In the early years of the Chinese republic, progressives looked west for political inspiration. This was how Deng Xiaoping — who would eventually lead China — came to be in France in the 1920s. He and his peers did indeed find inspiration abroad — just not the kind that his bourgeois sponsors anticipated.
Narrated by Kaiser Kuo.
China Stories is published twice weekly, on Tuesday and Friday. Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
