We knew Darwin had influenced Stalin but also Mao, it appears:
Mao also recognised the importance of Darwinian theory. It legitimised his nation. In 1957 the chairman discussed China in Darwinist terms: “Socialism, in the ideological struggle, now enjoys all the conditions to triumph as the fittest.”
That same year Mao also invoked Darwin to justify his Hundred Flowers Campaign of openness to invite new ideas for advancement of the communist nation, writing: “Correct and good things have often at first been looked upon not as fragrant flowers but as poisonous weeds; Copernicus’s theory of the solar system and Darwin’s theory of evolution were once dismissed as erroneous and had to win out over bitter opposition.”
Brock concluded that without Darwin “the ground would not have been tilled for Mao to sow the seeds and reap the crop.” When asked what social and economic circumstances were needed for Darwinism to flourish he replied: “What we saw in China was a lack of national confidence. It became a nationalism project. In other countries it became a vehicle for eugenics.”
Riazat Butt, “Darwinism, through a Chinese lens” at The Guardian (November 9, 2009)
The author seems to have trouble comprehending the millions of victims of totalitarian rule in China as any kind of a problem. But Darwinism does that to people.
See also: Young Stalin was a Darwin fan too, it seems.
Hat tip: Philip Cunningham