China has seen a series of controversial Red Guard apologies in recent years, including one from Song Binbin, a former Red Guard who shot to fame in the summer of 1966 when she was pictured pinning a red armband to Chairman Mao’s uniform during a mass rally in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. “I hope that all those who did wrong during the Cultural Revolution and hurt teachers and classmates will face up to themselves and do soul searching in order to seek forgiveness and achieve reconciliation,” Song told a Chinese newspaper in 2014, prompting a mix of praise and condemnation from those who claimed she had tried to downplay her role in the violence. Read more
