Two Whatevers

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The Two Whatevers (simplified Chinese: 两个凡是; traditional Chinese: 兩個凡是; pinyin: Liǎng gè fán shì) refers to the statement that "We will resolutely uphold whatever policy decisions Chairman Mao made, and unswervingly follow whatever instructions Chairman Mao gave". This statement was contained in a joint editorial, entitled "Study the Documents Well and Grasp the Key Link", printed on February 7, 1977 in Renmin Ribao (People's Daily), the journal Hongqi (Red Flag) and Jiefangjun Bao (Liberation Army Daily).

This was a policy of then Communist Party of China chairman Hua Guofeng, Mao's successor, who had earlier ended the Cultural Revolution and arrested the Gang of Four. However, this policy proved unpopular externally with the general public who wanted an end to Mao era policies, and internally with other party leaders advocating market reform, such as Deng Xiaoping.

This proved a trigger for Deng's maneuver in 1978 to gain control of economic policy in China, and led eventually to Hua being demoted from the party leadership in 1980.

The coalition of Hua's political supporters, bearing the name of whatever faction, also lost its power after the Deng's political maneuver: Wang Dongxing, Ji Dengkui, Wu De, and Chen Xilian ("the little Gang of Four") were relieved of all the Party and state posts during the 5th Plenum of the CC CCP, Feb.23-29 1980.