China celebrates the 120th birthday of Mao Zedong, the founder of modern China, on Thursday, but will be scaling back festivities as President Xi Jinping embarks on broad economic reforms which have unsettled leftists.
English: Portrait of Mao Zedong at Tiananmen Gate Español: Retrato de Mao Zedong en la Plaza de Tian’anmen Polski: Portret Mao Zedonga na Bramie Niebiańskiego Spokoju w Pekinie. 中文: 天安門城樓上的毛澤東肖像 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Mao has become a potent symbol for leftists within the ruling Communist Party who feel that three decades of market-based reform have gone too far, creating social inequalities like a yawning rich-poor gap and pervasive corruption.
In venerating Mao, they sometimes seek to put pressure on the current leadership and its market-oriented policies while managing to avoid expressing open dissent.
via China to celebrate Mao’s birthday, but events scaled back | Reuters.
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