China 1949: Year of Revolution

Graham Hutchings (University of Oxford China Centre and University of Nottingham)

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Abstract

1949 was a critical year in the history of China , the growth of international communism and the evolution of the Cold War. It also divided the Chinese nation, creating 'two Chinas' - and leaving a legacy with which Chinese leaders and people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, as well as those in the US, Japan and other parts of Asia must contend with today.

But China's year of revolution was about more than a shift in national and geopolitics. It affected millions of lives of Chinese people, whether they were 'winners' or 'losers', influential political or military leaders on either side or merely ordinary citizens. It was above all a human story, one of tragedy for some, of triumph for others.

In this talk, Graham Hutchings will explore something of the human drama at the heart of the 1949 story, and show how the communist conquest of mainland China in that year provides a key to understanding the behaviour of the Chinese state under Xi Jinping, more than 70 years later.

Podcast

China 1949: Year of Revolution

About the speaker

Graham Hutchings is an Associate at the University of Oxford China Centre and an Honorary Professor at the University of Nottingham, UK. He was Managing Editor at Oxford Analytica and, prior to that, China Correspondent of London’s Daily Telegraph, based in Beijing and Hong Kong. He is the author of Modern China: A Companion to a Rising Power (2000).

Registration

This webinar will take place online via Zoom. Click here to register

* The webinar will also be live-streamed on our Facebook page for those that are unable to participate via Zoom.

Chair: Professor Steve Tsang (Director, SOAS China Institute)

Organiser: SOAS China Institute

Contact email: sci@soas.ac.uk