 | In the Eye of the China Storm: A Life Between East and West Subjects: Lin Paul T. K. 1920–2004; Chinese Canadians -- British Columbia -- Biography; Scholars -- China -- Biography; China -- History -- Cultural Revolution 1966-1976; "The proudest day of my life was October 1, 1950. I marched with seeming multitudes across Tiananmen Square, exalting in China's independence from foreign controls. As the people raised their fists to Mao Zedong shouting Wansui, 'ten thousand year' - the traditional greeting for an emperor - I could not raise my fist. My euphoria lay not in finding another idol to bow down to, but in the fact that the Chinese people had 'stood up.' I felt some discomfort but kept my hand by my side. And at that moment I knew that I was a son of Canada as well as a son of China." Paul T.K. Lin Paul T.K. Lin was a Chinese Canadian scholar and unofficial intermediary between China and Canada during the most turbulent decades of the twentieth century. The memoir he began late in life remained unfinished after his death until his wife, Eileen Chen Lin, completed the manuscript. Paul T. K. Lin (1920-2004) received the Order of Canada in 1998 for being a leading figure in the development of Chinese-Canadian ties in the field of international relations. Eileen Chen Lin, writer, editor, and former McGill University librarian, is honorary chair of the Soong Ching Ling Children's Foundation of Canada. |
