ABSTRACT
In March 1972 Zhao Ziyang was transferred back to Guangdong, and he publicly appeared in Guangzhou during April to meet delegations from Mauritius and Afghanistan, and was identified as vice-chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Revolutionary Committee. One can only speculate on who or what was responsible for Zhao’s rapid rise in Inner Mongolia during the latter half of 1971 and for his transfer back to Guangdong, but it is a reasonable assumption that it was related to the erosion of Lin Biao’s power base throughout the first half of 1971 and his death following a supposed coup detat attempt in September. Zhao’s only public appearance in the first eight months of 1973 was at the Canton Trade Fair in April. Zhao reappeared in August 1973 in Beijing at the Tenth Chinese Communist Party Congress, where he was elected a member of the Presidium of the congress and was made a member of the Central Committee.
