> The worst thing that happened to Chinese was not the way foreign powers treated them, but what came after under their own ruling party.

Does one really need references for this?

Aren't everyone aware of the massive socialist experimentations Mao executed on China's people?

The lowest estimate available is that 50 million people were killed (high end estimate closer to 80 million dead) due to political purges (cultural revolution etc.) and starvation (socialize farming, great leap forward, etc.).

A great deal of those died due to a famine. If one compares China’s development with India’s you see that over 100 million extra Indians have died since 1947 due to worse medical outcomes. (Amyarta Sen)

The famine was a result of collectivization, which had led to disastrous results in other countries which tried that before: such as the USSR experiments in Ukraine. Plus:

> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Leap_Forward#Consequence...

> The failure of agricultural policies, the movement of farmers from agricultural to industrial work, and weather conditions led to millions of deaths from severe famine. Many also died from quota-based executions instituted by government officials. The economy, which had improved since the end of the civil war, was devastated.

There is also an estimate of 50 million dead as a result of starvation as a consequence of the colonial invasions of China in the late 19th C

See Mike Davis' Late Victorian Holocausts

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Victorian_Holocausts

Bringing up a fact of 50-80 million lives lost is not “picking on” something.

The number of 50-80 million comes from the book "Black Book of Communism", which in itself is highly controversial and whose co-authors disassociated themselves from the author due to the methodology used.

So take these numbers with grain of salt and consider the book and its claim just a propaganda tool.

> It is widely regarded by historians that The Great Leap resulted in tens of millions of deaths.[3] A lower-end estimate is 18 million, while extensive research by Chinese historian Yu Xiguang suggests the death toll from the movement is closer to 55.6 million.[4] Fellow historian Frank Dikötter asserts that "coercion, terror, and systematic violence were the foundation of the Great Leap Forward" and it "motivated one of the most deadly mass killings of human history".[5]

> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Leap_Forward

So your point is? Regardless of the actual figures, it was probably the worst genocide of History.

My point is, it is easy to claim ridiculous numbers, but much harder to prove them. It doesn't help the case, if they numbers are inflated for the shock value.

Now, that's pure bad faith. The point is that that has absolutely nothing to do with the discussion.

I find amusing that those so vocal against that period of Chinese history use the exact same methods to destroy critical discussion.