WHITHER China? was the name of a widely circulated pamphlet authored by the respected Anglo-Indian Marxist author, R Palme Dutt. 

Writing in 1966, with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the throes of the “cultural revolution,” the pamphlet sought to shed light on the PRC’s tortured road from liberation in 1949 to a vast upheaval disrupting all aspects of Chinese society as well as foreign relations. 

To most people — across the entire political spectrum — developments within this Asian giant were a challenge to understand. To be sure, there were zealots outside of the PRC who hung on every word uttered by the Great Helmsman, Chairman Mao, and stood by every release explaining Chinese events in the People’s Daily, Red Flag and Peking Review.