Mao Zedong's History Fully Supports The Indonesian Communist Party

Mao Zedong, leader of the Chinese Communist Party who is also the founder of the People's Republic of China. (Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - Mao Zedong is a versatile revolutionary figure. It can manifest as anything. From writers to war experts. Its great masterpiece is the existence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It makes the lower class society, especially the peasants, like a flame of struggle.

This ability was supported by Mao's shrewdness in establishing friendships with international communist figures. D.N. Aidit, one. Therefore, Mao often supported the steps of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) to triumph in the Nusantara.

There is nothing that Mao cannot master. That is the general opinion when talking about revolutionary figures who are able to continue the narrative of the Chinese nation as a great nation. Mao's behavior is admirable. He is able to work in all fields.

One time he could incarnate as a writer. On the other hand, he can lead the CCP to become the preeminent Party. In fact, it was able to undermine the domination of the nationalists in the Kuomintang (China National Party) which was oriented to the west. This success made Mao continue to declare the People's Republic of China.

Portrait of Mao Zedong. (Wikimedia Commons)

The main key to the success of Mao and his political vehicle, the CCP is the support of all Chinese people in the countryside. Mainly the peasants. The charisma of Mao is behind it. His ability to win the hearts of people who were angry with the Kuomintang government was second to none.

In that case, Mao adopted the practice of communism. However, the communism that Mao embraced was slightly different from the communism that was sung by the Soviet Union. The flame of the struggle of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union focused on the workers.

“It is quite interesting to note the difference between Mao's conception of the 'mass line' and that of Lenin and Stalin. Lenin and Stalin also used the word 'mass'. However, they always return it to the proletariat which is the leading class of the peasant class and the petty bourgeoisie. The masses in them are the proletariat and the classes it leads. Mao Zedong of course also maintains that socialism is championed by the proletariat.”

“As a communist, Mao never left his Marxist-Leninist way of speaking. However, from the beginning Mao actually focused on the 'mass' in the sense of the masses of the small people, especially in the countryside. Wibowo showed that for Mao the masses consisted of the peasants, workers, petty bourgeoisie, and soldiers. What is excluded are the landlords and the big bourgeoisie,” says Franz Magnis-Suseno in the book Dari Mao ke Marcuse: Percikan Filsafat Marxis Pasca-Lenin (2016).

Support PKI

Mao's charisma not only attracted the sympathy of all Chinese people, but his leadership also attracted the admiration of world political figures. The supreme leader of the PKI, Dipa Nusantara (D.N) Aidit, was one of them. He was attracted to the CCP movement founded by Mao.

It was this reason that made Aidit more inclined to adopt Chinese-style communism, rather than fully embracing the Soviet Union. This admiration was heightened when Mao made the peasants his mass base.

The situation was not much different from that of the PKI. Moreover, Indonesia is also known as an agricultural country. aka Indonesia's great strength lies in the peasantry, if well organized. Aidit realized that too.

Aidit's admiration was reciprocated. Mao also admired the actions of Aidit and his PKI. The two are close. In fact, many people say Aidit and Mao are sort of like young brothers. The closeness was even more visible when the two met in Peking, China, on August 5, 1965.

The leader of the Indonesian Communist Party, Dipa Nusantara Aidit. (Wikimedia Commons)

They talk about many things. Mao supported what Aidit did. On the other hand, Aidit supported Mao. The CCP, Mao had promised military assistance to Aidit. Mainly to help Indonesia in its confrontation with Malaysia.

“The alliance between the President and the PKI was extended to include Mao Zedong during Aidit's meeting with Mao in Peking on 5 August 1965, where Aidit informed Mao that the PKI and the President would cooperate in initiating the socialist stage of the development of the Indonesian Revolution. However, the President was seriously ill, fell unconscious several times on August 4th, and was very likely to die suddenly. Meanwhile, the Army (AD) is reportedly planning a preventive measure to seize power if such a thing happens.”

"Even if necessary before the incident. Mao advised Aidit that the President should be encouraged to immediately purge the Army in order to pave the way for a transformation towards socialism, but warned that as soon as this was implemented, the President should be removed and replaced by someone more trustworthy, who might not be a PKI member. and that Aidit should head the government as prime minister,” concluded Victor M. Fic in the book Kudeta 1 Oktober 1965: Sebuah Studi tentang Konspirasi (2005).