Mr. Rittenberg
Sidney Rittenberg (Chinese Name: Li Dunbai)
Sidney Rittenberg was born on August 14, 1921, in Charleston, South
Carolina. He was educated at Porter Military Academy in Charleston, at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he graduated in
Philosophy, and at Stanford, where he studied Chinese.
In 1940, while in school at Chapel Hill, he joined the Communist Party,
U.S.A., and for two years was active as a labor and civil rights organizer
in the South. In 1942, he left the Communist Part and was inducted into the
U.S. Army.
In the spring of 1943, he was sent to the Army Far Eastern Language and Area
School at Stanford University, where he studied Chinese. He completed a
one-year course at the head of his class, and in September 1945 was attached
to Army headquarters in China as a Chinese language expert.
In January 1946, Rittenberg took his honorable discharge in Shanghai and
joined the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Agency there is a Famine
Relief Observer. In the field as an Observer, he was co-opted to be neutral
interpreter for all three sides (U.S. Army, Nationalist, and Communist) in
one of the Truce Teams set up to conciliate in the Chinese Civil War by
President Truman^Rs Special Envoy. General George C. Marshall. In that
capacity, he met Chinese Communist leader Zhou Enlai, and was invited by him
to visit the Communist capital-in-caves at Yanan and to meet Chairman Mao
Zedong. Rittenberg had resigned from UNRRA and had been on the eve of
departure for the United States, but he stayed on for what was supposed to
have been a one- or two- week visit to the Communist areas.
Instead, when he arrived at the North China Communist areas in July 1946, he
accepted an invitation from the Communist leaders to remain and help set up
an English language program, which was the beginning of an endeavor that
lasted until March 1979. Rittenberg was informed that Mao wanted a close
relationship with the United States, which would relieve him of dependence
on the Soviet Union, and the English PR program was designed to carry this
message to the American people.
In November 1946, Rittenberg was admitted to the Chinese Communist Party.
During his thirty-five years in China, Rittenberg worked with Chinese
journalists, training editors, translators, radio announcers and others in
English language journalism. He also took part as a Chinese/English
interpreter in the translation of major texts, including Selected Works of
Mao Zedong, and at times interpreted for Chinese leaders in their talks with
foreign visitors. He knew personally such leaders as Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai,
Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De, Deng Xiaoping, Chen Yi, and all four members of the
notorious Cultural Revolution dictatorship known as the "Gang of Four."
As an added twist to Rittenberg^Rs story, he was twice arrested in China on
charges of being a CIA agent, and was held in solitary confinement for a
total of 16 years.
The first time, he was arrested in January 1949 at the demand of Stalin, as
part of one of the trumped-up international spy cases that characterized
Stalin^Rs rule. He was held in solitary until after Stalin^Rs death, and was
finally released with profuse apologies from the Chinese authorities in
April 1955. Both Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai made a number of public
apologies.
Rittenberg decided that the times, and his new privileged position as a
"hero" who had been through severe trials and had not turned against China,
were favorable for him to remain in China and resume work on what he
conceived of as his mission to work at building bridges between the United
States and China. He had begun this dream at Stanford ^V the idea of linking
together the world^Rs most ancient and most populous country, which had a
crying need for modern technology and capital, and the world^Rs most powerful
economy, which needed markets for its own capital and technology.
After his release from prison in April 1955, Rittenberg resumed his previous
work. Now, however, he was completely accepted as a ranking member of the
Party and was privy to a great deal of classified information. He resumed
his personal contacts with Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and other leaders.
Most important of all, in 1955 he met, and in 1956 married, Yulin Wang
Rittenberg, which was the beginning of a deep love and a highly effective
partnership that continues to today. They had three daughters and one son
between 1957 and 1966, and have since added a granddaughter and a grandson.
When the Cultural Revolution broke out in June 1966, it began as a student
movement similar to the Tiananmen Square movement in 1989. Sidney and Yulin
were both convinced that the Great Day had arrived for China ^V that this
would be the end of the one-party dictatorship, and that our of the Cultural
Revolution would emerge a sort of Town Hall democracy. The Rittenbergs threw
themselves whole-heartedly into the activity against Communist Party control
and for an open democracy. At first, Mao Zedong himself appeared to support
this orientation. But once he had utilized the democratic movement to
overthrow his opponents in the Communist Party leadership, he sent in the
armed forces to take charge, and lowered the boom on the democratic
movement. Rittenberg was again arrested and thrown into solitary
confinement, this time for ten years. Yulin was sent to hard labor at a
reform camp and subjected to constant attacks and vilification for her firm
stand in support of her husband.
Finally, with the fall of the Gang of Four, Rittenberg was again released
from solitary confinement and reunited with the family. In 1979-80, they
left China to resettle in the United States, and their four children
followed them over during the next few years. (They are all American
citizens.)
After their return, they began to act as advisors to U.S. government
agencies (USIA), public figures, and businesses who were involved in China.
One of their first clients was Mike Wallace, of CBS "Sixty Minutes," with
whom they have done five "Sixty Minutes" specials on China, from 1981 to
1993. Another treasured client is the Reverend Billy Graham, whose three
visits to China they have arranged and whom they have accompanied and
interpreted for. Among their business consulting clients they have numbered
Intel, McCaw Cellular Communications, Teledesic Communications, Nintendo of
America, Levi Strauss & Co., Hughes Aircraft, ARCO, DEC, Polaroid, Craig O.
McCaw^Rs Eagle River Project, and others. The Rittenbergs are also board
members or senior advisors to a number of investment funds.
Sidney Rittenberg was a member of the faculty at the New School for Social
Research in New York City in 1982 and 1983.
In January 1994, Rittenberg accepted a chair as the first Frey Foundation
Distinguished Professor of History at his alma mater, the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has now been appointed Edward M. Bernstein
Professor of History. The Rittenbergs continue their consulting activities ^V
they have been back and forth to China six times last year. They also
conduct numerous seminars and programs for business executives.
Mr. Rittenber is the author of the autobiographical The Man Who Stayed
Behind (1992) written with Amanda Bennett of The Wall Street Journal.
More info.
October 12, 2000.