The Rise and Fall of Australian Maoism By Xiaoxiao Xie Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Asian Studies School of Social Science Faculty of Arts University of Adelaide October 2016 Table of Contents Declaration II Abstract III Acknowledgments V Glossary XV Chapter One Introduction 01 Chapter Two Powell’s Flowing ‘Rivers of Blood’ and the Rise of the ‘Dark Nations’ 22 Chapter Three The ‘Wind from the East’ and the Birth of the ‘First’ Australian Maoists 66 Chapter Four ‘Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party’ 130 Chapter Five ‘Things Are Beginning to Change’: Struggles Against the turning Tide in Australia 178 Chapter Six ‘Continuous Revolution’ in the name of ‘Mango Mao’ and the ‘death’ of the last Australian Maoist 220 Conclusion 260 Bibliography 265 I Declaration I certify that this work contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in my name, in any university or other tertiary institution and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text. In addition, I certify that no part of this work will, in the future, be used in a submission in my name, for any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution without the prior approval of the University of Adelaide and where applicable, any partner institution responsible for the joint-award of this degree. I give consent to this copy of my thesis, when deposited in the University Library, being made available for loan and photocopying, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I also give permission for the digital version of my thesis to be made available on the web, via the University’s digital research repository, the Library Search and also through web search engines, unless permission has been granted by the University to restrict access for a period of time. II Abstract The Rise and Fall of Maoism in Australia This thesis is the first most empirical investigation of what was commonly known as Maoism in Australia. The rise and fall of Maoism in Australia is conceived at the beginning as the image I named as the ‘Rivers of Tears’ floating on the ‘Rivers of Blood’, a metaphor used by John Enoch Powell, a British politician of the late 20th century. The Maoist perspectives on imperialism as a ‘bloody’ battles of all the exploited and repressed peoples against both old and new ‘Masters’, resonated not only with the members of a small break-away ‘Marxist-Leninist’ group from the Communist Party of Australia, but also with a few Sixties student activists, who had been radicalised by the American/Australian intervention in the Vietnam War. For both groups, however, the outbreak of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in China signified the birth of a new ‘regime of truth’, which positioned People’s Republic of China as a genuine socialist country, as opposed to the State socialism of the Soviet Union, and consequently drove them to challenge the dominant liberal capitalist regime of truth in Australia as part of the Western hegemony. This Maoist ‘Rivers of Tears’ ran counter to the liberal-democratic truth held as hegemonic in the Australia. So, the major theme of the thesis was how the rationality of capitalist and free market truth underpinned various forms of strategies and tactics of government, construed, and applied in identifying, controlling, and containing the Australian Maoists. This hegemony was exerted III by a combination of governmentality and direct State power to contain the flow of the Maoist ‘Rivers of Tears’. The movement that infused the clash of wills for and against the truth of Australian Maoism came to an abrupt end, after the death of Chairman of the Communist Party of China and the purge of ‘Gang of Four’. The repudiation of the Cultural Revolution as a ‘catastrophe of ten years’, delivered a ‘catastrophic’ blow to those who supported the Chinese model of socialism in Australia. This ‘breaking up’ of the truth of Maoism stirred much debate and conflict within, and eventually hastened the split in the CPA (ML) and the breakup of the Maoist student groups. By the early 1980s, it can be seen, that there was no longer a Movement in Australia that carried the banner of Mao Zedong Thought, but instead several ‘warring’ Maoist groups. Only in that sense, this thesis concluded with an observation on the ‘death’ of Maoism in Australia. That death was as much what occurred in China as it was in Australia, where governmentality and State power within politics, society and the universities reinforced the hegemony of neo-liberal ideology which ended the ‘Rivers of Tears’. IV Acknowledgements I thank, from the bottom of my heart, Professor Gregory McCarthy, who I will always listen to as a mentor with impeccable scholarship, a great teacher with a caring mind, and a dear friend. Professor McCarthy has selflessly shared with me, despite my persistent ignorance, his boundless, yet always profoundly touching knowledge of the topic of this research. I have been and am still continuously receiving from Professor McCarthy, an extraordinary amount of patience and ever-abiding compassion, which I can never appreciate enough. Professor McCarthy has kindly offered, over the entire span of my Ph.D., through countless meetings and emails, an enormous number of invaluable and constructive comments, advice, suggestions, and criticisms on the drafts of my thesis, for which I again feel that my gratitude will always fall short. I wish to recall, in particular, with deepest appreciation, Professor McCarthy’s most generous offer to pick me up at Adelaide Airport on the day of my arrival, and his always more than warm reception of me in his office and home afterwards. I can only hope, that Professor McCarthy’s very kind support and incessant encouragement, both intellectually and spiritually, will continue to flow over me. V My heartfelt thanks also goes to Professor Mobo Chang Fan Gao, whose remarkable knowledge of a whole variety of different areas of scholarship, as well as his tremendous understanding and empathy, has helped me through the innumerable hurdles that have confronted me, during my researching, thinking and writing for this thesis. Indeed, words are never enough to express all my gratitude for Professor Gao’s skilful guidance, combined with both rigorous scholarship and ever-extending sympathy, without which this investigation could neither have taken place nor have been completed. I also wish to express my sincere gratitude for Professor Gao’s many kind invitations to dine with him at his home, where an incomputable number of memorable dialogues proceeded, with abundant food, drink and laughter, food often prepared by Professor Gao himself. It is my deepest hope that I can be, forever watered by the great teachings and heart-touching friendship of Professor Gao. My sincere gratitude still goes to Professor Changgang Guo of Shanghai University. I am very thankful that, at the beginning of my ignorant first year as a university student, I was gently led by Professor Guo, speaking in the tone of Socrates, into Plato’s Republic, from which my heart and body was glidingly comforted. I also like to VI thank Professor Guo for his many caring and erudite letters, that have never failed to reach me now and then, and I hope, in the future as well. I also need to acknowledge many people who have offered their help without which this thesis could not have come to its conclusion. My sincere gratitude goes to postgraduate co-ordinator, Dr Shoko Yoneyama, and Head of the Department of Asian Studies, Dr Gerry Groot, for their adorable and efficient assistance in helping me resolve issues regarding academic procedures and resource allocation, as well as kindly sharing with me their informed concerns over environment related issues, that has made my journey towards pursuing truth an inspiring and earthly one. I would also like to thank Professor Yongan Zhang of Shanghai University for his kind agreement to write a letter recommending me for Ph.D. study at the University of Adelaide. I am very grateful for Dr Ning Zhang, Dr Delia Lin, and Professor Purnendra Jain’s friendship and wisdom that have enabled me to walk smoothly on the waters of letters and speeches, towards a place where only gratitude prevails. VII I wish to acknowledge the most generous help of Margaret Secombe, who as an interested and unpaid reader, not a professional editor, has read all the chapters and made suggestions to improve the English expression and grammar. My special gratitude also goes to Professor Richard Appelbaum and Professor Mark Juergensmeyer, who have delivered a precious gift of Radhasoami reality, Weber’s Science as a Vocation and Marx’s Das Kapital, across the now seemingly stormy Pacific Ocean, to me. It must be particularly acknowledged that this research could never have been commenced, and finally completed without the most generous financial provision of the China Scholarship Council - University of Adelaide Joint Postgraduate Scholarships made available to me. I am especially grateful for A/Prof. Jiangang Kang, First Secretary of the Education Office of the Embassy of P. R. China in Australia and Mr Linlan Ma, Second Secretary of the Education Office of the Embassy of P. R. China in Australia. Both Professor Kang and Mr Ma had answered many of my queries in relation to the China Scholarship Council – University of Adelaide Joint Postgraduate Scholarship that I was fortunately enough to have VIII received. My gratitude also extends to Emeritus Professor Richard Russell, former Dean of Graduate Studies, as well as all staff of the Graduate Centre of the University, for the time and expertise they spent in responding to my enquiries and requests.