Following bethune's footsteps

Retired Canadian history teacher offers rare insights on nation's best-known foreigner with his biography

December marked 75 years since chairman Mao Zedong wrote the famous eulogy that familiarized millions of Chinese with the name of Norman Bethune (1890-1939), after his death in China.

The best-known foreigner in China, as Spanish diplomat to Beijing Ignacio Morro put it, the Canadian doctor is considered a selfless saint-like figure who helped the Chinese people through hard times, and the Spanish people in 1930s, too.