Mao pins 'could make 40,000 jets'

PEKING (Reuter) - China made 4.8 billion Mao pins during the decade-long cult honouring the Chairman. The pins, a standard article of dress for Chinese during the Cultural Revolution, used up aluminium that could have built 39,600 MiG jet fighters, the Guizhou Daily reported. If lined up pin to pin, the badges could have circled the world six times, the newspaper said. The author of the article, said he arrived at the figure after researching Mao memorabilia for more than 10 years.