Algemeen·NRC·9 okt

Fifty years after the Cultural Revolution, China won’t talk about it

There have been no celebrations. Yet it was a momentous anniversary. October 6th marked exactly 50 years since the official end of the Cultural Revolution. The close of that tumultuous decade, and the decisive turn from Mao’s erratic rule, paved the way for China’s half-century of remarkable growth. But the date is altogether too sensitive for the Communist Party, given its profound aversion to examining past errors. The party long ago rendered a negative verdict on the Cultural Revolution and has no interest in reopening old wounds.