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When Mao imposed ideological purity by force during the 1966-69 Cultural Revolution, the diminutive (5 ft.) Teng was stripped of all his posts, driven by the Red Guards through the streets wearing a dunce cap, and dispatched to seven years in disgrace. In 1973 Teng made his first surprising reappearance, at a banquet in Peking. He soon became Vice Premier and the closest collaborator and heir presumptive of Premier Chou Enlai. When Chou's health had begun to fail, Teng headed a delegation to the United Nations in 1974—a hint that he might take over the Premier's role as China's main negotiator with foreign leaders.
Radical Programs. Teng's second downfall two years later was the result of his dogged opposition to Mao's radical programs. These included turning over the universities to workers, peasants and soldiers and transferring scientific research from the laboratories tp the communes. Defending the Academy of Science from Mao's populist incursions, Teng declared in 1975 that "it is not an academy of cabbage; it is not an academy of beans; it is an academy that deals with science." Teng asserted that even the bourgeois scientist can make a contribution. In his earthy way, he argued that "it is better to allow him to work than to have him sitting in a privy, producing nothing."
Teng also proposed that industry throughout China be under central supervision—a policy that Hua has now adopted. The radical view espoused by Chiang Ch'ing and backed by Mao called for local economic independence. Teng also argued for higher wages and other incentives "for certain workers" and a rise in living standards. "If there are not enough vegetables and meat," he asked, "how can industry function properly?" Striking at the heart of Maoist doctrine, he declared that "it is wrong to practice egalitarianism, denying existing differences and refusing remuneration according to the work done."
In April 1976, shortly after his emergence as Mao's prospective heir, Hua joined Chiang Ch'ing and her group of radicals in attacking Teng's "counterrevolutionary line." Since he became Chairman last October, however, Hua has gradually and tacitly conceded that the heretic was right. One Teng tactic that Hua has adopted has been a tough line on law and order, in an attempt to put down the widespread strikes and other civil disorders that have plagued his regime. The troubles are largely the result of anger and cynicism among workers who have been subjected to wild extremes of government policy for two decades.
Resurrecting Teng as a political power may prove more troublesome for Hua than rehabilitating his policies. One reason is that the new Chairman's claim to legitimacy rests on Mao's supposed deathbed benediction of his leadership. Thus the restored presence of Teng, who was twice ousted by Mao, may suggest to party workers that Hua is vulnerable. The Chairman, in fact, is a relatively youthful (56) political newcomer without a power base in the party or the armed forces to bolster his position. Moreover, Teng has become something of a national hero because of his feisty, down-to-earth opposition to the boring, bewildering political zealotry espoused by the widely hated Chiang Ch'ing.