Jiang Qing was, as usual, less restrained. She called a meeting on March 2 for leaders from twelve provinces, at which she tried to escalate the seriousness of Deng's errors, calling him a “counter-revolutionary” and a “fascist.” To Mao, this was going too far. He criticized her for calling the meeting without consulting him and forbade her from sending out announcements reporting on the results of the meeting. On March 21, when the People's Daily asked whether the “person pursuing the capitalist road [Deng] who is trying to reverse verdicts … will have a genuine change of heart,” officials in
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