Protesters break silence on Cultural Revolution

REUTERS

Dozens of Shanghai residents protested on Wednesday over their forced relocation to a remote corner of China in the 1960s, defying the official silence on the 40th anniversary of the chaotic Cultural Revolution.

The 150 or so protesters, many carrying signs reading "there's nothing wrong with petitioning," gathered outside the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau, which includes a petitions office where citizens can bring complaints to the government.

Most were sent to Xinjiang, China's most northwesterly province, as part of a Maoist "learn from the masses" campaign where they were forced into hard physical labor.

When able to return to Shanghai years or decades later, they often found their old houses in new hands. And the official silence over the Cultural Revolution, a decade-long period of social upheaval, has left victims without compensation.

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