DHAKA: The 50th anniversary of the start of the Cultural Revolution, which plunged China into a decade of chaos, has been met with silence in its state media.

On 16 May 1966 Communist leader Mao Zedong began a campaign to eliminate his rivals.

At the same time he called on Chinese youth to ‘purge’ society, BBC reports on Monday (May 16).

Years of bloodshed and turmoil ensued, ending with Mao’s death in 1976.

How to handle the era’s contentious legacy has remained a challenge to China's Communist rulers to this day.

On Monday, the main state media outlets made virtually no mention of the anniversary, focusing on coverage of the South China Sea and other domestic issues.

No official events were planned by the authorities to mark the 50-year milestone.

One blogger ‘Media Lao Wang’ posted a picture on micro-blogging site Weibo that showed the front pages of five major Chinese newspapers on Monday and none of them mentioned the Cultural Revolution.

BDST: 1431 HRS, May 16, 2016
SAS/RR