Letter from Beijing

In the spring of 1967, the Cultural Revolution was in full swing in China. At a reeducation center for families of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) cadres, a denunciation session targeted "black" individuals − those labeled as "bad elements" under the Mao era. Six people were targeted that day: five adults and one teenager, the son of Xi Zhongxun (1913-2002), the former propaganda chief and vice-premier who had fallen victim to a brutal purge. The humiliating metal dunce cap he was forced to wear, since his father had been accused of disloyalty to Mao Zedong (1893-1976), was so heavy that the 13-year-old boy had to hold it up with his hands. Facing him, the assembly, fists raised, shouted "Down with Xi Jinping!" and his mother had no choice but to follow suit.

The boy was soon sent to a juvenile reeducation center. He had only summer clothes with no lining and slept directly on the freezing floor when winter arrived. He was covered in lice and was sick, later confiding that he wondered if he would survive.

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