The term, 'bamboo curtain', has today fallen into complete disuse. Yet, until the post- Mao Zedong succession struggle was conclusively resolved in favour of the reformist Deng Xiaoping in 1978, China was a closed society and, indeed, a mystery that professional China-watchers tried to solve with an imperfect mixture of information, ideology and conjecture.

Swapan Dasgupta's piece for the Telegraph today. Read