Mao was also Chinese, and therefore exotic. It's an Orientalism thing.
--- Wojtek Sokolowski <swsokolowski at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Western left wing intellectuals like him for the
> same
> reason as Western disgruntled working class youth
> likes the Nazis - he has a shock value that pisses
> off
> parents, teachers and authority figures.
>
> Wojtek
>
>