知名外交家冀朝铸出版的英文回忆录，书名《The Man on Mao’s Right》——《毛的得力助手》，副题是“从哈佛校园到天安门广场：我在中国外交部的生涯”。此书基本以冀的太太汪向同所写的中文版“我的丈夫冀朝铸”为原形，经由美国捉刀人卫南密集访问作者改写而成，因为揭露中共外交部不少内部秘辛，颇有看头，可视为一位在美国长大、饱受美式教育的共产党人在中共残酷斗争体制下的存活及奋斗史。

No other narrative from within the corridors of power has offered as frank and intimate an account of the making of the modern Chinese nation as Ji Chaozhu's The Man on Mao's Right. Having served Chairman Mao Zedong and the Communist leadership for two decades, and having become a key figure in China's foreign policy, Ji now provides an honest, detailed account of the personalities and events that shaped today's People's Republic.

The youngest son of a prosperous government official, nine-year-old Ji and his family fled Japanese invaders in the late 1930s, escaping to America. Warmly received by his new country, Ji returned its embrace as he came of age in New York's East Village and then attended Harvard University. But in 1950, after years of enjoying a life of relative ease while his countrymen suffered through war and civil strife, Ji felt driven by patriotism to volunteer to serve China in its conflict with his adoptive country in the Korean War.

Ji's mastery of the English language and American culture launched his improbable career, eventually winning him the role of English interpreter for China's two top leaders: Premier Zhou Enlai and Party Chairman Mao Zedong. With a unique blend of Chinese insight and American candor, Ji paints insightful portraits of the architects of modern China: the urbane, practical, and avuncular Zhou, the conscience of the People's Republic; and the messianic, charismatic Mao, student of China's ancient past–his country's stern father figure.

In Ji's memoir, he is an eyewitness to modern Chinese history, including the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, the Nixon summit, and numerous momentous events in Tiananmen Square. As he becomes caught up in political squabbles among radical factions, Ji's past and charges against him of “incorrect” thinking subject him to scrutiny and suspicion. He is repeatedly sent to a collective farm to be “reeducated” by the peasants.

After the Mao years, Ji moves on to hold top diplomatic posts in the United States and the United Kingdom and then serves as under secretary-general of the United Nations. Today, he says, “The Chinese know America better than the Americans know China. The risk is that we misperceive each other.” This highly accessible insider's chronicle of a struggling people within a developing powerhouse nation is also Ji Chaozhu's dramatic personal story, certain to fascinate and enlighten Western readers.

A riveting biography and unique historical record, The Man on Mao's Right recounts the heartfelt struggle of a man who loved two powerful nations that were at odds with each other. Ji Chaozhu played an important role in paving the way for what is destined to be known as the Chinese Century.

Preface

Author's Note

Introduction

1.Our Long March

2.To America

3.Poor Little Chinese Refugee

4.My Movie Star Dad

5.Me and Mrs.Roosevelt

6.My Short Harvard Education

7.Going Home

8.The East Is Red

9.Back in the Bosom

10.The Atomic Death-Belt Plan

11.Welcome to Kansas

12.Two Years of Perfidy and Fleas

13.Foreign Devils Face Off

14.The Premier and I Cheat Death

15.The Other China

16.Calm Between the Storms

17.Contradictions at the Top

18.Beating a Drowning Dog

19.The Man on Mao's Right

20.Death and Birth

21.Our Dark Ages Begin

22.Our Lord of the Flies

23.Nothing Public Without Purpose

24.The Two Young Ladies

25.A Circle Closes, Another Opens

26.An Empty Seat on the Stage

27.China's Second Liberation

28.The Reagan Crisis

29.From Cannibals to Caviar

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

Index