Such words are very moving and not without precedent: The Soviet Union under Stalin was once lauded by Western writers, and the Cultural Revolution was once lauded by some China watchers as the best thing that happened to China in three hundred years.
這類文字固然令人感慨，但並非無前例可循。史達林統治下的蘇聯，曾被西方作家描繪成一片樂土；文化大革命發生後，費正清更指為中國三百年來最好的一件事。