China's Historical Amnesia

As you know, I am a teacher by profession. One of my favourite topics for teaching, especially during the IIM GDPI Workshops, is the political, economic and military rise of China and what it means for the communist state, its neighborhood (including India) and its challenge to the United States.



During these sessions, I discuss the life and times of Mao Zedong, albeit in a not-so detailed manner. However, I do relate to my audience the political ideology of Mao, like his policies of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution and how they destroyed the lives of millions of his countrymen. 



Someday I will blog about all that stuff in this space; however, for now, let me share an interesting article by Minxin Pei, an authority on China. Here's an excerpt:



Under the late dictator Mao Zedong, more than 40 million innocent Chinese were murdered in violent political campaigns or starved to death following Mao’s disastrous economic policy. In terms of the amount of human suffering caused by a single dictator, Mao definitely rivals Hitler and Stalin. (End of excerpt)



(From the archives, read one of my old articles on China: The Explainer: China's Malacca Dilemma)