ABSTRACT
On two separate occasions between May 31 and June 16, 1989, during and after ordering the slaughter in Beijing, Deng Xiaoping issued the extraordinary declaration that he was "transferring political power." Deng had won the love and respect of China's farmers, workers, students, and intellectuals. In China, the only effect of the challenges to communist rule in Eastern Europe was modest ideological unrest on university campuses. The young Deng Xiaoping had supported Mao Zedong in opposing Stalin—thereby defeating the Wang Ming line in the Chinese Communist Party. It was for that reason, in fact, that Deng was purged from his position along with Mao Zedong's younger brother Mao Zetan. Deng noted that the Party Central Committee was preparing a major statement to answer the many questions raised about recent international and domestic events. The sudden alteration by Deng demonstrated that Mao was preparing for a new ideological storm in tune with his general anti-rightist position.
