Chinese leader Mao Zedong’s chief bodyguard, who helped oust Gang of Four, dies aged 99

Wang Dongxing, formerly late leader Mao Zedong’s principal bodyguard – a key figure in the ousting of the Gang of Four who came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution – has died in Beijing aged 99, after an illness, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. He was also deputy chairman of the Communist Party. Wang, who was born in January 1916 and died at 5.28am yesterday, served in Mao’s personal bodyguard between 1947 and 1976, most of the time as head of the 8341 Special Regiment. He was also Mao’s chief of staff for several years. “I don’t trust other people. I’m used to Dongxing being by my side,” Mao once said about Wang, the Southern Weekly newspaper reported yesterday. However, in October 1976, less than one month after Mao’s death, Wang played a leading role in the coup d’état against the Gang of Four – Mao’s wife Jiang Qing, Yao Wenyuan, Zhang Chunqiao and Wang Hongwen. The Gang of Four were Mao’s close allies who were instrumental in the chaos of the Cultural Revolution. Fearing the four might seize power after Mao’s death, Wang, with the support of Marshal Ye Jianying, persuaded Hua Guofeng, Mao’s designated successor as paramount leader, to take prompt action to remove them and was in charge of their 8detention. Wang gained first-hand experience of numerous key events during the nearly three decades that he spent accompanying the revolutionary leader. Xinhua’s official announcement of Wang’s death, citing a statement from the headquarters of the Communist Party of China (CPC), described him as “an excellent CPC member, time-tested loyal communist fighter and proletarian revolutionist”. Wang fought alongside Mao and Zhou Enlai in their guerilla war against the Kuomintang army in northern Shaanxi province from March 1947 to March 1948. He earned Mao’s trust by providing good logistical support in a handful of crucial battles. I don’t trust other people. I’m used to Wang Dongxing being by my side Mao Zedong Apart from a short period in 1958, when he was sent to Jiangxi province to be its deputy governor, Wang worked directly for Mao until the leader’s death in 1976. Mao once described Wang as “brainless”, but the bodyguard’s diligence and obvious loyalty to the leader helped him enter the party’s Politburo in 1969. He eventually became the party’s deputy chairman in 1977. On one rare occasion in 1970, Wang infuriated Mao by openly opposing his plans. At the party’s Second Plenary Session of the 9th Central Committee in Lushan, there was a struggle within the party over whether there should still be a national chairman, a post held by Mao, and whether he should carry on in the role. Mao had proposed resigning and abolishing the post, but Lin – selected at the time as Mao’s successor – and his supporters insisted it be retained so that he could hold on to his seat as China’s deputy chairman, Wang recalled in his 2010 memoir, The Battle between Mao Zedong and the Lin Biao Counter-Revolutionary Group. Lin’s supporters then encouraged Wang to voice his support for retaining the post against Mao’s wishes. “I got very angry when I heard [party official] Chen Boda say that someone had been thrilled to hear Chairman Mao would not take on the role of the country’s chairman,” he later told Mao. In his memoir, Wang described Mao as “a man of rare greatness in Chinese and global history”, with “incomparable revolutionary courage”. In both that memoir and a second, Wang Dongxing’s Diary – republished the same year – Wang also praised Mao as a smart militarist and a decisive and outstanding statesman. Wang was a staunch supporter of the “two whatevers” theory, which stated, “we will resolutely uphold whatever policy decisions Chairman Mao has made, and unswervingly follow whatever instructions Chairman Mao has given”. After Mao’s death, Wang backed Hua Guofeng, Mao’s designated successor as paramount leader. When there was a call in Beijing in January 1977 for Deng to be returned to power, Wang was strongly opposed to it, Ye Yonglie wrote in He Influenced China - a Biography of Chen Yun. “I’m familiar with Deng Xiaoping,” Wang was quoted as saying. “He is capable in some ways, but this is not enough to wipe away his mistakes.” In August 1977, Wang was elected the party’s deputy chairman, ranked fifth among central leaders, led by Hua. However, he lost his power at the Third Plenum of the 11th National Party Congress Central Committee in December 1978 – a point in Chinese history when mistakes committed before and during the Cultural Revolution were “corrected”. Under pressure, he resigned as vice-chairman in 1980. In later years, Wang still showed his devotion to Mao by always visiting the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall in Beijing on Mao’s birthday, December 26, and also on the day he died, September 9, to leave floral wreaths or baskets of flowers. Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse