Uh-oh!: bemused Chinese react to John McDonnell's Chairman Mao speech

Mao Zedong’s homeland reacted with a mixture of scorn, jubilation and amusement after the shadow chancellor gave the Great Helmsman’s teachings their parliamentary debut.

Chinese news outlets were quick to pick up on reports of John McDonnell’s controversial speech to parliament on Wednesday after which he tossed a copy of Mao’s crimson tome across the dispatch box towards George Osborne.

“Mao Zedong’s thoughts never fade away,” beamed one user of Weibo, China’s Twitter, alongside an emoticon of a thumbs up.

“Mao Zedong Thought is timeless!” gushed another.

Sina, China’s largest web portal, posted news of Mao’s parliamentary revival on its official Weibo account at 8.28am on Thursday morning.

By lunchtime more than 1,200 followers had liked the post with dozens of readers weighing in on the topic. Some responded with what appeared to be genuine enthusiasm.

“The Quotations of Chairman Mao go global!” wrote one.

Others were less amused that the Chinese despot had been resuscitated at the very heart of British democracy.

“Uh-oh! Mao’s leftwing ideologies are rising up again!” wrote one.

Another comment read: “[Laugh cry] [laugh cry] [laugh cry] [laugh cry] [laugh cry] [laugh cry] [laugh cry] [laugh cry].”

Osborne has spearheaded British attempts to build a “golden era” of relations with China and, speaking on Wednesday, McDonnell said the Little Red Book would help the chancellor deal with “his newfound comrades” in Beijing.

Hu Jia, one of the most outspoken political dissidents still living in mainland China, agreed with the shadow chancellor.

Similarities between China’s former dictator and its current highly authoritarian leader, Xi Jinping, meant the Little Red Book would serve as a good guide to contemporary Chinese politics.

“We call Xi ‘Mao Jinping’ or ‘Xi Zedong,’” Hu said.

“I don’t know much about British politics. But as a Chinese person, I can tell you that Xi Jinping is a big Maoist, both in ideological terms and in how he tries to control Chinese society,” the dissident added.

“I’m not familiar with British culture. But I would say that if someone gets out the Little Red Book and uses it as a metaphor to say Britain is submitting itself to China, then I think that is interesting.”

Fan Jinggang, a prominent neo-Maoist, played down the policy implications of Mao’s Westminster cameo. But he insisted Mao’s writings still contained “an important lesson to people and society” and represented “the epitome of contemporary China’s achievements”.

“Mao’s thoughts still have direct and practical uses,” he claimed. “Serious class exploitation, class oppression and serious polarisation between the rich and the poor [still] exist in today’s world.”

Fan said it was normal for political leaders to learn from other countries’ experiences. “I don’t see the big deal. Chinese leaders are always quoting the excellent sayings or mottos of other countries’ leaders. Learning modestly from others is a normal attitude to take.”

A spokesperson at China’s foreign ministry refused to be drawn into the controversy. “We have noted the report,” the spokesperson said when asked about McDonnell’s statement.

Historians both in and outside China paint a bleak portrait of Mao’s 27-year reign. They point to the fanaticism and bloodshed of the decade-long Cultural Revolution and the tens of millions who died during the devastation of the Great Famine.

But Chairman Mao, who died in 1976, continues to cast a long shadow over Chinese society and politics. His portrait still adorns Chinese banknotes and hangs from the Gate of Heavenly Peace in Tiananmen Square. Mao Zedong statues can be found in squares across the country. The tallest, in the southwestern city of Chongqing, stands at 37.4m tall.

Nearly 40 years after Mao’s death, the official government verdict on his reign remains that his policies were 70% correct and 30% misguided.

Public criticism of Mao remains taboo. Earlier this year a celebrity television presenter was punished after being caught on camera mocking Mao as an “old son of a bitch”.

In 2013, during commemorations of 120 years since Mao’s birth, Xi Jinping vowed to “hold high the banner of Mao Zedong Thought forever”. “Mao is a great figure who changed the face of the nation and led the Chinese people to a new destiny,” he said.

Additional reporting by Christy Yao