The Six Past Struggles Over Party Line

By 1972 73 Mao knew it was going to be a race to the finish between him and Joe and Lai as far as who outlived the other. And Mao became obsessed that he outlived Joe at all costs. He subjected Joe to endless hostile criticism in order to get him to openly say the magic words: "I can only be an assistant" Well, as things turned out, it was a moot point anyway. It seemed since Nixon left, Joe had become this global phenomenon. There was something else and man, this ever make chairman Mao unhappy.