Next year marks the seventieth anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Mao Zedong and his fellow revolutionaries made a new state, proud and independent. It was also authoritarian and murderous. That era seemed over, but oppression with totalitarian overtones has returned to the PRC. What should America do?
China's history is long and tortured. Once a great empire that dominated its neighbors, it turned inward, falling behind both its neighbors and more distant Western powers. The dynasty stagnated and was humiliated by outsiders. The overthrow of the Manchus in 1911 and rise of Sun Yat-sen offered hope, but the nominal republic suffered through warlord conflicts, Japanese invasion and civil war. There was much to criticize in the rule of Chiang Kai-shek, but his flaws paled compared to those of Mao Zedong, the revolutionary who came to dominate life in the world's most populous country.
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