On February 15th and 16th, Laogai Research Foundation hosted an international conference on China’s Great Famine in Washington, DC. From 1959 to 1961, the Chinese people suffered history’s largest famine, which killed an estimated 40 million people. LRF’s conference, “The World’s Greatest Famine: Witnessing, Surviving, Remembering”, brought together academics and authors from around the world to discuss the role Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party played in bringing about the starvation and unnatural deaths of millions. Keynote speakers included Yang Jisheng, author of Tombstone, a comprehensive account of the Great Chinese Famine during the Great Leap Forward; Jasper Becker, author of Hungry Ghosts: Mao’s Secret Famine; and Frank Dikotter, author of Mao’s Great Famine. Visit the Heritage Foundation website to view full video of Day 1 of the conference.
To continue reading, view photos, and download conference participant essays, click here.
Day 2 of the conference was held at the Laogai Museum.
Great Famine experts Yang Jisheng and Frank Dikotter answer questions from participants with moderater Harry Wu.
