China | Chaguan

A new children’s film about Zhou Enlai reveals a lot about China today

It is a deeply conservative country, even as it prepares to celebrate its revolution

COUNTRIES HAVE to make revealing choices as they craft patriotic messages for children. To put it kindly, young minds are tiny treasure-houses that deserve to be stocked with only a nation’s most precious beliefs. To be more blunt, small children are easily distracted, so are best taught only a few important things.

This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “A century-old party woos the young”

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From the June 5th 2021 edition

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