This is of course true, but in China the cultural dislocation is greater, and the barriers to memory are higher. Photograph: AlamyThe unstated reason for Xi’s unwillingness to disavow the Mao era is that Mao is not just China’s Stalin. For the Communist party of China, Mao is Stalin and Lenin combined; attack Mao and his era and you attack the foundations of the Communist state. Here, thanks to our odd guidebook, we had Chinese history in a nutshell – the past and the present. History recreatedThe Communist party does not just suppress history, it recreates it to serve the present.

Source: The Guardian June 08, 2016 04:52 UTC