Opinion | Chinese leftists dumbfounded by lack of official support after Mao Yushi speech

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Mao Yushi speaking in Shenyang, Liaoning, on Thursday. Photo: Screenshot from Sina Weibo

Published: 10:44am, 26 Apr 2013Updated: 4:13am, 29 Aug 2013

The renowned liberal Mao Yushi has for many years been a hate figure for Chinese leftists for his vocal criticism of Mao Zedong's legacy.

Outrage ensued when a leftist scholar was taken away by police on Thursday after interrupting a speech by the octogenerian economist in Shenyang.

That outrage was, however, cut down by censors, when they deleted some of the more strongly worded posts on micro-blogs.Both the arrest and the censors's deletions have left prominent leftists dumbfounded as they themselves had previously supported the government's suppression of dissent.

When Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, a group around Kong Qingdong, a 73rd generation descendant of Confucius and vocal leftist, denounced the democracy activist and set up an alternative Confucius Peace Prize. The prize has since been awarded to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Don't make friends suffer and enemies celebrate, release [Wang] immediately," Kong Qingdong called upon police in a message on his micro-blog which has been shared thousands of times.

"Comrade Party Secretary of Shenyang Zeng Wei, Comrade Party Secretary of Liaoning Wang Min: Don't you understand [Mao] Yushi's position towards China's political system?" asked Sima Nan, a leftist Beijing-based commentator on his micro-blog.

Others shared photos of Li Zhuoran, the head of the city's Chamber of Industry and Commerce which had invited Mao Yushi to speak at the conference, calling him "the future department head for stability preservation" and demanding that he step down.

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