Criticising Einstein: Science, Politics, and International Relations during the Chinese Cultural Revolution

Abstract

Abstract In China during the Cultural Revolution (CR), physicist Albert Einstein became one of the main targets of criticism. Why did China criticise him, while it was developing nuclear weapons based on his theories? This article argues that basic research in China then was entangled in power struggle which contained a controversy over China’s handling of intellectuals and its conception of the West. Even during the CR, however, scientists’ struggle for building a high-energy accelerator continued. Zhou Enlai supported it for his own power struggle as well as China’s nuclear development. The Lin Biao incident and the Sino-US rapprochement provided Zhou and his group opportunities to undermine the CR’s logic. Thus, this article argues that rebuilding of basic research in China was intertwined with both domestic and international politics.