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Mao Zedong (traditionally Mao Tse-Tung) is Chairman of the People's Republic of China when Forrest Gump arrives to play ping-pong. He has a minor role in the novel, but in the film, he only appears on propaganda posters during Forrest's visit.
In the novel[]
Chairman Mao is first seen by Forrest when his group is brought to a river to see Mao swim a wide river alone. Mao begins to drown in the middle of the river, and Forrest jumps in, pulls him out of the deep water and helps him into a boat. For this, he is made a national hero in China. When he returns home, American authorities are angry at Forrest, because they wanted Mao to die and be succeeded by a less warlike leader.