Jung Chang on Fly, Wild Swans: China, Freedom + the Fight for Truth

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform.

In this episode of Writer’s Voice, Francesca Rheannon speaks with bestselling author Jung Chang about her memoir Fly, Wild Swans: My Mother, Myself, and China, the long-awaited sequel to her landmark book Wild Swans.

Chang recounts how her parents — once devoted Communists — became disillusioned by famine, repression, and the violence of the Cultural Revolution. Their refusal to betray their beliefs shaped her own commitment to truth and integrity.

“My mother was made to kneel on broken glass… but she still refused to denounce my father.”  

She also reflects on her extraordinary journey from Mao’s isolated China to becoming one of the first Chinese students to study in Britain, and how that experience transformed her thinking.

“I must only follow the evidence and arrive at conclusions from the evidence gathered.”  

Finally, Chang discusses the resurgence of authoritarianism under Xi Jinping and why she still believes China’s people ultimately desire freedom.

Read A Sample from Fly, Wild Swans

Follow us on Bluesky @writersvoice.bsky.social and subscribe to our Substack. Or find us on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast.

Read The Transcript on Substack

Tags: Jung Chang interview, Fly Wild Swans, Wild Swans author, Chinese history memoir, China under Xi Jinping, authoritarianism China, Writer’s Voice podcast

Segment: Jung Chang — Fly, Wild Swans

After Jung Chang wrote her first memoir, Wild Swans, she went on to write biographies of Mao Tse Tung and the last Empress of China.

Now, 25 years after her first book, Chang returns with Fly, Wild Swans: My Mother, Myself, and China, continuing the story after she became one of the first Chinese students allowed to leave Communist China and study in the West.

Jung Chang recounts how her parents — once devoted Communists — became disillusioned by famine, repression, and the violence of the Cultural Revolution. She describes how her father’s protest against Mao’s policies led to brutal punishment — and how her mother refused to denounce him despite immense pressure. Their refusal to betray their beliefs shaped her own commitment to truth and integrity.

She also reflects on her extraordinary journey from Mao’s isolated China to becoming one of the first Chinese students to study in Britain, and how that experience transformed her thinking.

Finally, Chang tells us about the resurgence of authoritarianism under Xi Jinping and why she still believes China’s people ultimately want to be free.

In addition to her other books, Jung Chang is the author of Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister.

Key Topics

• Jung Chang’s memoir Fly, Wild Swans

• The legacy of Wild Swans

• Mao’s China and the Cultural Revolution

• Political courage and moral integrity

• The Great Chinese Famine

• Intellectual freedom and scholarship

• China under Xi Jinping

• Resistance to authoritarianism