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The Chinese Cultural Revolution

Bridget Kendall explores what happened when China broke with the USSR and launched a Cultural Revolution, as experienced by a British diplomat and two Chinese brothers.

Bridget Kendall explores what happened when China broke with the USSR and, in 1966, launched a Cultural Revolution aimed in part at laying claim to pure communism in the face of Moscow's more revisionist approach.

She hears the stories of Sir John Weston, then a young British diplomat, recalls what happened when Red Guards stormed the British Embassy.

And brothers Chen Zhang Gong and Chen Zhang Rang remember the very painful story of how they watched helplessly as their teacher father was hounded to death by their fellow pupils.

Producer: Phil Tinline.

15 minutes

Broadcast

  • Tue 4 Jul 2017 13:45

Podcast