Mao Zedong's descendent pays homage
0 
From martial to marital
The only time Mao paused for though was when the facilitator of the online Q&A session urged Mao to reply to the question, "Could you tell us what kind of person your wife is?"
Mao complied but took a long sip of water first. Looking straight ahead at his wife sitting opposite him, he said, "My wife is a qualified and excellent army officer. She's given me a lot of assistance in my research and in my life. In addition to her work duties, she needs to assist and manage a lot of family affairs."
Liu Bin, Mao's wife, smiled at her husband's words. "And you don't want to thank me?" she said.
"Of course, " Mao said, "I sincerely express my thanks to my wife."
It's rare occasion that Mao talks about his wife. Mao said he has held over 10 press conferences now, and a reporter said it was the first time that Liu accompanied her husband.
Liu and Mao have a boy and a baby girl, Dongdong and Tianyi. She wore very light makeup at the day of interview and was also in uniform. A more senior army officer than Mao, who joined the army in 2000, she listened attentively to his answer. The secretary was busy taking photos and video of the interview.
It wasn't the first time Mao has accepted interview requests from People.com.cn. The oldest one that could be found online was dated 2001 when he wore a white shirt and a pair of dark trousers to the interview, in contrast to his current military getup. The topics of his interviews ranged from "My grandfather Mao Zedong" in 2001, "The long march: its glorious history and a lesson for the future" in 2006, "How to be a qualified political advisor" in 2008 and "The formation and development of Mao Zedong's thoughts on the military" in 2010.
The interview arrangements weren't very complicated, said Zhang, an editor with people.com.cn. It took him 21 days.In comparison, the live interview with Hu Jintao, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) took six-month of preparation. "The entire People's Daily headquarters were sealed off," said He, an editor with people.com.cn for seven years.
Don't forget the uniforms
Mao's secretary reminded the editor to update the photo of Mao in the studio, "Please change it to one with Major General Mao in uniform".
After his 10 years of military service, Mao Xinyu wants to be remembered as a general, but he is more frequently re-ferred to as "Mao's grandson." During the nationwide celebration campaign of the 70th anniversary of the end of the Long March in 2006, Mao was invited to tour the country. The topic of his speeches was "Grandfather and the Long March". He gave the same speech a dozen times around the country, always beginning by introducing his family members, including his two aunts, Mao's daughters Li Min and Li Ne. Mao was forced to abandon several other children during the Long March, leaving them with peasant families; some were never recovered.
"My impression towards Mao has changed after these contacts", said He, a veteran reporter. "He is actually quite down-to-earth.
"If I had such a grandfather, I would keep mentioning his name too."
Go to Forum >>0 Comments