreting Cardew's ''The Great Learning''. The Scratch Orchestra gave performances throughout Britain and elsewhere until its demise in 1972. It was during this period that the question of ''art from whom'' was hotly debated within the context of the Orchestra, which Cardew came to see as elitist despite its numerous attempts to make socially accessible music.
Following the demise of the Orchestra, Cardew became more directly involved in left-wing politics and abandoned avant-garde music altogether, adopting a populist though post-romantic tonal style. He spent 1973 in West Berlin on an artist's grant from the City, where he was active in a campaign for a children's clinic. During the 1970s, he produced many songs, often drawing from traditional English folk music put at the service of lengthy - exhortations; representative examples are ''Smash the Social Contract'' and ''There Is Only One Lie, There Is Only One Truth''. In 1974, he published a book entitled ''Stockhausen Serves Imperialism'', which denounced, in Maoist style, his own involvement with Stockhausen and the Western avant-garde tradition.
Cardew was active in various causes in British politics, such as the struggle against the revival of neo-Nazi groups in Britain, and subsequently was involved in the People's Liberation Music group with Laurie Scott Baker, John Marcangelo, Vicky Silva, Hugh Shrapnel, Keith Rowe and others. The group developed and performed music in support of various popular causes including benefits for striking miners and Northern Ireland.
Cardew became a member of the Communist Party of England in the 1970s, and in 1979 was a co-founder and member of the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain . His creative output from the demise of the Scratch Orchestra until his death reflected his political commitment. Cardew stated his attitude towards the avant-garde in ''Stockhausen Serves Imperialism'':
I'm convinced that when a group of people get together and sing The Internationale this is a more complex, more subtle, stronger and more musical experience than the whole of the avant-garde put together.
Cardew's efforts to politicise culture in Britain were influenced by his relationship with Hardial Bains, the Canadian communist leader and a leading anti-revisionist politician. Bains contributed the lyrics to Cardew's signature song from his later period, ''We Sing for the Future''.
Cardew died on 13th December 1981, the victim of a hit-and-run car accident near his London home in Leytonstone. The driver was never found.
The German musician and composer Ekkehard Ehlers published a Cardew-inspired work in 2001, titled ''Ekkehard Ehlers plays Cornelius Cardew'', which was released on Staubgold Records.
A 70th Birthday Anniversary Festival, including live music from all phases of Cardew's career and a symposium on his music, took place on Sunday, 7 May 2006, at the Cecil Sharpe House in London.
In 1999 Cardew's '''' was performed by the experimental rock group Sonic Youth on their album ''''.
"Cornelius Cardew" is the name of the unemployed pipe-fitter in Alan Moore's ''Skizz''.
*''The Great Learning'' Paragraphs 2 and 7 .
*''Th?lmann Variations''
*''Cornelius Cardew Piano Music'' musicnow 1991
*''We Sing for the Future!'' Interpretations of two compositions for solo piano by Frederic Rzewski
*''Four Principles On Ireland And Other Pieces''
*''Treatise''
*''Chamber Music 1955-1964'' Apartment House
*''Material''
*''Cornelius Cardew — piano music 1959-70'' John Tilbury
*''AMMMUSIC'' — Cardew as an improviser. With Lou Gare, Eddie Prévost, Lawrence Sheaff and Keith Rowe, London 1966. CD release
*''AMM The Crypt - 12th June 1968'' Cardew as an improviser. With Lou Gare. Christopher Hobbs, Eddie Prévost and Keith Rowe. Double CD.
*''AMM LAMINAL'' Cardew as an improviser. Three CD retrospective AMM box set published in 1996. Cardew performs on one CD, titled ''The Aarhus Sequences ''.
* Aharonián, Coriún. "Cardew as a Basis for a Discussion on Ethical Options". ''Leonardo Music Journal'' 11 : 13–15.
* Anderson, Virginia. "" .
* Anderson, Virginia. "". ''OpenDemocracy'' .
* Bains, Hardial. "The Question Is Really One of Word and Deed"
* Cardew, Cornelius. ''Cornelius Cardew: A Reader'', edited by Edwin Prévost, introduction by Michael Parsons. Harlow, Essex: Copula, 2006. ISBN 0-9525492-2-0.
* Eno, Brian. "Generating and Organizing Variety in the Arts". In ''Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music'', edited by Christoph Cox and Daniel Warner,. New York and London: Continuum Books, 2005.
* Fox, Edward. "Death of a Dissident". ''The Independent Magazine'' : 24–30.
* Marko, Vladimir. "" . ''Scena: ?asopis za pozori?nu umetnost'' no. 4, 2006.
* Nyman, Michael. ''Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
* Parsons, Michael. "The Scratch Orchestra and the Visual Arts". ''Leonardo Music Journal'' 11 : 5–11.
* Schonfield, Victor. "Cornelius Cardew, AMM, and the Path to Perfect Hearing". ''Jazz Monthly'' 159 : 10–11..
* Taylor, Timothy D. "Moving in Decency: The Music and Radical Politics of Cornelius Cardew" ''Music & Letters'' 79, no.4 : 555–76.
* Tilbury, John. "" ''Contact'' no. 26 : 4-12
* Tilbury, John. "The Experimental Years: A View from the Left]" ''Contact'' 22 : 16-21. Reprinted online in ''[http://www.users.waitrose.com/~chobbs/tilburyleft.html Journal of Experimental Music Studies'' .
* Varela, Daniel. "" Journal of Experimental Music Studies.
Biography
Cardew was born in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire. He was the second of three sons whose parents were both artists — his father was potter Michael Cardew. The family moved to Wenford Bridge Pottery Cornwall a few years after his birth where he was later accepted as a pupil by the Canterbury Cathedral School which had evacuated to the area during the war due to bombing. His musical career thus began as a chorister. From 1953-57, Cardew studied piano, cello, and composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London. In 1957, he performed in the British premiere of Pierre Boulez's ''Le Marteau sans ma?tre'' . Having won a scholarship to study at the newly established Studio for Electronic Music in Cologne, Cardew served as an assistant to Karlheinz Stockhausen from 1958 to 1960. He was given the task of independently working out the composition plans for the German composer's score ''Carré'', and Stockhausen noted:
As a musician he was outstanding because he was not only a good pianist but also a good improviser and I hired him to become my assistant in the late 50s and he worked with me for over three years. I gave him work to do which I have never given to any other musician, which means to work with me on the score I was composing. He was one of the best examples that you can find among musicians because he was well informed about the latest theories of composition as well as being a performer.
Most of Cardew's compositions from this period make use of the integral and total serialist languages pioneered by Boulez and Stockhausen.
Chance and the American avant-garde
In 1958, Cardew witnessed a series of concerts in Cologne by John Cage and David Tudor which had a considerable influence on him, leading him to abandon post-Sch?nbergian serial composition and develop the indeterminate and experimental scores for which he is best known. He was particularly prominent in introducing the works of American Avant-Garde composers such as Morton Feldman, La Monte Young, Earle Brown, Christian Wolff, and Cage to an English audience during the early to mid sixties and came to have a considerable impact on the development of English music from the late sixties onwards.
Cardew's most important scores are '''' , a 193-page which allows for considerable freedom of interpretation, and '''', a work in seven parts or "Paragraphs," based on translations of Confucius by Ezra Pound. ''The Great Learning'' instigated the formation of the Scratch Orchestra. During those years, he took a course in graphic design and he made his living as a graphic designer at Aldus Books, in Fitzroy Square, London.
In 1966, Cardew joined the free improvisation group which had formed the previous year and included English Jazz musicians Lou Gare, Eddie Prévost, Keith Rowe, and one of his first students at the Royal Academy Christopher Hobbs. Performing with the group allowed Cardew to explore music in a completely democratic environment, freely improvising without recourse to scores.
While teaching an experimental music class at London's Morley College in 1968, Cardew, along with Howard Skempton and Michael Parsons formed the Scratch Orchestra a large experimental ensemble, initially for the purposes of interpreting Cardew's ''The Great Learning''. The Scratch Orchestra gave performances throughout Britain and elsewhere until its demise in 1972. It was during this period that the question of ''art from whom'' was hotly debated within the context of the Orchestra, which Cardew came to see as elitist despite its numerous attempts to make socially accessible music.
Political involvements
Following the demise of the Orchestra, Cardew became more directly involved in left-wing politics and abandoned avant-garde music altogether, adopting a populist though post-romantic tonal style. He spent 1973 in West Berlin on an artist's grant from the City, where he was active in a campaign for a children's clinic. During the 1970s, he produced many songs, often drawing from traditional English folk music put at the service of lengthy - exhortations; representative examples are ''Smash the Social Contract'' and ''There Is Only One Lie, There Is Only One Truth''. In 1974, he published a book entitled ''Stockhausen Serves Imperialism'', which denounced, in Maoist style, his own involvement with Stockhausen and the Western avant-garde tradition.
Cardew was active in various causes in British politics, such as the struggle against the revival of neo-Nazi groups in Britain, and subsequently was involved in the People's Liberation Music group with Laurie Scott Baker, John Marcangelo, Vicky Silva, Hugh Shrapnel, Keith Rowe and others. The group developed and performed music in support of various popular causes including benefits for striking miners and Northern Ireland.
Cardew became a member of the Communist Party of England in the 1970s, and in 1979 was a co-founder and member of the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain . His creative output from the demise of the Scratch Orchestra until his death reflected his political commitment. Cardew stated his attitude towards the avant-garde in ''Stockhausen Serves Imperialism'':
I'm convinced that when a group of people get together and sing The Internationale this is a more complex, more subtle, stronger and more musical experience than the whole of the avant-garde put together.
Cardew's efforts to politicise culture in Britain were influenced by his relationship with Hardial Bains, the Canadian communist leader and a leading anti-revisionist politician. Bains contributed the lyrics to Cardew's signature song from his later period, ''We Sing for the Future''.
Death
Cardew died on 13th December 1981, the victim of a hit-and-run car accident near his London home in Leytonstone. The driver was never found.
The German musician and composer Ekkehard Ehlers published a Cardew-inspired work in 2001, titled ''Ekkehard Ehlers plays Cornelius Cardew'', which was released on Staubgold Records.
A 70th Birthday Anniversary Festival, including live music from all phases of Cardew's career and a symposium on his music, took place on Sunday, 7 May 2006, at the Cecil Sharpe House in London.
In popular culture
In 1999 Cardew's '''' was performed by the experimental rock group Sonic Youth on their album ''''.
"Cornelius Cardew" is the name of the unemployed pipe-fitter in Alan Moore's ''Skizz''.
Selected discography
*''The Great Learning'' Paragraphs 2 and 7 .
*''Th?lmann Variations''
*''Cornelius Cardew Piano Music'' musicnow 1991
*''We Sing for the Future!'' Interpretations of two compositions for solo piano by Frederic Rzewski
*''Four Principles On Ireland And Other Pieces''
*''Treatise''
*''Chamber Music 1955-1964'' Apartment House
*''Material''
*''Cornelius Cardew — piano music 1959-70'' John Tilbury
*''AMMMUSIC'' — Cardew as an improviser. With Lou Gare, Eddie Prévost, Lawrence Sheaff and Keith Rowe, London 1966. CD release
*''AMM The Crypt - 12th June 1968'' Cardew as an improviser. With Lou Gare. Christopher Hobbs, Eddie Prévost and Keith Rowe. Double CD.
*''AMM LAMINAL'' Cardew as an improviser. Three CD retrospective AMM box set published in 1996. Cardew performs on one CD, titled ''The Aarhus Sequences ''.
Bibliography
* Aharonián, Coriún. "Cardew as a Basis for a Discussion on Ethical Options". ''Leonardo Music Journal'' 11 : 13–15.
* Anderson, Virginia. "" .
* Anderson, Virginia. "". ''OpenDemocracy'' .
* Bains, Hardial. "The Question Is Really One of Word and Deed"
* Cardew, Cornelius. ''Cornelius Cardew: A Reader'', edited by Edwin Prévost, introduction by Michael Parsons. Harlow, Essex: Copula, 2006. ISBN 0-9525492-2-0.
* Eno, Brian. "Generating and Organizing Variety in the Arts". In ''Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music'', edited by Christoph Cox and Daniel Warner,. New York and London: Continuum Books, 2005.
* Fox, Edward. "Death of a Dissident". ''The Independent Magazine'' : 24–30.
* Marko, Vladimir. "" . ''Scena: ?asopis za pozori?nu umetnost'' no. 4, 2006.
* Nyman, Michael. ''Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
* Parsons, Michael. "The Scratch Orchestra and the Visual Arts". ''Leonardo Music Journal'' 11 : 5–11.
* Schonfield, Victor. "Cornelius Cardew, AMM, and the Path to Perfect Hearing". ''Jazz Monthly'' 159 : 10–11..
* Taylor, Timothy D. "Moving in Decency: The Music and Radical Politics of Cornelius Cardew" ''Music & Letters'' 79, no.4 : 555–76.
* Tilbury, John. "" ''Contact'' no. 26 : 4-12
* Tilbury, John. "The Experimental Years: A View from the Left]" ''Contact'' 22 : 16-21. Reprinted online in ''[http://www.users.waitrose.com/~chobbs/tilburyleft.html Journal of Experimental Music Studies'' .
* Varela, Daniel. "" Journal of Experimental Music Studies.
Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organisations of South Asia
The Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organizations of South Asia usually goes by its abbreviation, CCOMPOSA. As the name implies, it is an umbrella organization of various South Asian Maoist parties and movements and its purpose is to coordinate their activities throughout South Asia .
CCOMPOSA was founded in 2001 by the following parties:
* Purba Bangala Sarbahara Party
* Purba Bangla Sarbahara Party
*
* Purba Banglar Communist Party - Marksbadi-Leninbadi
* Purba Banglar Sarbahara Party
* Communist Party of India
* Maoist Communist Centre
* Revolutionary Communist Centre of India
* Revolutionary Communist Centre of India
* Communist Party of India People's War
''''
* Bhutan Communist Party
At CCOMPOSA's second annual conference in 2002, a declaration was issued, outlining the vision CCOMPOSA had for its role in revolutionary politics, how it would operate, and how the political situation in South Asia and the world looked from their point of view. It was declared that the organization would follow the ideas carved by Marx, Lenin and Mao, and, not least, to build on the examples and experience of s in Peru, Nepal, Philippines, India, Turkey and elsewhere.
In August 2006, CCOMPOSA held its fourth conference in Nepal. Representatives of eight parties attended, including those of the Ceylon Communist Party , who did not sign the resolutions. That has been taken as an indication that the CCP was invited as an observer. The parties that participated in the conference were the following: Purba Bangala Sarbahara Party , Purba Banglar Communist Party - ML , Bangladesher Samyabadi Dal , Communist Party of Bhutan , Communist Party of Nepal , Communist Party of India , Communist Party of India Naxalbari and Communist Party of India .
The conference resolved that coordination would be deepened and extended, while asserting that Nepali Maoists would not meddle in the 'Indian People's War'.
Founding Parties
CCOMPOSA was founded in 2001 by the following parties:
From Bangladesh
* Purba Bangala Sarbahara Party
* Purba Bangla Sarbahara Party
*
* Purba Banglar Communist Party - Marksbadi-Leninbadi
* Purba Banglar Sarbahara Party
Ceylon Communist Party
From India
* Communist Party of India
* Maoist Communist Centre
* Revolutionary Communist Centre of India
* Revolutionary Communist Centre of India
* Communist Party of India People's War
''''
Communist Party of Nepal
Observers
* Bhutan Communist Party
Declaration
At CCOMPOSA's second annual conference in 2002, a declaration was issued, outlining the vision CCOMPOSA had for its role in revolutionary politics, how it would operate, and how the political situation in South Asia and the world looked from their point of view. It was declared that the organization would follow the ideas carved by Marx, Lenin and Mao, and, not least, to build on the examples and experience of s in Peru, Nepal, Philippines, India, Turkey and elsewhere.
Fourth Conference
In August 2006, CCOMPOSA held its fourth conference in Nepal. Representatives of eight parties attended, including those of the Ceylon Communist Party , who did not sign the resolutions. That has been taken as an indication that the CCP was invited as an observer. The parties that participated in the conference were the following: Purba Bangala Sarbahara Party , Purba Banglar Communist Party - ML , Bangladesher Samyabadi Dal , Communist Party of Bhutan , Communist Party of Nepal , Communist Party of India , Communist Party of India Naxalbari and Communist Party of India .
The conference resolved that coordination would be deepened and extended, while asserting that Nepali Maoists would not meddle in the 'Indian People's War'.
Chinese Revolution
The Chinese Revolution in 1949 refers to the final stage of fighting in the Chinese Civil War. In some anti-revisionist communist media and historiography, as well as the official media of the Communist Party of China, this period is known as the ''War of Liberation'' .
With the breakdown of peace talks between the Kuomintang or Chinese Nationalist Party , and the Communist Party of China , an all-out war between these two forces resumed. The Soviet Union provided limited aid to the communists, and the United States assisted the Nationalists with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of military supplies and equipment , as well as the airlifting of many Nationalist troops from central China to Manchuria, an area Chiang Kai-Shek saw as strategically vital to defend Nationalist-controlled areas against a communist advance.
Belatedly, the Nationalist government also sought to enlist popular support through internal reforms. The effort was in vain, however, because of the rampant corruption in government and the accompanying political and economic chaos including massive hyperinflation. By late 1948 the Nationalist position was bleak. The demoralized and undisciplined Nationalist troops proved no match for the communist People's Liberation Army. The communists were well established in the north and northeast while the Nationalists, who had an advantage in both numbers of men and weapons, controlled a much larger territory and population than their adversaries, and enjoyed considerable international support, nevertheless suffered from a lack of morale and rampant corruption that greatly reduced their ability to fight and their civilian support. Especially during World War II, the best of the Nationalist troops were either wounded or killed while the communists had suffered minimal losses.
After numerous operational set-backs in Manchuria, especially in attempting to take the major cities, the communists were ultimately able to seize the region and capture large Nationalist formations. This provided them with the tanks, heavy artillery, and other combined-arms assets needed to prosecute offensive operations south of the Great Wall. In January 1949 Beiping was taken by the communists without a fight, and its name was changed back to Beijing. Between April and November, major cities passed from Nationalist to Communist control with minimal resistance. In most cases the surrounding countryside and small towns had come under Communist influence long before the cities — part of the strategy of people's war. One of the decisive battles was the Huai Hai Campaign.
Ultimately, the People's Liberation Army was victorious. On October 1, 1949 Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China. Chiang Kai-shek, 600,000 Nationalist troops, and about two million Nationalist-sympathizer refugees, predominantly from the former government and business communities of the mainland, retreated to the island of Taiwan and proclaimed the Republic of China. After that, there remained only isolated pockets of resistance to the communists on the mainland, such as in the far south. A PRC attempt to take the ROC-controlled island of Kinmen was thwarted in the Battle of Kuningtou, halting a PLA advance towards Taiwan. In December 1949 Chiang proclaimed Taipei, Taiwan the temporary capital of the Republic, and continued to assert his government as the sole legitimate authority of all China, while the PRC government did likewise. The last fighting between Nationalist and Communist forces ended with the communist capture of Hainan Island in May 1950.
* Franke, W., ''A Century of Chinese Revolution, 1851-1949'' .
With the breakdown of peace talks between the Kuomintang or Chinese Nationalist Party , and the Communist Party of China , an all-out war between these two forces resumed. The Soviet Union provided limited aid to the communists, and the United States assisted the Nationalists with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of military supplies and equipment , as well as the airlifting of many Nationalist troops from central China to Manchuria, an area Chiang Kai-Shek saw as strategically vital to defend Nationalist-controlled areas against a communist advance.
Belatedly, the Nationalist government also sought to enlist popular support through internal reforms. The effort was in vain, however, because of the rampant corruption in government and the accompanying political and economic chaos including massive hyperinflation. By late 1948 the Nationalist position was bleak. The demoralized and undisciplined Nationalist troops proved no match for the communist People's Liberation Army. The communists were well established in the north and northeast while the Nationalists, who had an advantage in both numbers of men and weapons, controlled a much larger territory and population than their adversaries, and enjoyed considerable international support, nevertheless suffered from a lack of morale and rampant corruption that greatly reduced their ability to fight and their civilian support. Especially during World War II, the best of the Nationalist troops were either wounded or killed while the communists had suffered minimal losses.
After numerous operational set-backs in Manchuria, especially in attempting to take the major cities, the communists were ultimately able to seize the region and capture large Nationalist formations. This provided them with the tanks, heavy artillery, and other combined-arms assets needed to prosecute offensive operations south of the Great Wall. In January 1949 Beiping was taken by the communists without a fight, and its name was changed back to Beijing. Between April and November, major cities passed from Nationalist to Communist control with minimal resistance. In most cases the surrounding countryside and small towns had come under Communist influence long before the cities — part of the strategy of people's war. One of the decisive battles was the Huai Hai Campaign.
Ultimately, the People's Liberation Army was victorious. On October 1, 1949 Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China. Chiang Kai-shek, 600,000 Nationalist troops, and about two million Nationalist-sympathizer refugees, predominantly from the former government and business communities of the mainland, retreated to the island of Taiwan and proclaimed the Republic of China. After that, there remained only isolated pockets of resistance to the communists on the mainland, such as in the far south. A PRC attempt to take the ROC-controlled island of Kinmen was thwarted in the Battle of Kuningtou, halting a PLA advance towards Taiwan. In December 1949 Chiang proclaimed Taipei, Taiwan the temporary capital of the Republic, and continued to assert his government as the sole legitimate authority of all China, while the PRC government did likewise. The last fighting between Nationalist and Communist forces ended with the communist capture of Hainan Island in May 1950.
Further reading
* Franke, W., ''A Century of Chinese Revolution, 1851-1949'' .
Chinese New Left
New Leftism in the People's Republic of China is an ideological tendency in opposition to capitalism and the and in favour of the restoration of Maoist-style socialism. The movement first gained steam during the mid-1990s. New Leftism is seen as being more appealing to students in China today than liberalism or neoliberalism — problems faced by China during its modernisation, such as inequality and the widening gap between the rich and the poor, are becoming more serious. It is also known as 'neo-leftism'.
New Leftists can usually be divided into two main groups: believers in either postmodernism or ; and those who support Chinese nationalism. The Chinese New Left's origins lie mainly in scholarly people who were heavily influenced by the idea of postmodernism in universities in the Western world before coming back to China in the mid-1990s. They tend to think that the social problems faced by China are caused by capitalist loopholes and .
The name was first applied in the late 1990s. Their foremost thinker is , and he explains how they did not choose this term:
The first stirring of a more critical view of official marketization go back to 1993... But it wasn't till 1997-98 that the label New Left became widely used, to indicate positions outside the consensus. Liberals adopted the term, relying on the negative identification of the 'Left' with late Maoism, to imply that these must be a throw-back to the Cultural Revolution. Up till then, they had more frequently attacked anyone who criticised the rush to marketization as a 'conservative' - this is how Cui Zhiyuan was initially described, for example. From 1997 onwards, this altered. The standard accusatory term became 'New Left'...
Actually, people like myself have always been reluctant to accept this label, pinned on us by our adversaries. Partly this is because we have no wish to be associated with the Cultural Revolution, or for that matter with what might be called the 'Old Left' of the reform-era CCP. But it is also because the term New Left is a Western one, with a very distinct set of connotations – generational and political – in Europe and America . Our historical context is Chinese, not Western, and it is doubtful whether a category imported so explicitly from the West could be helpful in today's China. Attacking the current leadership as " ," the leaflets called on lower-level cadre to "change current and to revert to the road." The Zhengzhou incident is one of the first manifestations of public nostalgia for the Mao era to make it to the international press, although it is far from clear whether these feelings are widespread. In any case, it is an example of Marxist Chinese New Leftism in action.
Chinese New Leftists are often criticised by liberal intellectuals, who consider China not to be liberal ''enough'', both economically and politically. These liberals tend to think that inequality and the widening gap between rich and the poor are serious problems, but that these problems exist in every and constitute a necessary stage of development. Liberals also criticise postmodernism, which they argue is inappropriate for China because it is still not developed enough, and at the moment does not yet face some of the particular problems that have occurred in some developed countries that in turn gave rise to postmodernist thought. Democracy and personal freedoms are seen by these liberals to be important for China, although perhaps not attainable in the near future. The liberal critics and Chinese New Leftists have fiercely debated throughout the mid-1990s and early 2000s.
Current plans for a "New Socialist Countryside" could be seen as a concession to New Left ideas. It is significant that the idea of privatising the land has not so far been accepted. Currently it is used privately but cannot be sold, unlike urban property. Britain's Financial Times has been expressing concern at an apparent stagnation in China's economic reforms.
Overview
New Leftists can usually be divided into two main groups: believers in either postmodernism or ; and those who support Chinese nationalism. The Chinese New Left's origins lie mainly in scholarly people who were heavily influenced by the idea of postmodernism in universities in the Western world before coming back to China in the mid-1990s. They tend to think that the social problems faced by China are caused by capitalist loopholes and .
The name
The name was first applied in the late 1990s. Their foremost thinker is , and he explains how they did not choose this term:
The first stirring of a more critical view of official marketization go back to 1993... But it wasn't till 1997-98 that the label New Left became widely used, to indicate positions outside the consensus. Liberals adopted the term, relying on the negative identification of the 'Left' with late Maoism, to imply that these must be a throw-back to the Cultural Revolution. Up till then, they had more frequently attacked anyone who criticised the rush to marketization as a 'conservative' - this is how Cui Zhiyuan was initially described, for example. From 1997 onwards, this altered. The standard accusatory term became 'New Left'...
Actually, people like myself have always been reluctant to accept this label, pinned on us by our adversaries. Partly this is because we have no wish to be associated with the Cultural Revolution, or for that matter with what might be called the 'Old Left' of the reform-era CCP. But it is also because the term New Left is a Western one, with a very distinct set of connotations – generational and political – in Europe and America . Our historical context is Chinese, not Western, and it is doubtful whether a category imported so explicitly from the West could be helpful in today's China. Attacking the current leadership as " ," the leaflets called on lower-level cadre to "change current and to revert to the road." The Zhengzhou incident is one of the first manifestations of public nostalgia for the Mao era to make it to the international press, although it is far from clear whether these feelings are widespread. In any case, it is an example of Marxist Chinese New Leftism in action.
Current disputes
Chinese New Leftists are often criticised by liberal intellectuals, who consider China not to be liberal ''enough'', both economically and politically. These liberals tend to think that inequality and the widening gap between rich and the poor are serious problems, but that these problems exist in every and constitute a necessary stage of development. Liberals also criticise postmodernism, which they argue is inappropriate for China because it is still not developed enough, and at the moment does not yet face some of the particular problems that have occurred in some developed countries that in turn gave rise to postmodernist thought. Democracy and personal freedoms are seen by these liberals to be important for China, although perhaps not attainable in the near future. The liberal critics and Chinese New Leftists have fiercely debated throughout the mid-1990s and early 2000s.
Current plans for a "New Socialist Countryside" could be seen as a concession to New Left ideas. It is significant that the idea of privatising the land has not so far been accepted. Currently it is used privately but cannot be sold, unlike urban property. Britain's Financial Times has been expressing concern at an apparent stagnation in China's economic reforms.
Sources
Capitalist Roader
In Maoist thought, a capitalist roader is a person or group on the political who demonstrates a marked tendency to bow to pressure from forces and subsequently attempts to pull the Revolution in a direction. If allowed to do so, these forces would eventually restore the political and economic rule of capitalism; in other words, these forces would lead a society down a "capitalist road". The term first appeared in Chinese Communist Party literature in 1965, but the idea was initially developed by Mao Zedong in 1956-1957, against what he saw as reactionary tendencies in the party.
Capitalist roaders are described as representatives of the capitalist class within the Communist Party and those who attempt to restore capitalism while pretending to uphold socialism. Mao contended that Deng Xiaoping was a capitalist roader and that the Soviet Union fell to capitalist roaders from within the Communist Party after the death of Joseph Stalin.
Capitalist roaders are described as representatives of the capitalist class within the Communist Party and those who attempt to restore capitalism while pretending to uphold socialism. Mao contended that Deng Xiaoping was a capitalist roader and that the Soviet Union fell to capitalist roaders from within the Communist Party after the death of Joseph Stalin.
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