From Mao's Red Guard to conscription into the Chinese People's Liberation Army

Ian Sanders (0:00)

Welcome to Cold War Conversations, the home of real stories of the Cold War.

SPEAKER_2 (0:05)

Observe. The North American dad. 50s. Great polo collection. He enters his vehicle information on Carvana. An offer appears in minutes. Remarkable. He squints, reads it again, smiles and says, dang, that's a good offer. The highest form of approval. No haggling. No hassle. No one called him boss.

He's still on the couch. Astonishing. Sell your car today on carvana.com. Pickup fees may apply.

SPEAKER_3 (0:36)

Star Wars The Mandalorian and Grogu is now streaming on Disney Plus.

SPEAKER_4 (0:41)

What are you waiting for? Hop on.

SPEAKER_3 (0:43)

The must-see galactic adventure comes home on Disney Plus.

SPEAKER_6 (0:48)

This is the way.

SPEAKER_4 (0:49)

Our only chance is to work together.

SPEAKER_3 (0:53)

I like this kid.

SPEAKER_6 (0:55)

Always wear your seatbelt.

SPEAKER_3 (0:58)

Star Wars The Mandalorian and Grogu now streaming on Disney Plus. Rated PG-13.

Bing (1:07)

There was a Red Guard raid. I lost her. When I find her, they broke her leg. She lost one of her legs during a Red Guard raid in the street.

So it was difficult for me. Twelve years old. My sister was nine years old and I was in the hospital. Watch her. Really, really feel bad.

Ian Sanders (1:32)

At 12 years old, Bing became a Red Guard and for a few intoxicating months, he felt invincible. Growing up in Mao's Beijing, Bing was taught to worship Chairman Mao, recite the Little Red Book and attack the old order.

But the Cultural Revolution soon turned against his family. His parents were condemned and sent to labor in the countryside. His grandmother was driven from Beijing, and Bing was left to care for his nine-year-old sister after she suffered a devastating injury during a Red Guard raid. Later conscripted into the People's Liberation Army, Bing endured brutal conditions in Manchuria, while preparing for a possible Soviet invasion just 20 miles from the border.

His extraordinary journey would eventually take him from an oil field and a reopened Chinese university to America, where he fulfilled his grandmother's dying wish by reuniting a family divided by the Chinese Civil War decades earlier. I'm delighted to welcome Bing to our Cold War Conversation.

Bing (2:36)

I was born in Beijing, China, officially the People's Republic of China in 1954 I grew up in Beijing. My parents were Western-educated engineers. They worked in the Ministry of Petrochemical Industry during the 50s and 60s.

I have a little sister. She is three years younger than me.

Ian Sanders (3:10)

Was your grandparents still around as well?

Bing (3:13)

My grandmother was still around during my childhood. Actually, I lived with my grandmother for a couple of years before the Cultural Revolution.

Ian Sanders (3:27)

And did your grandmother remember or talk to you about her experiences during World War II or the Civil War?

Bing (3:36)

Not that much, because my grandfather was arrested and executed after the Civil War as a land owner. So, she didn't talk about my grandfather and the family past. But I knew it, because I heard that three of my six uncles were not in China. They were in Taiwan.

The Civil War in China, from 1946 to 1949, split this family. Seven brothers, four, on the mainland China, and three end up in Taiwan after 1949

Ian Sanders (4:25)

Did you have any contact with them or not?

Bing (4:28)

That's the reason my parents sent me to study in America. Because of the civil struggle and the long separation, there was no communication for this family or for any families in China between China and Taiwan.

So after China opened up to the West, including America, my father told me, Xiaobing, you need to go to America to study to find your three uncles. So that's my mission or family obligation to come to America, look for my relatives on Taiwan.

Ian Sanders (5:12)

You mentioned a little while earlier that your mother and father were Western educated. So are you saying that they were educated outside of China?

Bing (5:20)

No, there were a church sponsored university in Beijing. So they studied chemistry in a Christian church sponsored college in Beijing.

They met in college and they got married after their graduation.

Ian Sanders (5:43)

And so your family are in China. They're living there through the Great Leap Forward. Did that have much impact on you in Beijing?

Bing (5:53)

Yes, a little bit, not that much, because my parents work in the ministry. That's in part of the central administration. So they were better off than the average Chinese. So I thought my classmates suffered starvation and other difficulties. But for me, for my family, seems it's okay.