Inside Story - Remembering chairman Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong has been credited with laying the foundation for communist China.
Fourty years after his death, he remains a powerful symbol, with a controversial legacy.
Some hail him as a hero, others denounce him as a tyrant.
His policies are blamed for causing chaos, famine and mass murder.
Some of his supporters say life back then was better.
They argue China has veered off the communist path laid by Mao and blame capitalism for social inequalities, poverty and corruption.
How much better off are the Chinese now?
Presenter: Richelle Carey
Guests:
Einar Tangen - Political analyst and economic affairs advisor to the Chinese government.
Frank Dikotter - Professor of History at the University of Hong Kong
Michele Geraci - Head of China Economic Policy Research Programme, Nottingham University
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[@explorermike19]

Mao is remembered fondly by the generation who are now about 55 years old to 65 years old; people who were teenagers during the Cultural Revolution. That generation's parents ( people about 75 years old or older) often have bad memories of Mao and the Cultural Revolution because they suffered so badly. Perhaps surprisingly, today's China youth seem to have a rounded opinion of Mao recognizing both his accomplishments and his mistakes.

[@wackyruss]

Wow. The military parade in 2016 looked exactly like they recent parade in 2019

[@Mimi-nr6jx]

I wish they used actual Chinese correspondents

[@50tigres79]

My mom says Mao zedong was bad. My mom was a peasant in china.

[@50tigres79]

@FU YUAN May 1985 exactly.

[@Johnny-fd3dg]

@@50tigres79 that's why, at that time everyone in China were affected by the influence of the western world's good side that the western country tried to show us. And now if you are back to China you'll see most people find out again that Mao is a good leader that under his lead, people start not to be hungry (except for the years of natural disaster, but even in that natural disaster people gets better than the natural disasters that happens before), China was industrialize and he liberate the peasants by drive away the Warlords, bandits, landlords and Chaebols. He hate bureaucracy and lies, he was once a peasant for sometime so he knows the words come from the officials about how much the farmers can plant is not true. In the cultural revolution Mao starts to losing power because the group of four were trying to use Mao's name to get profit, and they lied to Mao for what they are doing. Why do you think China is not treated well by all other countries? Mao want China be powerful, but not powerful under any other country and that is why the relation between USSR and China brokes after Stalin died. In decades China is the enemy of both side of the Cold War and we survived. Average life in 1949 of Chinese people is about 35, and in 1979 is about 65. The 70s and 80s are the gens were affected by the western the most because in these years the old leaders including Zhou and Mao were dead and the news knows what should they do but they don't know how, they made good relation with Nato country, the nato countries keep giving fake message to the people that want them to think their government is bad which make things happens in 1989, and today in 2020 our government prove they are efficient and for the people in this pandemic. Chinese people is unite now against the US.

[@deliveryman12]

@@Johnny-fd3dg every you typed is pure propaganda. Mao was one of the worst leaders in history. He rejected reason and science for his own idea of a perfect China. Under his rule all food grown by farmers was seized by the state and you were only fed if you could work. Millions of pregnant women, old people and children died because they could not work. He once said that it is better for half of the population to die off so the other half can have their fill. He was Ignorant of how industry functioned and thought he could compete with agricultural machines of other countries by enslaving people out side of the major cities to work in fields so the crops could be exported for financial profit. He created the biggest famine in human history 50-60 million Chinese died under his rule. The only thing your government is effective at is oppression and murder. Also lying about a virus that spread across the entire AGAIN.

[@user-wt5nb9np6c]

@@deliveryman12 👍👍Right

[@wanglei91]

@@Johnny-fd3dg You're absolutely right! Western propaganda is always against China. They're just jealous about our success.

[@Yisi.voyager]

The guy in Beijing is pretty knowledgable, the hong kong guy is a classic european who thinks he knows everything

[@awhodothey]

You mean the Chinese guy who cannot legally criticize Mao? And then the guy from that place that was part of China, but was under a different government rule which experimented with capitalism and became one of the wealthiest places on the planet while his family watched the rest of the country starve to death in the biggest famine in world history created by the most murderous tyrant in human history, who they were forced to worship?

[@Time4View]

Great Moose Detective yeah that guy, Drank Dikkotter, historian. Historians think they 'know it all'😄

[@Time4View]

Yisi Liu Frank Dikotter, historian, author and professor. Was given access to chinese communist party records, he must know nothing😄

[@iggypower2672]

this comment means more today than it did 2 years ago.

[@SN-XZ]

Watch from 15:15, what the man from Rome said. I agree with it. After manipulating to destroy one after another autocracies around the world, US and some western governments only left those people in chaos and poverty. How many people died from this in Middle East? And why should the so called most civilized democracy did these to them?

[@nauticustroy1080]

No, Japan, S Korea and Taiwan have been transformed to thriving, progressive democracies.

[@carljohnson2194]

@@nauticustroy1080 but not rest of the world

[@josephstalin133]

@@carljohnson2194 laughs in western Europe

[@carljohnson2194]

@@josephstalin133 yeah

[@josephstalin133]

@@carljohnson2194 western Europe, japan, south korea, taiwan are prosperous thanx to America

[@Lukethesaver]

Bro needs to sue his barber and win a case

[@TheWaveGoodbye-Music]

Would this be the same Frank Dikotter that says the opium wars and unequal treaties weren't that bad for China?

[@EmpireExplorer]

Please show more ads. There is not enough

[@shanedamor102]

Still confused how is he blindly respected who caused deaths of thousands ....chose war and massacre instead of peacefully walking away ...How is he a general

[@awhodothey]

He killed millions, not thousands.

[@youforgot]

Everyone agrees that it was good at first beacuse everyone was getting food and then greed

[@NoreenHoltzen]

As for the deaths constantly quoted under Mao, the exaggerate claims of deaths from starvation were not increased but decreased from the deaths *before* Mao’s reforms owing to Western imperialist interference with China prior to 1950. Look up life expectancy data from 1950 to 1970, and multiply that through the large population. Mao brought live expectancy from 45 to 70 over his career, literacy from 10% to 80%. I sympathize with you as I used to have similar notion but after a lot of work realized I was completely brainwashed within Australia. Upon a lot of research it turns out that Mao did exceedingly more for the people of China than he caused problems and without Mao and their liberation of China from capitalists in the early 1950s, the whole county of China would have followed a path similar to India or Indonesia which both had a similar (even slightly better) initial conditions. Now China has eliminated poverty and has far better health care, higher literacy, economic mobility and business than India or Indonesia and is even catching up to the West which it was exceedingly behind in 1950s when Britain was still bribing and calling the shots over there.

[@youforgot]

Dont try speaking out at least one person will argue mao was good or a okay leader

[@bobcat24]

Bing chilling!

[@Hadrianus01]

3:00 - Xi JinPing looking pretty DGAF

[@tvbs56]

He is a well known idiot in PRC.

[@angelina6038]

Team Rome, since there weren't any real Chinese correspondents.

[@jackknife1796]

Yeah no narrative at all here...

[@Whitetigerking88]

It’s the anniversary of his death

[@spellman007]

our three guess to talk about China, none from China... nice.

[@alvarez6487]

Frank Dikotter is an ideologue. What he said about Mao not being apart of liberating China from Japan is historically inaccurate.

[@stevegarcia3174]

I guess they love pain have of those giving thanks to him would not survive back then so easy for people in this generation to bow to someone who probably wouldn't exist if they lived in that generation half of them be poor or executed or worse but to each there own I guess

[@wenc9027]

Poor indeed, but it was mostly because of the block from US & USSR for Mao rufused to be controlled by each one of these two superpowers, he wanted us Chinese people stand up with dignity and independence! You tell me if we accepted the control from foreign powers, can we develop to today's level? If we allowed USSR to have a fleet in our ports and army on our land, what would we be? Now, US troops are around the world, while you say the world is free but us? If freedom means US military bases, I'd rather spit on it! BTW, no US soldier is on Chinese territory, even on Taiwan which is a part of China. The poverty you said is the cost of our liberty!

[@adamlee6312]

the hongkong professor is bullshiting. for instance, the instrutcutre of the party nowadays is not the same back in 1949. the formation of political system has been evolving since 1949. and the the purpose of mao starting cultural revolution is to topple down the communist party because he believed the party was becoming a bureaucratic organisation in which the high level party members could be corrupt. mao wanted to establish a democratic sysytem which has one direct channel between one great leader and the people. During cultural revolution lots of high rank party members got sacked and put in prison by the organistion established by the people themselves. but later on, some other guys took the power of the new organistion which means this behaviour was against mao's willings. in the last time of mao's life, he cannot fully control the whole operation. if you take a closer look at the most powerful families in china at these days, you would find they were the group targeted during cultrual revolution. i think in 1966, mao had already seen the future that what these rich families would become. thats why the communist party defines the cultrual revolution is fully wrong and unacceptable because the party is not people's party anymore. but i also wouldnt think cultrual revolution is totally right because it makes china lost a decade to do economic development. what im trying to say is that you cant only see the one side of the coin.

[@yux.tn.3641]

Adam Lee isn’t this the factionalism between the princelings and the shanghai league and the youth faction? for now it seems the princelings are winning

[@brendan594]

Why would they celebrate the death of one of if not the most evil man and greatest mass murderer ever in the world

[@alessiodelcastillo1613]

They've been brainwashed like the North Koreans. They're programmed to revered their leaders as gods

[@ty814]

@@alessiodelcastillo1613 Like Stalin.

[@alessiodelcastillo1613]

@@ty814 Cult of personality. Doesn't help that the Chinese Communist Party is still in power

[@wobhineven47]

At the age of 12, I know 1/3 of mao, I hate him. At the age of 18, I know 2/3 of mao, I like him. The more I know about him, the more I'll honor him. sadly western media will only display the first 1/3 of mao. But we'll still honor him. These media and tales cant twist the true history. Words from a chinese.

[@alessiodelcastillo1613]

@@wobhineven47 Look up the definition of Cult of Personality and then you'll understand why the Chinese still revere Mao. Especially since the CCP is still in charge

[@bftb]

Presenter's pingin'!

[@hassanshayegannik155]

Those who have short memory or lack historical analysis, do not know what China looked like before the revolution and Mao's role in saving the nation from the abyss. Yes, he made a couple honest errors, which should not tarnish his historical and global role. What he did in opening the door with the West, proves that he was realizing the global process and pragmatism.

[@geraldtom8400]

Nigeria was ahead of China in the 60's. But today guess who's boss????? Modernization comes at a cost. Every superpower has blood on their hands

[@deliveryman12]

His “honest errors” killed 60 million people.

[@explorermike19]

China was far more open to the West before Mao than it was during Mao's time.

[@nihilioellipsis]

It's possible to recognize accomplishments, while still acknowledging the millions of lives lost by these 'honest mistakes.'

[@davosholdos1253]

Look theres LeBron James and Mark Zuckerberg

[@LTChu]

Einar Tangen. He is the naive one. He obviously has no grasp of Chinese history at all. DiKotter is an excellent historian.

[@MrSebastiantaylor1]

thank you

[@alvarez6487]

You are kidding right?

[@LTChu]

@@alvarez6487 The effort to minimize the brutality of China's totalitarian dictators is appalling but not unexpected, now that China is able to pay for as much good press as it would like from weak-minded pseudo-intellectuals. America built China, in hopes of a gratitude that is clearly not forthcoming. Mao, whom my father knew personally, was nothing but a brute. Tangen is nothing but a vile propagandist with zero historical knowledge of China, or even of WWII. Cf., ~the 20 min mark of this video in which he accuses DiKotter of just wanting to "sell books."

[@cjaquilino]

45 million dead at his hands is horrific. But this discussion got so hung up on that fact they barely went over how, why, and what happened.

[@Arshin143]

US presidents have killed more but go off

[@cjaquilino]

@@Arshin143 Presidents, Prime ministers, as well as other world leaders like Mao have killed millions, yeah. I have zero interest in defending any of them. How did you take this as *me* being the one to singling out Mao for deaths under his reign? I was criticizing the panel *because* they focused only on that one aspect about Mao’s reign.

[@chiamus6673]

Mao did not like government affairs...he only laid directions of principle...it was Liu and Deng Xiaoping to make and execute the policies of government...since Mao died first, Deng convenient attributed all the faults to Mao...

[@wonderfulmockingbird4660]

Mao > Jesus > Caesar

[@boiledfrog5739]

😄😄yeah i agree 100% so can i go now ?

[@Jeevanm71]

Interesting theories but Mao’s policies had a huge death toll. It would be interesting to compare the total death toll of Americas capitalist system to china’s state capitalist system, once their gdp per capitas are equal

[@NoreenHoltzen]

As for the deaths constantly quoted under Mao, the exaggerate claims of deaths from starvation were not increased but decreased from the deaths *before* Mao’s reforms owing to Western imperialist interference with China prior to 1950. Look up life expectancy data from 1950 to 1970 and multiply that through the large population. Mao brought live expectancy from 45 to 70 over his career, literacy from 10% to 80%. I sympathize with you as I used to have similar notion but after a lot of work realized I was completely brainwashed within Australia. Upon a lot of research it turns out that Mao did exceedingly more for the people of China than he caused problems and without Mao and their liberation of China from capitalists in the early 1950s, the whole county of China would have followed a path similar to India or Indonesia which both had a similar (even slightly better) initial conditions. Now China has eliminated poverty and has far better health care, higher literacy, economic mobility and business than India or Indonesia and is even catching up to the West which it was exceedingly behind in 1950s when Britain was still bribing and calling the shots over there.

[@debjyotipaul8328]

Mao

[@syedzaffer9418]

Mao zedong grade reder china 🇨🇳 🙌🙌💐💐👌💯

[@alessiodelcastillo1613]

Man murdered 80 million of his own people. I haven't even begun on the chaos and havoc he caused in Korea

[@jaredgarbo3679]

The US invaded North Korea. How is that China's fault?

[@alessiodelcastillo1613]

Jared Garbo Not before they invaded the South

[@cottonball5499]

@@alessiodelcastillo1613 Chinese didn't invade the south, and at the time South Korea was considerably more totalitarian and poor than NK.

[@elimlinrr6898]

Sorry to disappoint you that the greatest mass murderer in human history is the biblical god who killed all living things on planet earth except Noah's families. Yes, even animals were not spared. In God We Trust, printed on the USA dollar bill.

[@makotoshishio3922]

20:24 wow! this man seems not to care about facts!

[@moymoy123ish]

Great !!!! I know Mao ( Eighth Road Army) did not fight against Japan. Japan fought KMTin China and defeated directly by US in 1945. Mao did a bit of Guerrilla attack. Mao had finical support from Stalin but did not use much. Besides Mao had never cerebrate their victory defeating Japan until last year by XI. Thank you. Frank. Just straight say truth !!!!! The Mr. Tanger works to CCP.

[@caierfu7805]

chairman mao took my stuff

[@hunghohai7163]

it's a devil brings disaster to all humanity

[@mikev6046]

You're thinking of the white men who came to africa and the americas.

[@likesmilitaryhistoryalanmo9568]

70% good 30% Bad, 40to 50 million dead. Wow, the Chinese surely have been brainwashed. More like half a percent good and 99 and a half bad

[@wisdomleader85]

"The suffering under Mao was 100% the result of stuff beyond Mao's control" That's exactly what the problem was. Mao thought he could control everything with his power, he was an idealist.

[@wisdomleader85]

How is India suffering? They opened up the country ten years later after China did, and their development is exactly ten years behind today.

[@robspunk]

So how many innocent people have died at the hands of communism? i.imgur.com/eyUnc.jpg

[@khaos9849]

Too be honest, the only things mao did wrong was the great leap forward and trying to get rid of sparrows.

[@jennyli365]

No one can deny how great Chairman Mao was. The culture revolution was very important and necessary at that time.

[@explorermike19]

Whaaaat? "The Cultural Revolution was important and necessary at that time"??? I have never heard anybody say that, especially not Chinese people who lived through it. I know people who had their teeth and hair pulled out by the communists during the Cultural Revolution. My friend's father did not allow my friend to walk through the parks in Beijing in the mornings because there would be cadavers hanging from the trees. If the Cultural Revolution benefited anybody, it was only Mao himself. For the vast majority of Chinese people and China itself, the Cultural Revolution was a painful and destructive social experiment. I would certainly like to hear why you think that "The culture revolution was very important and necessary at that time". Please respond.

[@youforgot]

@@explorermike19 you cant deny it was good at first than the famine happened

[@explorermike19]

@@youforgot No. The Cultural Revolution was bad from start to finish. If you think otherwise, then you need to study history more from a world view. If you are studying history from Communist China textbooks, you are not getting the real story. Talk to some of the elderly people in China who lived through the Cultural Revolution. If they have the courage, they will tell you stories of sadness, torture, hard labor, poverty, starvation, forced relocation, murder, imprisonment, public ridicule. There was no "good part" of the Cultural Revolution.

[@youforgot]

@@explorermike19 you didnt get the context i wasnt talking about the cultural revolution

[@yux.tn.3641]

its 2019 now, the only people who care are old people and those in their 50s....

[@user-kw2dj2ep4g]

幼稚

[@breaks0]

Dikotter is a good writer but a mediocre historian @ best. He reminds me alot of Gordon "I hate China" Chang. lol

[@moymoy123ish]

You mean Dikotter remands you Gordon Chang?

[@GustavoRodriguez-qr5po]

AL JAZEERA do you finally understand what socialism is or are you going to act ignorant and pretend you don't know what it means?

[@carlosvalle2387]

I'm Team Hong Kong on this debate!

[@ShareefusMaximus]

Since you are apparently NOT going to investigate the references and claims of these "experts," maybe you should ALSO interview some... Maoist communists? I mean, it's the laziest thing that could pass for journalism. So... lift a finger.

[@deliveryman12]

Why? We know what they will say. If they say anything different they are thrown in prison.

[@ShareefusMaximus]

@@deliveryman12 So... apparently you think you have to go to China to find a Maoist? No, try Tennessee and Oklahoma. The capitalists of China have put Mao in the rearview mirror. They don't even let the youth read his books. No authoritarian regime, anywhere in the world, has as much of their population in prison as do the United States. And there are PLENTY of political prisoners that are easily Googleable. The Cuban 5 can be the start of a LONG list. Anwar Al-Aliki got a cruise missle for exercizing his "free speach."

[@deliveryman12]

@@ShareefusMaximus the us does have a high prison population but the difference is the us has fair trails and people are allowed to actually fight their case and political prisoners are never our own people. And you definitely haven’t been to either of those states if think there’s are Maoist there lmao Also Chinese definitely learn about mao. They are taught about him in school, which the party controls.

[@ShareefusMaximus]

@@deliveryman12 If you think the US has "fair trials" then you obviously haven't been made a victim of the McJustice system yet. Pray that you never have your life in the hands of the public defender. The innocence project should be enough to prove; the case the government takes MOST seriously, MURDER, is fraught with railroad justice and wrongful convictions. Now extrapolate what it must be for the less serious crimes. Several targets of the US COINTELPRO are still in jail to this day. All are Americans, most famously Mumia. Anwar Al-Aliki was born in the US and was a US citizen. His crime was speaking in a way the government didn't like. I have never been to those states but was surprised to find people teaching theory from a Maoist perspective saying that this was where they lived. The point is: they are not that hard to find. A thorough Google search would yield two North American professors. The Chinese learn about Mao like you learn about Martin Luther King. They learn a softened, diluted, and commercialized version with all, that inconveniences the current power structure, omitted.

[@highnoon7620]

American guys! read the real history by yourself, be smart. Then make American great again