Last month we posted our translation of an essay by economist Mao Yushi (茅于轼) questioning the legacy of the revolutionary leader Mao Zedong (毛泽东). We pointed out that such a direct challenge to Mao Zedong’s legacy had never been made inside China. In its latest edition, the Economist reports on the threats now being made against Mao Yushi by extreme leftists infuriated by his “attack” on Mao as a hero of the Party and the people.
As we have noted at some length, tensions between China’s Maoist left and its liberal right seem to have deepened in recent months. Today, the leftist website Utopia has posted coverage of a forum yesterday in Shanxi province, in which scores gathered to denounce a number of liberal intellectuals, including Mao Yushi and Xin Ziling (辛子陵), calling them “traitors, running dogs and collaborators.”
A partial translation of the Utopia piece including the statement from the forum is below, followed by photos of the event.

On May 29, 2011, a meeting of people from various quarters in Shanxi to denounce and lay a public charge against the traitors and collaborators Mao Yushi (茅于轼) and Xin Ziling (辛子陵) was smoothly held and passed off successfully in the city of Taiyuan. This was a gathering of patriotism. This was a gathering in which the people voiced their cry for justice. This was a meeting opposing all forms of imperialist intrusion and all traitors, running dogs and collaborators.
Comrades participating in the forum unanimously believe that:
Chairman Mao Zedong (毛泽东) is the leader of the Party and the people, the creator of the People’s Republic of China and the People’s Liberation Army, and as such we cannot condone the wanton distortion and slander of his magnificent image [as a leader who] devoted his life to leading the toiling masses in rising in revolution. As for the actions of the likes of Mao Yushi (茅于轼), Xin Ziling (辛子陵) and Yuan Tengfei (袁腾飞) in attacking leaders of the Party and the people in the interests of traitors and collaborators, this is not permitted by the Party. It is not permitted by the people. Even less is it permitted by human history (人类历史).
. . .
Below are pictures from the meeting furiously denouncing the traitors and collaborators Mao Yushi and Xin Ziling: