Bo Xilai organised the red song movement in Chongqing as a means of mobilising personal support; but it seems to have taken an afterlife of its own:
Authorities in the Chinese capital have canceled a concert of Mao era revolutionary songs, likely due to their tainted association with fallen political star Bo Xilai, netizens and political commentators said on Tuesday.
Dozens of choirs were to have converged on Beijing for the mass performance on Dec. 1, which was to have been dedicated to the country's new leadership announced last month during the 18th National Congress for the ruling Chinese Communist Party.
Participants had already paid 2,000 yuan (U.S. $32) each to take part, organizers said.
The concert, titled the "China Golden Age of Song Cultural Festival for Older People," was to have been staged at a reception room in the Great Hall of the People on Tiananmen Square, according to the organizers' website.
The whole thing was even organised by a man named Dai.
It's no surprise that an attempt to barge into the New Era at this level was slapped down, but by and large I've been encouraged by the way in which the neo-Maoists have been allowed to persist with their SingalongaMao antics: time was when no-one would have dared differ publicly from the line established in an official purge. Maybe it's just because they seem, by and large, to be a bunch of cranky old folk rather than a clear and present danger to the operation of the system.
Not old Dai China? I was at school with him...
Posted by: Phil | December 07, 2012 at 10:13 AM