let's find out how the weather is looking. it has been a contrast in the across the country. the west and east divide with the best of the sunshine in east england and temperatures peaking in the low 20s. further west, a weather front brought cloud and enterprise rain. mostly light, heavy bursts in scotland. through the night it it moves into the midlands and south in the as well. file could be dense and places in northern ireland. that could be slow to left. this weather front sits through the spine of the country through the spine of the country through the spine of the country through the day. there is the odd spot to drizzle and a drab afternoon under the front. with sunshine at either side, under the front. with sunshine at eitherside, decent spells under the front. with sunshine at either side, decent spells will make it feel pleasantly warm. 14—20dc not out of the question. it looks like fog could be a question again as we move into tuesday morning. but a quiet story with sunny spells. wet and windy weather starts to arrive

from late wednesday onwards. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines: the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, resists calls from within his own party to commit to keeping britain in the european single market and customs union indefinitely after brexit. the important priority is to ensure that we have a tariff—free trade access to the european market. half of all our trade is with europe. i would also say that we need to look very carefully at the terms of any trade relationship. shadow home secretary diane abbott says labour would recruit thousands of new police officers, accusing the government of trying to protect the country on the cheap. labour in government will work to make communities safe, and we will recruit 10,000 new police officers. voters in germany are casting their ballots in a general election which is expected to give angela merkel a fourth term as chancellor. nfl players kneel during the american anthem at wembley in defiance of president donald trump. now on bbc news, a special

china edition of witness. hello and welcome to a special additional witness. i am hello and welcome to a special additional witness. iam here hello and welcome to a special additional witness. i am here at the british library where we look at five moments of chinese history that helped shape the country. we will meet an archaeologist who has worked on the terracotta army site for decades. 0urfirst

on the terracotta army site for decades. our first witness visited china as a gi during world war ii and stayed on. hejoined the communist party he was so idolised. and it was so impossible to criticise him. he finally convinced himself that china needed an emperorfigure. i think mao, before coming to power and after coming to power, were two quite different personalities. but he was enormously courteous. he was disarming. he could make you forget that you were in the presence of someone from history. he was a large man and he had great personal dignity and was very easy to talk to. yunnan was the nerve centre of the entire communist movement. it was so rare in those days to have an american that spoke chinese.

i was fascinated by the work they were doing. and i decided to stay and act as an english language person for their radio programme. it was an atmosphere of great determination. i would say even of great pride and joy to be there, to be part of that movement, which people felt was building a new china. there was one american movie every week. i used to go interpret. and mao's favourite films by far where laurel and hardy, were laurel and hardy, but they loved that.

when mao laughed, he laughed like a baby laughs. like every muscle in his face was laughing, from brow to chin. i would go to the party headquarters and play chinese gin rummy, cards. they would all tease each other and cuff each other around and be very warm, but not with mao. he would sit there and nobody would tease him or cuff him around. i never felt that he was a friend. maybe i felt that because i did argue with him on occasion. mao always had a ruthless streak. i think mao never intended that people should die in the great famine in the great leap forward. but he didn't really make it stop. i think the official estimates

from china run around 30 million who starved to death. it was a disaster. i was suddenly arrested and held in solitary confinement for six years in prison. the first year, in total darkness. when i heard in the prison that mao had died, i thought this was the most terrible blow that the world revolution could suffer. but i didn't shed a single tear. you know, i think mao was an extremely difficult character to analyse. he could do, and did do, good things for china that nobody else could have done. he also did horrible things for china that nobody

else could have done. and sidney stayed in china until 1980, when he returned to the us. in the 1960s, chairman mao wanted to root out opposition to his leadership and rid the country of any semblance of old chinese culture and history. at the forefront of the so—called cultural revolution were the red guards, fanatical supporters of mao and his circle. saul yeung was a member of the red guards. file: the biggest nation on earth, china, is in turmoil. is china's ageing leader, mao zedong, losing control? has mao gone mad, driven perhaps to megalomania by the hysterical adoration of the teenage red guard? mao had decided to mobilise the young people as the driving

force of a vast campaign to purify the communist party. mao had decided to mobilise the young people as the driving force of a vast campaign to purify the communist party. there was to be a new revolution, a cultural revolution, a revolution in people's thinking. file: inspired by mao, the red guards went wild in their enthusiasm to keep the revolution alive. they worshipped mao as their leader and follow his

instructions without question. they consider long hair and western—style clothes un—communist. after reports of riotings, beatings up and even murder, the red guard seem to have gone too far. their leaders have told them to cool off and go and help with the harvest. saul yeung, who has forged a new life for himself and his family in the us. for decades, communist china's relationship with the us was difficult, to put it mildly. but things started to change in 1972 with president richard nixon's visit to meet chairman mao. the former diplomat winston lord was part of the delegation that travelled to china. file: today, president nixon is visiting china — the first american statesman to have set foot on chinese soil since chairman mao came to power in 1949. frankly, many of us

were a little disappointed in the arrival arrangements. this was a huge geopolitical event, and we naively thought there'd be big crowds. in fact, there were just a few people. but then we recognised, again, that this was in keeping with the realistic fact that we had been enemies for 22 years and you couldn't turn the page immediately. and so, these two great countries, the most powerful nation on earth visits the most populous nation on earth. i was special assistant to henry kissinger, the national security adviser, and i was in charge of orchestrating and putting together the thick briefing books for the president for his trip to china. my first impressions of beijing was a very bleak and rather depressing place. it was very drab. everyone is dressed the same. very few cars — mostly bicycles. we arrived at the guest house and to our surprise,

they announced that chairman mao would like to see president nixon right away. this was mao acting like a traditional chinese emperor — not giving you any warning when you're going to be summoned to his presence. i've worked for many presidents, including several close up. president nixon was by far the most well versed and strategic in international relations. he was extraordinary. whatever his flaws, one has to grant him that. as a person, he was quite shy. he was always somewhat ill at ease in engaging in banter or small talk. kissinger and i agreed that chairman mao would always have exuded power and attraction. this is not to glorify him, he was a monster in many ways. we immediately recognise the significance of the meeting. the chairman was declaring the visitor success chairman was declaring the visitor success from the beginning. at the

conclusion of the meeting, the chinese came in with photographs of all of us at the meeting. nixon and kissinger looked at each other then told joe and i, mr lord was never at this meeting, please cut him out of the photos. iwas this meeting, please cut him out of the photos. i was sitting here this meeting, please cut him out of the photos. iwas sitting here next kissinger. it was already humiliating for the american secretary of state not to be at the meeting while the national security adviser was, but to have in addition some punk in his early 30s also sitting in at the meeting... it's worth coming 16,000 miles just to stand here and see the wall. join me in raising your glasses to chairman mao and to the friendship

of the chinese and american people. we we re of the chinese and american people. we were in the middle of a geopolitical earthquake. it was a combination of nerves of steel working on this but also a sense that we were frankly in the midst of making history. winston lord remembering the key moment in us— chinese relations. remember you can watch witness every month on the bbc news channel or you can catch up on all our films news channel or you can catch up on all ourfilms and news channel or you can catch up on all our films and more than 1000 radio programmes on our online archive. now to one of the greatest finds of the 20th century. in the spring of 1974, local farmers in china accidentally uncovered the site of the vast terracotta army. our next witness is an archaeologist who has dedicated her career to the remarkable lives of these figures. it is a vast pottery army slowly being unearthed from the tomb where it has lain for

more than 2,000 years. at one time... i've worked at the site for many years. she still works at the site of the terracotta army in xi'an. finally in 1989, chinese authorities crushed a popular movement in beijing. among those protesting was an 18—year—old student. tiananmen square is a square design to fit at least a couple of million people and that square was bumper—to—bumper full. you could feel at that time that something was going on. you could see millions of ordinary

citizens of beijing blocking army lorries from coming in. 10,000 chinese troops have tried to seize control of the centre of peking tonight. but their attempt to sweep away the student demonstrators that have been camped in tiananmen square appeals to have failed. their demands for democracy, a free press and an end to corruption. it was the last year of my high school studies. the first time we joined in, a classmate of mine and me and five others, we said, "forget it, we're going". that was onjune 4th. the central television started to broadcast this ominous message repeatedly for quite a few hours. "0h, citizens, please return to your homes, "the army and the security forces are coming in to clear "the city centre. "if you disobey this order, you will be responsible "for all the consequences".

most decided to stay where they were. and then things started to unravel. you just heard banging. you start to hear those sounds. and then you start to see people bleeding, being carried to various hospitals around you. people crying and shouting. i felt numb. it was beyond anybody‘s comprehension. you focus your mind, you are trying to get to a place of safety. maybe it's home, maybe somewhere else. for a moment, it could be just behind a dumpster, behind a rubbish bin or somewhere. you just wanted to go. i eventually got home.

of course my mum was worried sick and she locked the doors and my brother and i were still a bit pumped and we said we should find a kitchen knife or something and go out and do something. she said "you guys, don't be stupid. "you cannot affect any change at this time. "nothing". 0n the main road east of the square at 10:23 this morning, there was a sudden and deadly volley from the troops. i remember sitting on the sofa in the living room, hearing all this chaos going on around you. the second day, while you still hear sporadic firing and nobody dared to venture too far away, you sort of have poked your head out. first the alleyway and then on to the secondary roads and then trying to see whatever is going on. the first site was littered slippers, burned—out army trucks,

and i even saw two armoured personnel carriers burnt out from the inside. tangled bicycles, definitely driven over by heavy vehicles. i felt an utter sense of desperation and utter despair. i didn't feel there was a future. i felt ijust need to go. my father at that time was in canada. he was able to apply for a family reunion visa for my mother, my brother and i. i was one of the few fortunate ones. at that very moment. that's all from the special edition of witness here at the british library. don't forget that we will be back at the end of the month for another five extraordinary moments in history. for now, for me and the rest of the witness team, goodbye. it certainly has been a contrasting

quy it certainly has been a contrasting guy across the country, west— east divide with the best sunshine in eastern england and temperatures peaking in the low 20s. further west weather front brought cloud and rain, mostly light but heavier bursts in scotland and eventually through the night to night into the midlands and the south. behind it we see the cloud breaking up with patchy fog through wales and south—west england, maybe dense in places for northern ireland. that will be slow to lift and at the same time the weather front will sit

through the spine of the country for match of the day, weakening to cloud and the odd spot of drivel, a bit of and the odd spot of drivel, a bit of a drab afternoon, but sandwiched either side decent spells of sunshine, and again feeling pleasa ntly warm sunshine, and again feeling pleasantly warm in the sun, 14—20d. it looks like fog could be a problem again as we move into tuesday morning but a quiet story with sunny spells, wet and windy weather starting to arrive from late wednesday onwards.