Kerry Brown lived in the Inner Mongolia region from 1994 to 1996. He completed a PhD at Leeds University in modern Chinese politics from 1998 to 2004, while working in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, first in London, and then Beijing. He is the author of The Purge of the Inner Mongolian People's Party in the Cultural Revolution in China 1967–1969 (Global Oriental, London, 2006) and Struggling Giant – China in the 21st Century (Anthem Press, London, 2007).
This is a substantially modified version of the talk on the same subject which he gave to the Society on 8 November 2006.