What Communist China Taught a 6-Year-Old American Boy
With Tiananmen Square as My Playground, I Learned Lifelong Lessons About Diplomacy, Authority, and Democracy
A worker comes to Beijing, to Communist Party headquarters, and asks to see Chairman Mao.
A soldier stops him. “You can’t see Mao,” he says. “He’s dead.”
The worker returns the next day, and again asks for Mao. The same soldier turns him away: “You can’t see him. He’s dead.”
The third day, the worker returns, and insists: “I must see Chairman Mao.”
The soldier loses his temper. “I told you yesterday, and the day before that. Chairman Mao is dead. Dead! Dead! Dead!”
“I know,” says the worker, with a smile. “I just …
