“The father’s a hero, the son’s a brave lad; the father’s a reactionary, the son’s a bastard.”

You cannot begin to grasp current events in China unless you know at least some of the history of the last 65 years. From the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949, through the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, the Gang of Four, the One Child Policy, Deng Xiao Ping (and his cat), to Tienanmen Square there has been a never-ending conflict within the ruling class in China.

The world is catching a few glimpses right now of one of the more interesting episodes.

Anyone interested in China and foreign policy should read John Garnaut’s thoughtful and well-researched report below:

The Revenge of Wen Jiabao – By John Garnaut | Foreign Policy.

Incidentally, the opening quote is one of the slogans from the Cultural Revolution. One’s status in China was highly dependent (if not completely determined) by one’s ancestry – in a perverse, marxist way. If your parents were middle class, you were evil. If your parents were peasants, you were good.