No problem Mao Zedong managed at least 20 Million during the cultural revolution.
My Brother in Laws Mother, and her family, survived the cultural revolution. She was (rest her soul) Catholic and English Educated in Shanghai, just the type of people Mao did not need. The family travelled all the way down to Hong Kong and she got a job at the British Embassy.
As a teenager I used o spend hours discussing all things China / Asia with her and I was fascinated, it is because of thes discussions why I ended up in Asia.