tv The Red Children Deutsche Welle July 3, 2020 11:15am-12:00pm CEST
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this in 1966 china was swept up by the rising tide of the cultural revolution in august more than 1000000 people gathered on chin on many squares to celebrate. chairman mao tse told launched a movement for the masses the aim was to weed out anyone who appeared eager to steer the revolution and people's mindsets toward capitalism the young people of china became messengers of miles' communist doctrine. they were joined by people from all over the world who believed involves philosophy. more than 400 foreigners were involved in the cultural revolution. their sons and daughters known as the red children were given a communist education and as teenagers were drawn into the revolution their lives are a missing page in an otherwise well known chapter of chinese history. the
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story of the red children begins with that of their parents during this tumultuous period of the 20th century they left their homes with a dream of helping to found a new china. for someone say. my father was born into an upper middle class jewish family in england. 2 but in 1028 my grandfather's business failed and he went bankrupt. wolf wasn't my father moved to china or 938 ounce writing the book red star over china and he was impressed with the actions of the chinese communist party you got the. red star over china depict mao to dong as a hero aims to save the poor and pursue social equality for the masses. stablished
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the base of the revolution and you are not a remote part of central china. in an era when poverty in persecution were spreading throughout the world miles philosophy attracted young idealists like michael crooks fought. the measure of my father's 1st destination was john i was here he wanted to meet these great people that he had read about. like mounted on a joy in life with the obvious either. in 1939 michael's father david met canadian born isabella brown they married soon afterward the couple worked for the communist regime as language teachers for diplomats and other officials. my nana is me me milat my name is mimi miller nine's i was born in
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china in 1950. 9 my father was. it was german. because he was half jewish he had to flee nazi persecution in germany. nazi died. in 1933 the nazis seized power in germany after graduating from high school and miller escaped from a labor camp and fled to switzerland. while studying medicine at the university of basel he formed friendships with leftwing classmates including some international students from china. at the time china was fighting against japanese expansionism a chinese friend suggested that hans miller go to china and support the communists
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. after graduating from university or wanted to aid the fight against fascism and decided to put his medical skills to u.c. in china were. in 1939 after 5 months of travel here right at the base of the revolutionaries any mediately he requested to work at the front of the tunnel the way to yon was relates carolus sometimes they had to break through the enemy blockades in the middle of the night. one soldier suffered a ruptured your research on the battlefield but there were very few surgeons in the area who were able to use modern surgical scalpels. mail and leisure my father operated on him using the scalpel he brought from switzerland. to surgery went well. and the people of the village started calling him the buddhist saint of the west. in 1905 when she was
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just 14. went to manchuria to study at a japanese nursing school soon afterward japan was defeated and the 2nd world war was over leaving cocoa stranded in the chaos and unable to return home. soon after that the chinese civil war resume as a nurse kyoko naca moro was invaluable to the communists she was assigned to the front where she met dr hans muller who was working for the chinese army. when they were the only them though ah. 2 i was surprised to see european dogs in the communist ani. one he said was hard for me to understand. week i think you think. at 1st conoco morrow was hesitant to control a found herself attracted to hans muller 2 they fell in love and were then married
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they joked about how to german fascism and japanese fascism met and got married in the chinese communist army after the war they stayed in china and in 1950 minnie was born in beijing i am in october 1949 mounted on founded the people's republic of china and quickly became a hero to the chinese people. about 100 foreigners from the us in europe was subscribed amounts or domes beliefs were given important positions and they enjoyed generous privileges. foreigners were few and far between in china at that time the families of red children received special treatment but also began to integrate into chinese society. bar one jolly theology our economic situation was relatively good my parents got a higher salary then their chinese colleagues say you are an idiot or you're sure
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it's always you know. most of the red children and their families were provided with accommodation in the form of dormitories or rooms in what was called the friendship hotel in beijing. compared with chinese people the foreigners enjoyed good treatment but they were still subject to the control of the communist party and faced restrictions on moving freely to different provinces and choosing their jobs. read children attended local schools and receive the same education as chinese children. they soon became fluent in chinese. shallot the easy. the 1st phrase i learned in primary school was great for chairman mao. hall and the next were labor and farmer. my mother supported me and was very strict in what she taught me the farmers are suffering from poverty and landowners are crooks. they would teach us these ideas
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in the form of fairy tales if we're getting into i accepted this education without questioning it just as sure sounded mean that you don't you walk in chains on the job. in the 1950 s. a development boom began in the urban areas of beijing. with the cold war dividing europe and the west the communist party actively recruited experts from around the world for their professional and technical skills. but just you know my name is money. i was born in mostly a 945. my father was an architect you know in 1951 he decided to go to china to help with the country's development.
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needs father laon was born in beijing in 1912 to a chinese father and a polish mother. studied in paris and married event a french woman during the 2nd world war he joined the resistance and fought against the german occupation. after the war laon worked as an architect and more say he had a good life in france but the opportunity to build up a new country appealed to him. my brothers saw the china as his homeland i'm felt that socialism was going well but. my parents were both members of the french communist party. but decided to go to china to give their full support to the country. in 1051 a family boarded a cruise ship and moved to china. leone's experience as an
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architect in france was valued highly he played a central role in beijing's urban planning designing a hospital highway bridges and many other structures. in there my mother worked in china radio international and became a pioneer of the french broadcasting establishment. the family's happy life soon came to an end in 1957 months father was caught up in an unforeseen development you know at your definition which we yet i don't mean for my father pointed out that beijing city hall was 2 luxury yes. in addition he submitted his opinion to the beijing institute of architectural design. all he did was provide advice on technical issues but it resulted in him being put before a kangaroo court so yeah the ego. at the time
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china was engaged in an anti rightist movement scholars and intellectuals who criticized the communists were branded as members of the right wing. they were denounced and forced to undergo reeducation and state sponsored manual labor programs. the roots of the movement can be traced back to the soviet union following the death of stalin in 1953 his successor nikita khrushchev launched a series of political reforms in 1956 he condemned some of those crimes committed under stalin and the cult of personality that had surrounded him. seizing the opportunity and electros in hungary poland and other communist countries in eastern europe encouraged uprisings in hope of bringing about reforms the soviet union responded by dispatching its military to crush the opposition. mounted on was wary about the prospect of similar events in china he cracked down
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on intellectuals who criticized the party and branded over half a 1000000 people as right wing radicals. they are and why i was among them he was removed from his position as supervisor of a major development project and forced to work on the construction site for a year after her father was branded a rightist monique also suffered repercussions. on the shoulder shelf when i was in junior high school i got into quarrels with my classmates they called me a little rightist. i got back at my classmates by slapping them in the face but it happened pretty awful. for i was angry that my father was dismissed as rightwing so i was even angrier when they called me a little rightist i should say you know patton. chairman mao i want to china to become the leader of
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a communist world replacing the soviet union. he boasted that china would surpass britain within 15 yr and in 1958 he launched the great leap forward the entire nation was expected to participate in agricultural and industrial development. the farming system was to be collectivized by placing it under the direct control of what we called peoples communes. banned private sector farms and strictly rationed food distribution around the country. between 158960 2 at least 45000000 people. worked starved beaten to death during the great leap forward food is forcibly taken from the countryside in order to see people in the cities and other words cities off friends thought and they live in the bubble
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all information is strictly controlled. very difficult for ordinary people never mind foreigners to actually know what is happening in the countryside . following collectivization and the destruction and collapse of agricultural production food shortages began to reach the cities. but the communist party regulated the media so the public was initially unaware of the situation. in 1962 the party leadership assessed the progress of the great leap forward. she was heir apparent inspected the grim reality of rural areas and admitted the party's failure you reintroduced some capitalist policies that mao had a limited. amount of fear that this failure could be used to undermine his authority the result was the cultural revolution. shortly after
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the founding of the people's republic in 1949 the communist party had also set up a nationwide youth organization called the young pioneers. it sought to train the new generation to become the communist leaders of the future. joining the young pioneers was effectively mandatory for schoolchildren and their red neckerchief remains to this day a symbol of pride and belonging. away you should not i was told that it was part of the national flag i missed died in the blood of the motss of the revolution. my parents were very happy that i joined tonight to be on a trip to the great war with you. i wore my red scarf and i felt really on a. in
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1966 miles launched the cultural revolution in order to realize his ideal communist state he launched a nationwide campaign to eliminate dissidents and reeducate the chinese people. now rely primarily on loyal young activists who had been steeped in his communist philosophy since childhood. they were highly motivated to overthrow any leaders of the communist party that might have had capitalist leanings. in may 1966 mahler stablished the cultural revolution group centered on his wife jiang ching. the propaganda arm of the party and the people's daily newspaper wielded the effective power in the group they began to disseminate propaganda about the cultural revolution and mahler's ideology around the same time some middle school students in beijing formed a group called the red guard. they said they wanted to combat so-called revisionist
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authorities and attitudes soon red guard units began emerging in schools across the country in the early stages of the cultural revolution pro-communist foreigners were not allowed to assume active roles most of them were forced to remain in the friendship hotel and were placed under the supervision of the state administration of foreign experts affairs. following chairman mao's instructions chinese were eventually allowed to participate in the revolution. as you young foreigners wanted to form a team of their own. since you say you know our parents encouraged us for so we built up a youth group for. youth group. the washerwoman even though we were teenagers we wanted to be critical as well. michael crooks like other chinese teenagers believed in the political ideals of the
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cultural revolution at the time young people always carried a little red book called quotations from chairman mao tse tung. that provided an introduction to his ideas and thoughts about the communist party and was originally published by the people's liberation army in 1964. during the 10 years of the cultural revolution an estimated 1000000000 copies of the little red book were printed and sold in china together with the selected works of mao to dong it was regarded by mao's supporters as one of the treasured read books. at school and in the workplace everybody read it. miles thoughts had infiltrated the public consciousness. in the summer of 1966 a series of events was organized to advertise the cultural revolution the rallies were captured on government propaganda film. if it was easy
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it's a challenge look it was you know if you don't play tell what she is doing but it seems you. granted free transportation for all participants over 1000000 young students from all over china attended a series of rallies. also ordered the gatherings to be broadcast in theaters around the country to promote the movement and create an appealing image of the red guards . well maybe the other policies they have other things till they get the things that leaflets want to see. him lay being so the only serious injuries yes i one regard later said we were enthusiastic mauer's but at the same time we were a people discontented with reality i knew from
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a little before we hear why did the teenagers actively participate in the cultural revolution and join the red concerts or. that sooner or. rebellious you. chairman mao san teenage is full of energy. let's hear the cheshire shit with you. at the rallies the leaders called for the red guards to destroy the 4 old old customs culture habits and ideas which they regarded as remnants of feudal and borzois society. the red guard soon set about destroying traditional temples buddhist statues and other cultural treasures anything deemed to symbolize the old authority. meanwhile landowners and wealthy citizens believed to be capitalists were subjected to show trials scholars writers and artists were assaulted and in some cases beaten
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to death the police stood by silently. mimi muller's chinese friends became red guards and took part in the cultural revolution she also read the little red book every day on the bus and was proud to spread chairman mao's doctrine but her father hans muller who had helped to build the new china started to have doubts about the cultural revolution old comrades who had fought alongside him now found themselves coming under fire. well you may will allow my father told be very clearly if you resort to violence do not come back home so i try to limit my involvement or joy if i no longer always. at the time reading people's homes had become a popular pastime among the red guards they would break into the homes of suspected
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capitalists searching for hidden assets and any papers to prove ownership of land which were held up as evidence of counter-revolutionary activity. that you offer and that my friend called me to search our classmates house mema and they are showing your situation from this kind of thing was allowed back then. and you know that. they filed their mail but to my father this access and forgivable. so it was difficult for me to make a decision that sounded bad. after some consideration i decided my father was wrong in this case. and i talked to him and he said much if you join any violent activities you must leave this household.
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so. so i only took part on one occasion. i watched without saying anything. when i broke into the house and i was confused. to handle. i don't remember a thing which it is that they are my only memory is up a piece of gold rolling past me just the comment on. what you see that challenge jordan at the time i thought it was the right thing to do for the revolution i didn't have any doubts. to chanel's really get down and i didn't even think about why. he way sharma to do just like wearing the latest fashion is built into we didn't ask for a reason but they should give. one their shots or with their sounds out. of the thrower should say. there's your hubby course i was only 13 years old when
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the cultural revolution began to try the major loss for year i was very active. we broke into the offices of the art and music teachers are to go through the good the good ones to try to beat the teacher with a battle b. but it was stopped by the other students. are you know what though you don't try as i once went back to visit my former principal who i respected. you for here she'd been beaten by her students and had her leg broken up she still had trouble walking when i visited her all those years later huge ego of the sure and what you are you sure you were. one year before the cultural revolution began moni chua had returned to france to study. i found out that the cultural revolution was underway in china when i there were
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reports about it in the newspaper this. year i wanted to go back and see what was happening but if i stayed in front i would never know the truth i think. what i wanted to see it with my own only see. one of us but. in the summer of 1967 monique dropped out of university and returned to china believing that helping the cultural revolution was a once in a lifetime opportunity but what she witnessed there was different from what she had imagined. so hero as you are to be sure is and then why was there so much chaos. one time i saw someone being paraded around with her arms down behind her back. an old woman who was forced to wear large cone shaped hands had an idea over. time it's all
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about that whole i witnessed scenes like this all around the city look. tony the young people didn't have any sympathy so i would even make fun of them being with their owners. gentil martha. and the whole i buy her that in my school the red guards had basin and heated to death. the house. that teacher was a very unassuming person. situation on the water i started to have doubts about the cultural revolution and where did miles i don't think this would lead. to. the revolution also spread to the workplace and local government special red guard factions sprang up everywhere and anyone who opposed them would be punished senior managers and political figures were replaced one after another. eventually the
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purges reached the top of the government in 1987 she was dismissed as president summarily tried and placed under house arrest. following severe maltreatment his health deteriorated he died in prison and was cremated in secrecy. you would see me an october 17th 1967 a rebel faction of the beijing foreign studies university seized my father and accused him of being a foreign spy when i was told. michael crooks father david taught at the university before he was arrested on campus by a rebel faction and taken to an unknown location. his family tried desperately to find out where he was. there and i came to appeal for his release. she said to the rebels you are wrong to detain my husband david and i are not just married we have comrades and partners of the revolution
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are hard at home she was then also seized by the rebel faction. a lot of the foreigners were targeted during the cultural revolution. the wrongful capture of my father is just one example. children. it's a coming on to $66.00 a lot of the slogans are about capitalist road reversion ists a year later it's all about trade to spy. run again. it's not just about foreigners who might be spies it's about anybody who might have an enemy link with a foreigner so so coming on to $67.00 onwards there is
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a good rates which hans. a friend of michael's was born in beijing to a chinese father and an american actress. her father. had been born in the us to chinese expatriates and became a leading expert in metallurgy 1950 he went to help with establishment of the new china and became the director of an important research laboratory. because you have to pay came from the us and had an american wife he was criticized by a rebel faction within the laboratory and he was violently denounced. in 1988 he was held captive for a year in a cabin near the laboratory although he was the director he was not permitted to continue his work instead he was ordered to clean the toilets. after his release yet you pay was diagnosed with late stage cancer but he continued writing his
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research papers trying to contribute what he could to china's progress as a suspected counter-revolutionary he was denied treatment and eventually died. you know what. china destroyed my father. he could have done so much for china. just by all he went through he went back to help the chinese people. in 1967 and 68 a power struggle emerged among various rebel groups in cities around the country armed guards continued to turn around and kill one another. in shanghai she chong ching and other places rebel factions seized weapons from factories the cultural revolution devolved into a massive armed struggle. to combat this in december 1968 mona introduced
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a new policy measure called the down to the countryside movement the young leaders of the cultural revolution renew urged to move from the urban to rural areas. under the pretext of learning true values from poor farmers some $16000000.00 people were relocated to rural labor programs for several years. the urban use proved unsuited for farm work but their removal did help to reduce the violence committed by red guards in the cities michel crook and many of the other foreign red children were not sent to rural areas or ordered to work in factories in beijing michael worked in an agricultural machinery factory that tried in the factory we stood in a line in front of paul try to. every want to help the little red book and sang a song to us. michael's free education in this
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factory continued for 2 years then he worked at a car repair factory for another 2 years and late 1968 the rebel faction at the radio station where monique was mother worked arrested monique without warning they had tapped her phone and had been monitoring her behavior. that time i was stunned and wondered what was going to happen. florida. so down in confess your model you throw a newspaper with chairman miles portrait on this in the trash wrong that you know you are your balls to defame chairman mao is to defame everyone you down the wall with no one will forgive you. changed your opinion if you do not confess your parents and your brother and sister will have no future.
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for. me because i knew i was threatened like this day after day which are in the many candles or do you know. no one told one example you that she had been taken away her sister katrine 14 years old at the time couldn't understand what was happening what should they say they were sharing a room and all my sisters belongings were seized you know what measure you pushed for a while i had no idea where my sister went oh. my gosh my mother was crying every day. my father was also very worried what you see what we didn't know what to do you know just how cool that. monique was subjected to intensive questioning for more than a month she was told that if she confessed to her crime she would be released. so she signed her arrest warrant she did not know what was to come. her and they don't
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. why did your daughter then they told me that i was officially arrested. i couldn't believe it. so i had signed exactly what they told me to. i wanted to scream but i couldn't so that is what happened so much happened all at once to their own daughter. i signed the warrant. there now i was speechless. and. although she had done nothing when a question are judged as a foreign spy man sent to a prison in beijing that held people accused of political crime. i told them what i was sure for the 1st couple of months they gave me a book quotations from chairman mao. she'd had her mother don't send yeah when i
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said i wanted to read something else they asked me whether i understood the entire book yet. also i said most of it. i told me i was an insolent person you're a criminal keep reading. you have a hard time you know let me hear now so i had no choice but to read it. eventually i began to deny the charges i was deceived by rebel faction and i signed the arrest warrant even though i'm innocent it's over shall i thought the. china comic book i 10 every time i thought about it my entire body hurt and i was numb with pain. my more time and.
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it continued like that for 3 years. i spent my time looking at the tree outside the prison all the time. made him kind of a fool i started talking to the tree sit tell you. other than are looking at the tree in this talk reminds me of those days to go boy bush will issue a salary cut all sure as hell not the bad as. in 1971 monique was sent to a labor camp she was released one year later there is no evidence of money ever being a spy. in the meantime a shift was underway that would have a profound impact on the lives of the red children. amid rising tensions between china and the soviet union beijing sought to resume diplomatic relations with japan
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and the west this paved the way for a visit by u.s. president richard nixon in 1972 a historic event that ended 25 years of hostility and shift the balance of power in the cold war. as china's international relationships improved foreigners who had been wrongfully accused and imprisoned were released including michael crooks parents. in 1973 state premier joanne lie spoke at a gathering of foreign citizens to apologize on behalf of the government for their treatment during the cultural revolution. maybe muller who had joined in at least one house raid left her factory in beijing after 2 years and reenrolled in university she married a swiss man and left china in 1986. susan
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a yeah who had lost her father who left china for the u.s. in 1973 she still lives in san francisco. that's a mirror michael cook and his brothers moved to their father's native britain they attended university there before michael returned to china. to tone died in 1976 the man who had had such a drastic impact on the lives of the red children the so-called gang of 4 of elite political leaders including mao's 3rd wife jiang chaney were arrested on charges of conspiracy against the state and party the cultural revolution had come to an end. the key must be that mao at this point has pretty much the cheve what he wanted to achieve he's eliminated most of his i mean he's. he as asserted as absolute authority and also tom ford has been written back into the constitution
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and there are no anime's left standing. to join. so should i have tried to forget those painful memories. i don't want to remember the cultural revolution at all. now that. i feel chinese inside i feel this is my country looking back on the cultural revolution i think it was a. it was a soul stirring event. money quad returned to paris in 1985 and worked as a chinese teacher until her retirement she published a set of chinese textbooks that became very popular in france and are still in
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print. but few readers were aware of the author's difficult early life in china. eventually her parents also came back and spent their later life in france but the 3 of them never managed to reflect upon their life together in china. so even. though you know for a couple of weeks before my father passed away i went out to the suburbs with him on the fire the younger he took a look around and said he felt like a child much stronger found. a letter that chinese restaurant some day and have dinner with everybody the one at your high all the you know each as if you'd forgotten all the painful memories in this young of the. cultural revolution in terms of death is actually not all that exceptional probably only up to about 2000000 people actually lost their lives between 19661976 when chairman mao dies but the key to
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understanding the damage done during the cultural revolution to ordinary people is not look at death but to look at loss of trauma loss of face loss of trust in social relationships where people are obliged to denounce not only neighbors and colleagues but also their own family members where the entire social fabric is destroyed. in 1981 the communist party issued an appraisal of the country's modern history it said the cultural revolution had been a serious mistake but that mounted toms achievements outweighed his failures. the idealists who travelled from overseas to help create a new china. and their red children who grow up amid the o.
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peoples of the cultural revolution. 2 generations whose lives work and delicately shaped by their experiences of red china. enter the conflict zone the bastion india's government is in the firing line a time when a brute force accused of botany coming back coronavirus and lying about abuse and battle between its own troops and chinese forces in the fall my guest this week from new delhi ensued out you should maybe a member of the alpha house of columnist and the national spokesperson for the b.j. couplets looks. 30 minutes from dublin. to
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the point of strong opinions clear positions of international perspective such. coronavirus continues to spread relentlessly and is the poor who are suffering most both in better off industrialized countries and in the global south so how should the international community respond join me and my guess some to the point short flying. to the point. in 90 minutes on t w. indeed of climate change. the trick is to make a suit. to suit the people. who want to use today for their future. dot com for i guess if you use the making. click church.
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of the. place. this is the dog you news live from berlin a change at the top in french politics france's prime minister tenders his resignation the head of the government reshuffle a white full. push ahead with plans to reinvent his presidency also on the program a record number of new coronavirus cases in the u.s. with mixed messages coming from the trunk of the.
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