Crossing the Iron Curtain: Western Students in Mao’s China (1949–1976)

During the Cold War, an invisible “iron curtain” divided the Western world from Maoist China. What motives lay behind the façade of educational exchange? This book explores the experiences of Western students in China from 1949 to 1976, revealing how education functioned as a strategic tool of people’s diplomacy. Through an analysis of the PRC’s educational policies, tailored curricula, and student memoirs, it reconstructs the landscape of studying in Maoist China. The study shows how the Chinese state sought to shape Western students’ understandings and attitudes through an education grounded in proletarian politics, a curriculum combining open-door schooling with productive labor, and a management system that differentiated between insiders and outsiders. It also examines how these strategies shaped Western students’ perceptions and influenced their retrospective reflections. Offering a fresh perspective on Sino-Western encounters, this book demonstrates how state-led diplomacy was intertwined with personal, unofficial interactions through education. These connections enriched the state-centric narrative of Cold War diplomacy, serving as reference for scholars of public diplomacy, international relations, and educational exchange.