The Crisis of the Summer of 1967

The Central-South region had for a long time been under the control of T'ao Chu, secretary of that regional bureau of the Central Committee. At first a rising star, he became a victim of the early months of the Cultural Revolution. The events in Canton were related more or less directly to those in Wuhan. Both towns lay in the same Central-South region, and both were consequently under the control of T'ao Chu and Wang Jen-chung. The red guard press in Canton later denounced the fact that the town authorities had been in contact with those of Wuhan about July 21. The crisis of the summer of 1967 coincided with a series of radical demonstrations both at home and abroad. The number of them and their variety bore witness to a recovery of influence on the part of the extremists of the Cultural Revolution, who were within a few months of being eliminated.