ABSTRACT
In an interview with Edgar Snow in 1960, the late Premier Chou En-lai (Zhou Enlai) disclosed that Communist China had been governed by a group of approximately 800 key Party and military leaders who helped Mao Tse-tung (Mao Zedong) seize power in 1949. Chou predicted that they would run mainland China for many more years to come. 1 Most of these "800," including Chou, Mao, Liu Shao-ch'i (Liu Shaoqi), Chu Te (Zhu Te), and Lin Piao (Lin Biao), are dead or, in some instances, in political disgrace—but 150 members of this elite group have survived, although they are very old, and many are in poor health. It is quite striking that the "old guard," who include Teng Hsiao-p'ing (Deng Xiaoping), Ch'en YUn (Chen Yun), Li Hsien-nien (Li Xiannian), P'eng Chen (Peng Zhen), Yang Shang-k'un (Yang Shang-kun), and Wang Chen (Wang Zhen), still have the final say over the regime's policy priorities, despite the fact that most of them are no longer members of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) Politburo or Central Committee and in spite of a highly publicized drive to promote the talented younger cadres to the leadership ranks.
