Son of China's war hero apologises for attacking teachers during Cultural Revolution

The "Chinese Dream" cannot be realised until China accepts responsibility for the crimes and injustices committed during the Cultural Revolution,  Chen Xiaolu, a former Red Guard and youngest son of civil war and Sino-Japanese war hero Marshal Chen Yi, said in a statement published this week.

Chen Yi was also China's foreign minister and a mayor of Shanghai.

Now, Chen Xiao Lu is joining other former Red Guards to express remorse for his actions during the decade-long social and political movement launched by Mao Zedong in 1966. Chen apologised this week for his behaviour as a young man when he physically attacked teachers at Beijing No. 8 middle school. At the time, he was serving as a student “revolutionary leader”.

In an email sent  to the South China Morning Post on Wednesday, Chen said he decided to make an official apology after noticing how little China's younger generation knew about human rights abuses during the Cultural Revolution. 

“Today I’d like to sincerely apologise to them via the internet," Chen wrote, adding he would also like to apologise to former teachers and staff, personally, in a upcoming reunion.