In the Dragon's Teeth

When American teacher June Mudan traveled to China in 2000 to teach at a Chinese university, her goals were simple: to experience a new culture and to help the Chinese people learn English. Over a year later, she returned to the United States with much more, including well-kept dark secrets of control, horror and death told to her by a fellow Chinese teacher. In The Dragon’s Teeth relates these dark secrets lurking in China’s past and becomes significant when grim details are revealed about the Chinese Laogai, the name for the system of labor and re-education camps throughout China. June’s teacher/friend had been a political prisoner in various camps and experienced many atrocities, the sharing of which had a powerful impact on the author’s perceptions of China. In America, we have become tantalized by the “Chinese Dragon” and especially its low-priced wares, but In The Dragon’s Teeth provides the evidence that we need to become mindful of its sharp, vicious teeth and how they were used to maim and kill perhaps 50 million Chinese citizens.