VANGUARD - Expressing the viewpoint of the Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist)
For National Independence and Socialism • www.cpaml.org
(Above: Chinese authorities try to disperse pro-Mao crowd in Shaoshan September 9, 2026. Supplied)
The following accounts concerning the September 9 commemorations marking the fiftieth anniversary of Mao Zedong’s death were written by Comrade Perrin and based on reports sent to him by comrades in China. We think they are important to share with those who still harbour the hope that China remains socialist, when all the evidence is to its restoration of capitalism and development into to a “socialist in words, but imperialist in deeds” form of imperialism – eds.
A Maoist friend visited Chairman Mao Memorial Hall in Beijing to pay his respects. According to his account, he passed through security checks three or four times before being stopped and held by the police. Officers inspected visitors’ phones for VPNs and certain overseas apps, and would examine browsing histories if they found them. A number of visitors were then held together and given a stern lecture.
He recalled remarks along the lines of: “We know what you get up to,” “I advise you to spend less time looking at foreign material—it does you no good,” and “Think about your own future.”
During the bag searches, officers also temporarily withheld books. My friend had deliberately brought what he thought would be the “safest” possible choice—a collection of Mao’s poetry—but even that was taken away. He had to provide his name and telephone number and collect the book on his way out after his details were checked.
On his return journey, he met an older man from Tianjin and began chatting with him. When the conversation turned to universities, the man recalled working near Nankai University in his youth and often going to its canteen for meals. He then began discussing a politically sensitive episode from those years. He remembered a particularly passionate speaker from a university and spoke about that person’s subsequent suffering. The names were not specified in the account relayed to me.
As they continued talking, my friend mentioned a name while discussing Shanghai’s comparatively restrained handling of the episode. The older man immediately raised a finger to his lips and said, in effect: “Keep your voice down. The platform is listening. Certain keywords or sensitive topics can trigger a warning.”
I cannot verify his claim about monitoring, and it was not clear which platform he meant. What struck me was his immediate instinct to lower his voice and urge someone else to do the same.
Separately, at a commemorative gathering in Shaoshan, some young people reportedly held up a banner reading, “Mao Zedong’s later years marked a glorious new chapter in Marxism-Leninism.” After security personnel confiscated the banner, they began chanting revolutionary slogans, including “Down with the capitalist roaders!” This incident involved a different group from the visitors to the Memorial Hall in Beijing.
I thought these accounts were worth sharing with you. The detail about my friend’s poetry collection particularly struck me: he had chosen Mao’s own poems because he expected them to be unobjectionable when visiting the Memorial Hall, yet the book was still temporarily withheld. The separate incident in Shaoshan also shows how the true Maoist is treated in China.