British pair under attack for doubts over Mao's march

TWO British adventurers who retraced the steps of Chairman Mao's Long March have come under attack from Chinese media for claiming in a book that the Red Army's trek was not nearly as long as previously thought. Ed Jocelyn and Andy McEwen hiked across China's most remote places in a tribute to the men and women whose escape from their nationalist enemies in China's civil war is the founding legend of the Communist Party.

Their year-long trip, which ended in 2003, was met at first with enthusiasm by local media. But when The Daily Telegraph first reported their finding that the March was little more than half the official distance Chairman Mao had originally announced, Chinese media ignored that detail. It has since responded following the publication of their book last month.

"The length of the Long March may mean nothing to two young foreigners, but not to Chinese people,'' the Beijing Daily wrote.

"The 25,000 li of the Red Army's Long March are a historic fact and not open to doubt.''

The figure of 25,000 li (12,500 kilometres or about 8,000 miles) was Mao's verdict, given to his sympathetic American biographer Edgar Snow not long after the end of the march in 1935.

During their journey, Mr Jocelyn and Mr McEwen, a historian and a journalist who both live in China, spoke to scores of veterans and witnesses. They made a careful note of the original route taken, measuring out the distances they covered daily.

"I knew from the start that the Long March wasn't 25,000 li,'' Mr McEwen wrote. "By Mao's own maths every single one of the 267 days the Reds were on the march they walked an average of 46.5 kilometres, or 29 miles.

"I knew that was impossible. I didn't believe even the vanguard units could maintain such a pace, let alone the convalescent units, baggage carriers, cooks and all.''

The "official version'', distributed to several media outlets to counter their story, says the marchers did not move in a straight line from point to point but had to double back to fight battles and escape their attackers.