Why did Mao Zedong decide that Liu Shaoqi had to be removed from power?

Mao Zedong’s decision to remove Liu Shaoqi from power was rooted in deep ideological disagreements regarding China’s economic recovery and the nature of class struggle following the failures of the Great Leap Forward.12

After the economic crisis and widespread famine caused by the Great Leap, Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping implemented pragmatic policies to stabilize the country, such as introducing material incentives and allowing individual households to cultivate private plots. While Mao initially accepted these measures, he eventually viewed them as a repudiation of his revolutionary strategy and a sign of "revisionism" within the Chinese Communist Party.12

Mao became increasingly convinced that "new bourgeois elements" were emerging within the party bureaucracy. His determination to purge Liu solidified at the end of 1964, when Liu refused to accept Mao’s demand to direct the primary focus of the Socialist Education Movement against "capitalist roaders" within the party. Consequently, during the Cultural Revolution, Liu was labeled "China’s Khrushchev" and purged from his positions.21