CNN tells the story of a family separated in 1949 and only reunited 35 years later:
For more than three decades, two sides of Lucille Chang Lee’s childhood remained on opposite sides of the China-U.S. divide. Adopted as a toddler by her mother’s best friend and taken to the United States, Lee had to wait until Cold War hostilities thawed in the 1970s before she could meet her biological family again.
“By the time we got in touch again, my father and both of my adopted parents had passed away,” Lee, now 76, said by phone from her Portola, California, home.
Lee’s experience — of families separated in 1949, when the Communists assumed control in China — is a common one. This year marks 30 years since China and the United States established full diplomatic relations, allowing for the resumption of communications and family visits.