A view of world history in 13 parts by JOHN ROBERTS 11: The East is Red
For centuries China thought of itself as 'The Middle
Kingdom', the centre of the world.
Chinese civilisation was long superior to anything in the rest of the world in the arts and sciences. But in the end they had to give way to the predatory power of the West. From the coming of the Portuguese to the Opium
Wars and the Siege of Peking, China has been assaulted by Western forces and ideas - not least Marxist. The adoption of communism was, says John Roberts , an event in world history to match the Reformation or the rise of Islam.
Sound r rdist ALAN COOPER Film cameraman BRIAN HALL Film editor JEFF SHAW Executive producer CHRISTOPHER MARTIN
Director RAY SUTCUFFE