In 1956, some eight years after the communists took over China, Mao desired to root out dissent in his country.  He officially began a campaign to "encourage" all those who had opposing ideas to his brand of socialism to come out of the closet.  His proclamation began, "Let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of thought contend."  Millions of intellectuals and educators, who actually sided with Mao and socialist thought started writing and publishing their protests against his heavy-handed governing policies.  They had been his allies during the Chinese civil war, but they saw many flaws in his governance of the nation.  These Chinese leftists actually thought they could trust Mao, so they took him up on his proposal and began to offer him their criticisms and ideas on how to run China better. 

Within a year, however, Mao had his secret police round up over 500,000 people who had dared to criticise him in this campaign.  It had all been a ruse to root out opposition.  This is a favorite trick of all tyrants.  Hitler and Stalin did the same sort of thing to root out "competitors" within their own political movements--with deadly results for anyone who thought differently from the "dear Leader." 

Mao Tse-tung, currently a "philosophical hero" to some in our government, murdered his own supporters who had simply dared to offer a different opinion.  What is there to admire in such a man?