Chinese state media broke its silence about the 50th anniversary of the Cultural revolution. The movement, which began on 16 may 1966 and plunged the country into 10 years of chaos and bloodshed are ignored by officials in the country.

In comments published late on Monday evening, talked about the cultural revolution when the red guards under the leadership of Chairman Mao Zedong rioted across the country, the Revolution was recognized as a "mistake" that caused a "comprehensive and serious" damage.

"History has proved that the cultural revolution was completely justified in theory and in practice. It has not brought any social progress in any sense," he said.

Global Times also published a piece that was posted on the Internet on Tuesday: "We said goodbye to the cultural revolution. And we can say it again today that the cultural revolution can not and will not start again. Cultural revolution does not have its place in modern China."

Officially the Communist party of China condemned the decades of the cultural revolution, but many Chinese still revere Mao. "The whole history of the Communist party of China revolves around the person of Mao," said Frank Dikotter, author of "the cultural revolution: a people's History" told CNN.

Critics and some post-cultural revolution also say that the current President XI Jinping has taken a page from the playbook of Mao, and requires full party control over society. A former red guard told CNN: "We must remain vigilant. We can't let the monstrous cruelty of the cultural revolution to begin again."
sections: Politics, World News, Accidents