It is difficult in China to discuss the horrors of the Cultural Revolution openly. The dark period from 1966 to 1976, when millions of people were persecuted, many of them to death, by fanatical gangs unleashed by Mao Zedong, is skated over in official histories. Under Xi Jinping the subject is even more taboo. He describes reflection on Mao-era atrocities as “historical nihilism”—a threat, as he sees it, to the Communists’ grip on power. Yet in online discussion of American politics, censors provide leeway. When mocking or lamenting the Trumpian world, Chinese netizens often refer to the Cultural Revolution. Their comments are revealing.
The Economist
