Khrushchev calling for an end to the dictatorship of the proletariat at the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union certainly did not help either. The fact that he was even allowed to get away with that revealed that significant ideological decay was already present within the party far before Gorbachev became General Secretary. His denouncement of Stalin also arguably contributed to the corrosion of a Soviet identity which helped precipitate the rise of nationalism throughout the Soviet Republics that played a role in the Soviet Union's dissolution. People can also say what they want about Deng (his foreign policy was absolute garbage in true Sino-Soviet split fashion and his "One country, two systems" policy was arguably too lenient), but he did famously call out Gorbachev as an idiot for continuing to dissolve what was left of the DotP via Glasnost and Deng did defend Mao's legacy despite acknowledging what he perceived to be some of his mistakes later in life. Deng Xiaoping also established ideological discipline within the party with the Four Cardinal Principles that are not up for debate within the CPC:
The principle of upholding the socialist path
The principle of upholding the people's democratic dictatorship
The principle of upholding the leadership of the Communist Party of China
The principle of upholding Mao Zedong Thought and Marxism–Leninism
Mao is a hero, but he made mistakes and we need to move forward is pretty dramatically diferent from Stalin was a criminal and we need to move forward.
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Khrushchev calling for an end to the dictatorship of the proletariat at the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union certainly did not help either. The fact that he was even allowed to get away with that revealed that significant ideological decay was already present within the party far before Gorbachev became General Secretary. His denouncement of Stalin also arguably contributed to the corrosion of a Soviet identity which helped precipitate the rise of nationalism throughout the Soviet Republics that played a role in the Soviet Union's dissolution. People can also say what they want about Deng (his foreign policy was absolute garbage in true Sino-Soviet split fashion and his "One country, two systems" policy was arguably too lenient), but he did famously call out Gorbachev as an idiot for continuing to dissolve what was left of the DotP via Glasnost and Deng did defend Mao's legacy despite acknowledging what he perceived to be some of his mistakes later in life. Deng Xiaoping also established ideological discipline within the party with the Four Cardinal Principles that are not up for debate within the CPC:
Mao is a hero, but he made mistakes and we need to move forward is pretty dramatically diferent from Stalin was a criminal and we need to move forward.