Once again, China seems to be embroiled in a power struggle between its ideological factions. One week after the unexpected appointment of the relatively unknown Hua Kuo-feng as the country's acting Premier (TIME, Feb. 16), leftists in Peking's leadership launched a violent attack on their "rightist" enemies. The radicals' rhetorical onslaught, if it continues to grow, could upset the plans for a smooth leadership succession carefully worked out by Chou En-lai before his death last month.
The principal target of the radicals' campaign was First Vice Premier Teng Hsiao-p'ing, the man most...