China celebrated the 120th birthday of Mao Zedong, the founder of modern China, on Thursday, but with scaled-back celebrations as President Xi Jinping embarks on broad economic reforms which have unsettled leftists.
Mao has become a strong 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 deepening rich-poor gap and pervasive corruption.
In honouring Mao, they sometimes seek to put pressure on the current leadership and its market-oriented policies while managing to avoid expressing open opposition.
While all seven members of the party’s elite inner core, the Politburo Standing Committee, visited Mao’s mausoleum on Tiananmen Square, other activities nationwide were toned down.
The state-run Xinhua news agency said on its blog that the leaders, including Xi, bowed three times in front of a statue of Mao and paid their respects to his preserved body, “recalling Comrade Mao Zedong’s great achievements”.