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446394191
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Visitors - 1975 [3]
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446394191
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document
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Visitors - 1975 [3]
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25881-007
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George H. W. Bush Papers
China Files
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446394191
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1975-12-31
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1975
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1975-01-01
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1975
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Originally Processed With FOIA(s):
FOIA Number:
S
S
FOIA
MARKER
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential
Library Staff.
Record Group/Collection: Donated Historical Materials
Collection/Office of Origin: Bush, George H.W., Collection
Series:
Personal Papers
Subseries:
China Files, Subject File
OA/ID Number:
25881
Folder ID Number:
25881-007
Folder Title:
Visitors - 1975 [3]
Stack:
Row:
Section:
Shelf:
Position:
G
6
22
2
5
Mr. 4 Mrs Askanase
+
Mr. + Mis Atherton
may 1-6 -
STATE
Department of State
Mrs Bush
/
TELEGRAM
of
ACTION:
AMB
UNCLASSIFIED
INFO:
Classification
AWB
DC
POL
ECN
HM
R 302300Z APR 75
ADW
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
CCN
TO USLO PEKING 821
C&R
BT
GSO
UNCLAS TOKYO 5742
B&F
SY
FOR AMB BUSH FROM ATHERTON
3189
CHRON-1
E.O. 11652: N/A
TAGS: OTRA
3
SUBJECT: TRAVEL OF HOLT ATHERTON
UNABLE TO GET VISA FOR MAY 1 BUT NOW HAVE VISA VALID MAY 3.
HAVE CONFIRMED SEATS ON FIRST SUBSEQUENT FLIGHT, AIR FRANCE 179,
DEPARTING TOKYO 1205 MAY 5 TO ARRIVE PEKING 1705. WILL DEPART
PEKING MAY 11 AT 1240 ON AF 178,
HODGSON
BT
5742
HM
Ples se see that these are on books.
also Geo Bush Jr. arrive Peking 1705 PM AF 179 June 4th
UNCLASSIFIED
FORM
Classification
AS
FS-412
CN 530
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
MAR 26, 1975
TELEGRAM
INDICATE
COLLECT
CHARGE TO
FROM
CLASSIFICATION
USLO PEKING
LIMITED OFFICIAL USE
E.O. 11652:
N/A
7
TAGS:
OREP CVIS CH
SUBJECT:
VISITORS TO PEKING
ACTION:
SECSTATE WASHDC
PEKING 530
REF: STATE 066413
AMB
FOR: ARMSTRONG FROM BUSH
CHRON
1. Herewith invitation to Mr. and Mrs. Reuben Askanase
of Houston, Texas: "Dear Reub: I hope that you and Hilda
will be our personal house guests to do some sightseeing
in Peking, May 1-6. Please convey this message to PRCLO
when you apply for a visa. Sincerely, George Bush"
2. Re. Tennant Bryan, I don't believe it would be feasible
to request visiting other Chinese cities until Bryans are
in Peking. We may have two other couples visiting with us
during the first two weeks in May which could complicate
things but I am sure we can work out satisfactory housing.
3. I will contact Blake and Haugh.
Thanks for everything.
BUSH
as
DRAFTED BY:
DRAFTING 3/26/75 DATE
TEL. EXT.
CONTENTS AND, ASSIFICATION approved BY:
AMB: GBush: jaf
AMB: GBush
CLEARANCES:
LIMITED OFFICIAL USE
FORM FS-413
CLASSIFICATION
11-72
LIMITED OFFICIAL USE
STATE
Department of State
TELEGRAM
ACTION
R 242158Z MAR 75
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
ACTION TAKEN
TO USLO PEKING 5017
BT
NOTED JF save
LIMITED OFFICIAL USE STATE 066413
BY:
E.O. 11652: NA
DATE:
TAGS: OREP, CVIS, CH
SUBJECT: VISITORS TO PEKING
REF: (A) PEKING 476 (B) STATE 054090 (C) STATE 052542
FOR BUSH FROM ARMSTRONG
1971
1. PRCLO HAS INFORMED US THAT IT WILL ISSUE VISAS FOR
SENATOR AND MRS. ROTH. I HAVE TOLD ROTH'S OFFICE.
2. NEITHER APRIL 1, TO 16 NOR MAY 1 TO 12 WORKS OUT FOR THE
H
BLAKES. THEY REGRET THEY WILL NOT MAKE IT TO PEKING, AND
moty.,26
THANK YOU FOR THE INVITATION.
3. THE ASKANASES ACCEPT WITH PLEASURE YOUR INVITATION TO
VISIT PEKING FROM MAY 1 TO 6. PRCLO INFORMS US THAT A
ETTER IS NECESSARY. SINCE ASKANASES PLAN TO DEPART US LATE
THIS WEEK OR EARLY NEXT WEEK, SUGGEST YOU CABLE TEXT OF
INVITATION THAT WE CAN PROVIDE TO PRCLO.
4. WE HAVE ALSO BEEN IN TELEPHONE CONTACT WITH TENNANT
BRYAN, WHO ADVISES US THAT HE AND MRS. BRYAN AND MR. AND
MRS. FITZGERALD BEMISS PLAN TO JOIN YOU IN HONG KONG,
ARRIVING APRIL 19, AND, IF YOU OBTAIN PRC CLEARANCE, TRAVEL
WITH YOU AND MRS. BUSH BACK TO PEKING VIA CANTON AND
SHANGHAI. BRYANS HOPE TO STAY IN PRC UNTIL MAY 5, BUT
UNDERSTAND YOUR VISITOR SCHEDULE IS HEAVY. THEY WOULD,
5 343!943, PROPOSE, IF IT COULD BE ARRANGED AFTER ARRIVAL
IN PEKING, TO SPEND LAST FIVE DAYS IN PRC VISITING CITIES
OUTSIDE PEKING, SUCH AS NANKING, SIAN, AND TIENTSIN. THEY
PLAN TO DEPART ON WEEKLY SWISSAIR FLIGHT TO ZURICH, AND
WOULD PREFER TO MAKE RESERVATIONS BEFORE DEPARTING US.
THEY THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS VISIT POSSIBLE, AND WILL
ADJUST THEIR SCHEDULE IF THEIR PROPOSAL IS NOT CONVENIENT.
5. JOHN HAUGH CALLED ME ABOUT VISITING YOU IN PEKING AND
ASKED HOW HE SHOULD PROCEED WITH APPLYING FOR VISA. SINCE
HE SAID NO DATE HAD BEEN AGREED, I SUGGESTED YOU AND HE
SETTLE ON A DATE FIRST, THEN HE COULD CONTACT PRCLO,
PREFERABLY WITH LETTER FROM YOU. KISSINGER
Classification
F3.412,H)
LIMITED OFFICIAL USE
CN 476
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
MAR 18, 1975
TELEGRAM
INDICATE
COLLECT
CHARGE TO
FROM
CLASSIFICATION
USLO PEKING
UNCLASSIFIED
E.O. 11652:
N/A
7
OTRAV CH
TAGS:
VISIT TO PEKING BY MR. AND MRS. R.W. BLAKE AND MR. AND
SUBJECT:
MRS. R.W. ASKANASE
ACTION:
SECSTATE WASHDC
UNCLASSIFIED PEKING 476
AMB
EA/PRCM ONLY --
CHRON
FOR:
JAY TAYLOR FROM: GEORGE BUSH
Help. Visitor situation getting tense. Please call
RESEXX
Robert W. Blake, Lubbock, Texas, Telephone: 762-8044 and ask
him if convenient for them to be in Peking for a weeks visit
between April 1 and April 16, or between May 1 and May 12.
After calling Blake please call Reuben W. Askanase address
Niels Esperson Building, Houston, Texas inviting him to spend
five days with us April 11-16 or May 1-6 depending on what
Blake tells you. These are the only days that are convenient
for us for visits from Blakes or Askanase during April or
May. When they have accepted please advise PRCLO that they
have been invited as personal guests. Advise whether letter
necessary. Sorry to bother you with these details but mail
has been really fouled up. Thanks.
DRAFTED BY:
DRAFTING DATE
TEL. EXT.
CONTENTS AND APPROVED BY:
BUSH CLASSIFICATION CA/
AMB; GBush:
3/18/75
AMB; GBush
CLEARANCES:
UNCLASSIFIED
FORM FS-413
CLASSIFICATION
11-72
AWF252 ACA626 FNC7089 RYD0087 INB069 2-009427E073
CNPK CO URNX 060
TDBN HOUSTON TX 60 14 0915A EST VIA RCA
HONORABLE GEORGE BUSH CHIEF UNITED STATES LIAISON OFFICE
PEKING (CHINA)
REFERENCE YOUR LETTER STOP OUR ITINERARY PERMITS US TO VISIT YOU IN
PEKING ON DAYS CONVENIENT TO YOU BETWEEN 20 APRIL TO 30 APRIL STOP
PLEASE ADVISE CABLE BEST DATES FOR YOU AND ALSO ADVISE CHINESE
LIAISON OFFICE IN WASHINGTON so APPROPRIATE VISAS CAN BE OBTAINED
OUR BEST
REUBEN W ASKANASE
COL 20 30
REUBEN W. ASKANASE
Suite 911 Niels Esperson Building
Houston, Texas 77002
March 3, 1975
Honorable George Bush, Chief
United States Liaison Office (Peking)
U. S. Department of State
Washington, D. C. 20520
Dear George:
Hilda and I are getting just a bit anxious and excited
about our trip to China.
I wrote you on January 16th and our mutual friend,
Senator Milton Young, wrote you on February 5th about
the possibility of your arranging a trip for us to
Peking.
I realize how difficult this is but would appreciate
hearing from you.
Hilda joins me in sending our best,
Sincerely,
Reuben W. Askanase
rwa/e
UNITED STATES LIAISON OFFICE
Peking, People's Republic of China
February 19, 1975
Mr. Reuben W. Askanase
Suite 911
Niels Esperson Building
Houston, Texas 77002
Dear Reub:
Please pardon my delay in answering your letter of January 16th
but I just returned from the States.
Generally speaking we are of no help to people on getting them
here to Peking unless they come as personal house guests. In
your case, I would love to have you visit us as personal house
guests. There is one big problem, however, during the month of
May we are absolutely full up. We are having visitors almost
every day during that period and our house, as you will see when
you come to Peking, is not very large. If there. is a chance that
you could come and see us for a few days on your way to Canton,
we could perhaps work it out. We are having some visitors in
April but the plans have not been set as yet.
Please let me know if a visit before April 19th would be possible.
By the time I hear from you I know that I will have heard from
our other guests and I feel confident it can be worked out.
I don't think we'll be able to help with Shanghai, that requires
the services of the China Travel Service, etc. It is easy to
fly from Peking to Canton, I hope it all works out.
Warmest regards.
Very truly yours,
George Bush
reuben W. ASKANASE
Suite 911 Niels Esperson Building
Houston, Texas 77002
January 16, 1975
Honorable George Bush
Chief, United States Liaison Office (Peking)
U. S. Department of State
Washington, D. C. 20520
Dear George:
I have been told by Mr. Eugene A. Theroux that an invitation
will be extended to me to visit the Chinese Export Commodities
Fair to be held at Kwangchow (Canton) between April 15th and
May 15th, 1975. My tentative plans, awaiting receipt of the
official invitation, are to be at the Fair after the first
rush from approximately April 19th to May 1st.
I am told that it will be impossible to travel anywhere ex-
cept the Fair unless we have a specific invitation and I
would appreciate it if it would be possible for you to
arrange for Hilda and myself to travel to Peking and Shanghai.
I have in front of me your letter in which I am sure you wrote
in jest "come visit me". It looks like this might be a reality
and if it would in no way benan imposition, Hilda and I would
certainly appreciate it if you can make arrangements for us to
see that part of the country as well as Shanghai.
Hilda joins me in sending our best,
Sincerely,
Reuben W. Askanase
rwa/e
cc: Mr. Eugene A. Theroux
Baker & McKenzie
815 Connecticut Avenue, N. W.
Washington, D. C. 20006
-JOHN L. MCCLELLAN, ARK., CHAIRMAN
WARREN G. MAGNUSON, WASH.
MILTON R. YOUNG, N. DAK.
JOHN c. STENWIS, MISS.
ROMAN L. HRUSKA, NEBR.
JOHN O. PASTORE, R.I.
NORRIS COTTON, N.H.
ALAN BIBLE, NEV.
CLIFFORD P. CASE, N.J.
ROBERT c. BYRD, W. VA.
HIRAM L. FONG, HAWAII
GALE W. MC GEE, WYO:
EDWARD W. BROOKE, MASS.
United States Senate
MIKE MANSFIELD, MONT.
MARK o. HATFIELD, OREG.
WILLIAM PROXMIRE, WIS.
TED STEVENS, ALASKA
THE
JOSEPH M. MONTOYA, N. MEX.
CHARLES MCC. MATHIAS, JR., MD.
COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
DANIEL K. INOUYE, HAWAII
RICHARD S. SCHWEIKER, PA.
ERNEST F. HOLLINGS, S.C.
HENRY BELLMON, OKLA.
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20510
fite
BIRCH BAYH, IND.
THOMAS F. EAGLETON, MO.
LAWTON CHILES, FLA.
February 5, 1975
JAMES R. CALLOWAY
CHIEF COUNSEL AND STAFF DIRECTOR
hard
2.18
Honorable George Bush, Chief
United States Liaison Office, Peking
Department of State
Washington, D. C. 20520
Dear George:
Our mutual friend, Reuben W. Askanase of Houston,
has sent me a copy of his January 16 letter addressed to you
concerning his plans to visit the Chinese Export Commodities
Fair at Canton April 19 through May 1.
I also visited with Reuben briefly and he indicated
a very strong desire to visit Peking and Shanghai as well.
He has written to you about this.
Anything you can do to help him would be greatly
appreciated by me. He is a North Dakotan who, as you know,
has done very well in the business world and is now retired
in Houston. He is one of North Dakota State University's
most esteemed alumnus.
George, one of my big ambitions is to visit China
while you are there. I hope this will be possible.
With warm personal regards,
Sincerely,
mD
MILTON R. YOUNG
MRY:sd
1258 (7/50)
Charge to the account of
713 225 6646
$
WESTERN UNION
CHECK
CLASS OF SERVICE DESIRED
FULL RATE
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS
ACCOUNTING INFORMATION
CABLE LETTER
PRESS
CABLEGRAM
TIME FILED
Patrons should check class of ser-
vice desired: otherwise the cable-
gram will be transmitted
at full rates.
W.P. MARSHALL PRESIDENT
Send the following message subject to the conditions, rules and regulations of The Western Union Telegraph Company set forth in its tariffs on file with the Federal Communications Commission:
TO OBTAIN FAST AND
March 14
19 75
ACCURATE SERVICE
INSERT
To Honorable George Bush, Chief
via w.u.Cables
United States Liaison Office Via
Peking, People's Republic of China
REFERENCE YOUR LETTER. OUR ITINERARY PERMITS US TO VISIT YOU IN PEKING ON DAYS
CONVENIENT TO YOU BETWEEN 20 APRIL to 30 APRIL. PLEASE ADVISE CABLE BEST DATES
FOR YOU AND ALSO ADVISE CHINESE LIAISON OFFICE IN WASHINGTON SO APPROPRIATE
VISAS CAN BE OBTAINED. OUR BEST.
REUBEN W. ASKANASE
SIT
MARK ALL YOUR MESSAGES "VIA WESTERN UNION"
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CLASSES OF CABLE SERVICE
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CABLE LETTER (LT) Overnight a plain language mes-
rates. May be written in any language that can be expressed
sages. Minimum charge for 22 words applies.
in Roman letters or in secret language. Minimum charge
for 5 words applies.
THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS
60 HUDSON STREET
NEW YORK, N. Y.
reuben W. ASKANASE
Suite 911 Niels Esperson Building
Houston, Texas 77002
March 24, 1975
JF not
Honorable George Bush, Chief
United States Liaison Office (Peking)
U. S. Department of State
Washington, D. C. 20520
Dear George:
Hilda and I were positively thrilled when Mr. Don Field, of
the State Department, called and suggested two alternative
dates. We chose the one of May 1st through the 6th. The
only question I have is we do not want to impose on you and
we do so appreciate your letting us visit you in Peking.
I have been in touch with Mr. Field and he is working out
appropriate visas in other needed matters.
We look forward to seeing you and again, our thanks. Always
our best,
Sincerely,
Rubz Reuben W. Askanase
Our plans are to come to Peking from the Fair in Canton. We
have just received final invitations to the Fair.
rwa/e
JF
From the desk of
GEORGE,BUSH
4-12
Athertons called. Planning to arrive May 1
if they get visas.
March 25, 1975
Mr. & Mrs. Holt Atherton,
315 Westover Road,
San Antonio, Texas.
Dear Flo and Holt,
Barbara and I hope that you will be
able to spend a few days as our houseguests
between May 1 and May 15.
We understand you will be going to
Hong Kong, so please come visit this
beautiful city and do some sightseeing.
This letter will serve as my personal
letter of invitation and should be attached
to your visa application when you apply for
a visa to PRCLO in Washington.
Sincerely,
George Bush
Chief
U.S. Liaison Office
March 25, 1975
Mr. & Mrs. Holt Atherton,
20 4999 Kahala Drive,
Honolulu, Hawaii.
Dear Flo and Holt,
Barbara and I hope that you will be able
to spend a few days as our houseguests between
May 1 and May 15.
We understand you will be going to Hong
Kong, solplease come visit this beautiful city
and do some sightseeing.
This letter will serve as my personal
letter of invitation and should be attached
to your visa application when you apply for
a visa to PRCLO in Washington.
Sincerely,
George Bush
Chief
U.S. Liaison Office
March 25, 1975
Dear Holt and Flo,
We are thrilled that you may be able
to come see us in early May.
The attached letter of invitation
should be presented to the People's Republic of China
Liason Office, 23000 Conn. Ave HW, Washington.
You should request entry either
from Tokyo or Hong Kong depending on Holt's business.
The Elkins, Bormans, and Tony Bryans
arrive May 12th 80 anytime between May 1 and May 12 isp
perfect with us. Lots of sights to be seen and good
food to be eaten.
If time gets to be a problem
Jay Taylor at PRCM in State can cable us, or you can
send a regular telegram simply addressed to USLO Peking.
You came through loud and clear on
the call. The echo only made it twice as good.
Love to you and big H.,
Mandurin in Hong kong 4/27th
Olura in Tokyo- - after
2
ZCZC AWF004 ACA570 DFF4865 RYB0147 INB055 2-003866C110
8901
CNPK CO URNX 051
SANFRANCISCO CA 51 20 1205PPDT VIA RCA
ash Holdridge
AMBASSADOR GEORGE BUSH
US LIAISON OFFICE
PEKING (CHINA)
ARRIVING TOKYO TODAY ENROUTE HONGKONG WILL CALL YOU
PRCLO WASHINGTON ADVISES VISAS POSSIBLE APRIL 27
CHINESE EMBASSY TOKYO FOR ARRIVAL PEKING MAY 1
DON FIELDS STATE DEPARTMENT SUGGEST YOU BE ADVISED
IN ORDER TO EXPEDITE FROM YOUR END LOVE AND THANKS
HOLT AND FLO
COL 27 1
UNITED STATES LIAISON OFFICE
Peking, People's Republic of China
April 30, 1975
Mr. Reuben Askanase,
Suite 911
Niels Esperson Building,
Houston, Texas 77002.
Dear Reub:
Bill Rope brought me those beautiful American
Bank Note engravings. Thank you ever so much for
your kindness. The only thing better would have
been for you to bring them yourself. Darn it, I
wanted to show you around Peking in spring - so
beautiful.
I hope your trip went well. Thanks again for
the engravings.
If it is not too much of an imposition I would
love to have a little more description on the en-
gravings. Here are the numbers and names:
V-55275 Terrace of the 5 Bronze Pagodas
V-66034 The Joss House by the Bridge
V-43376 (C 1410 was crossed out)
V-42925 Chinese Country View (C 1066 was
crossed out)
V-72300 Pagoda with Water Scene Foreground
V-43080 Monument of Kun-Ming Lake (C 1715 was
crossed out)
They are really beautiful and will be a treasured part
of our library. Many thanks, Reub.
Sincerely,
George Bush
A
4/26/1975
TUNG FANG
BINGUAN
Dear George-
Holder 1 , regret so much not being
able to visit Piling as planned.
we had certainly looked forward
to it. unfortunately, give picked
up smitting supplace deut have
been misioable physically so
feel its best we start back for
here.
him sure you agree, its lough
enough 4 be "undr the weather same 4
no import on others at the
time -
Please extend our requis to
Barbara and as always
One be T
Devotialy Holda 8 Rube
4 on STATE
Department of State
STATES or /
TELEGRAM
ACTION:
AMB
LIMITED OFFICIAL USE
ACTION
INFO:
Classification
AWB
DC
POL
ECN
R 302002Z APR 75
ADH
FM USMISSION USUN NY
CON
TO USLO PEKING 543
C&R
BT
GSO
0 N F I D E N T I A
B&F
3195
ST
LIMITED OFFICIAL USE USUN 1427
CHRON-1
FOR AMBASSADOR BUSH FROM AMBASSADOR BENNETT
2
E.O. 11652: N/A
TAGS: OVIP UN IZ
SUBJ: TRAVEL PLANS OF ISMAT KITTANI
REF: USLO 818
1. KITTANI MUCH IMPRESSED WITH QUICKNESS OF YOUR RESPONSE
AND VERY TOUCHED BY YOUR INVITATION. HE SAYS THAT PLANS FOR
HIS VISIT ARE IN HANDS OF CHINESE (AS I TOLD HIM YOU OF
COURSE RECOGNIZED), BUT HE WILL IN DISCUSSION WITH HUANG
HUA MENTION POSSIBILITY OF ENTERTAINMENT BY YOU. IT IS
POSSIBLE YOU WILL HEAR FROM CHINESE DIRECTLY.
2. HE REGRETS HIS WIFE UNABLE TO ACCOMPANY HIM.
3. WARM REGARDS.
SCALI
BT
1427
Room 1108
Peling Hotel
DECLASSIFIED
PER DOS WAIVER, November 6, 2015
By SCS NARA, Date 9/12/2017
LIMITED OFFICIAL USE
Classification
FS-412
818
29 apr 75
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
TELEGRAM
INDICATE
COLLECT
XXXCHARGE TO STATE
FROM
CLASSIFICATION
USLO PEKING
LIMITED OFFICIAL USE
E.O. 11652:
N/A
7
TAGS:
OVIP, UN, IZ
SUBJECT:
TRAVEL PLANS OF ISMAT KITTANI
ACTION:
USUN NEW YORK
REF: USUN 1385
DIST
FOR AMBASSADOR BENNETT FROM AMBASSADOR BUSH
AMB
1. Please tell Kittani delighted he is coming to Peking.
DCH
POL
2. I would like to have a small lunch or dinner for him
on Friday, May 9.
3. His hosts will keep him busy but tell him to save as
much time for the Bushes as he can. Please tell him he
ought to bring his wife.
4. Warm regards.
BUSH 3
DRAFTED BY:
AMB: GBush/hm
DRAFTING DATE
TEL. EXT.
CONTENTS AND CLASSIFICATION APPROVED BY:
4-29-75
CLEARANCES:
AMB: GBush on
LIMITED OFFICIAL USE
FORM FS-413
CLASSIFICATION
11-72
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
TELEGRAM
INDICATE
COLLECT
CHARGE TO STATE
FROM
CLASSIFICATION
USLO PEKING
LIMITED OFFICIAL USE
E.O. 11652:
N/A
7
TAGS:
OVIP, UN, IZ
SUBJECT:
TRAVEL PLANS OF ISMAT KITTANI
ACTION:
USUN NEW YORK
REF:
USUN 1385
DIST
FOR AMBASSADOR BENNETT FROM AMBASSADOR BUSH
AMB
1. Please tell Kittani delighted he is coming to Peking.
DCH
POL
2. I would like to have a small lunch or dinner for him
on Friday, May 9.
3. His hosts will keep him busy but tell him to save as
much time for the Bushes as he can. Please tell him he
ought to bring his wife.
4. Warm regards.
BUSH
DRAFTED BY:
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DRAFTING DATE
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CONTENTS AND CLASSIFICATION APPROVED BY:
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AMB:GBush
CLEARANCES:
LIMITED OFFICIAL USE
FORM
FS-413
CLASSIFICATION
11-72
Department of State
TELEGRAM
of
LIMITED OFFICIAL USE
M
Classification
ECGT
S
00000 ZZH
R 281823Z APR 75
FM USMISSION USUN NY
3114
TO USLO PEKING 0542
BT
LIMITED OFFICIAL USE USUN 1385
FOR AMBASSADOR BUSH FROM AMBASSADOR BENNETT
E.O. 11652: N/A
TAGS: OVIP, UN, IZ
SUBJ: TRAVEL PLANS OF ISMAT KITTANI
WHOM YOU WILL REMEMBER FROM SECRETARY YOUR DAYS HERE
ISMAT AND GENERAL, IS SCHEDULED WHO KITTANI, IS HAS NOW BEEN TO EXECUTIVE RETURN TO CALLED SAY THERE HE ASSISTANT HOME HAS IN TO BEEN JULY. BAGHDAD TO INVITED THE HE FOR TELEPHONED BY 6 DUTY TO 16, AND
ME FOR HE TRY HE THIS WOULD HAS TEN TO BE APPARENTLY DAY MORNING HOPE IN VISIT TOUCH TO SEE GIVEN AND WITH WHILE WILL UNFORTUNATELY, CHINESE YOU BE THERE, AFTER IN YOUR CHINA AND HIS NAME HE ARRIVAL HE MAY SAID WILL AS ONE CHINESE HE IN NOT OF WOULD PEKING. BE PEOPLE WILL
HE SENDS BEST BY REGARDS. HIS GLAMOROUS WIFE, BUT I RECEPTION. AM SURE YOU
ACCOMPAINED NOT LET THAT MITIGATE THE WARNTH OF YOUR
BEST REGARDS.
SCALI
Classification
FS-412,H)
LIMITED OFFICIAL USE
file
BAKER & MCKENZIE
ATTORNEYS AT LAW
AMSTERDAM
MEXICO CITY
815 CONNECTICUT AVENUE, N. W.
BRUSSELS
MILAN
WASHINGTON, D. C. 20006
CANBERRA
NEW YORK
TELEPHONE (202) 298-8290
CARACAS
PARIS
CHICAGO
RIO DE JANEIRO
CABLE ABOGADO
FRANKFURT
ROME
TELEX 89 552 (WU)
GENEVA
SAN FRANCISCO
248441 (RCA)
HONG KONG
SAO PAULO
LONDON
SYDNEY
MADRID
TOKYO
The Honorable George Bush
MANILA
TORONTO
Chief Liaison Office of the
ZURICH
United States of America/Peking
Department of State
Washington, D. C.
20520
Dear Ambassador Bush:
I will be returning to China early in April
representing the National Council for U.S. -China Trade
at the Canton Fair, and I hope to be traveling onward to
Peking perhaps during the last week of April. It
really would be a pleasure to see you again.
Just in case you haven't seen it, I am enclosing
a copy of last December's article from the Washington Post
about you and Mrs. Bush.
Best regards.
Sincerely,
Glee They
Eugene A. Theroux
EAT/bjb
encl.
China: 'Change of Pace
By Don Oberdorfer
sador and Republican national chair-
man, Bush asked for and was granted
PEKING-"Back in Washington or
the appointment by President Ford
at the United Nations the telephone
this fall as chief of the U.S. Liaison
was ringing all the time. George would
Office (America's unofficial embassy)
come home and say, excuse me, and
in Peking. "A lot of people said, 'You
pick up the phone. It's very different
don't know what you're getting into'
here. In his first five weeks I think
but on the basis of a month I'm very
he received two telephone calls, ex-
very happy. Sure, the pace is very
cept for the ones from me. I try to
different but I wanted a change of
call him once a day. I think he misses
pace. What the hell, I'm 50. It won't
hurt anything," he said.
the phone as much as anything.
As the Bushes are well aware, a
George Bush looked across the
breakfast table with intensity and a
China assignment these daysis a chal-
hint of surprise as his wife, Barbara,
lenge to personal temperament and
equilibrium as well as a diplomatic
aescribed the adjustment process to
lice in the People's Republic of China.
challenge of high order. Foreign resi-
dents, no matter what their rank or
"I'm getting used to it," he added
nationality, live extremely cloistered
Don Oberdorfer photo
quickly.
After a busy extroverted life as
lives. Information is sparse and mean-
George Bush and his wife Barbara-here in front of the U.S. Liaison Office-often
congressman, United Nations ambas-
See BUSH, B3, Col. 7
bicycle through the streets of Peking.
WASHINGTON
POST
DECEMBER 1974
Photocopy-Preservation
their newly acquired
the day.
Bushes oftenigo cycling on The shipment hasn't come
go
time off, the has been too busy for that.
afternoons as well as Sun-
Wednesday and Saturday
at home as the main meal of
ticourse Chinese luncheon
casional guests-eat a mul-
the Bushes-along with OC-
Bushes share. Afterwards
nese, lesson which both
dence for an hour-long Chi-
Tang, arrives at the resi-
language teacher, Mrs.
At 11:40 a.m. the embassy
Party organ.
six-page official Communist
from "People's Daily," the
day's translated editorials
incoming telegrams and the
a morning meeting ponders
building, where the staff at
Liaison Office headquarters
across the compound to the
Bush walks a few steps
in small returnable jars.
bought from a Chinese shop
fast of yogurt, which is
U.S. politics) and a break-
not much about domestic
good world summary but
America shortwave news (a
at 7 a.m. with the Voice of
packing.
The Bushes begin the day
the Marines and sent them
some nighttime tippling by
military presence and to
took offense at this foriegn
matic post-but the Chinese
ery other American diplo-
in the liaison office as in ev-
Marine guards were on duty
red trim. For a while U.S.
soldiers in olive drab with
by People's Liberation Army
post just outside is manned
Peking's suburbs. A guard-
cial embassy row sections of
similar compounds in a spe-
a walled compound beside
andithe Bush residence is in
The U.S. Liaison Office
rarely if ever disssolve.
ers in China today the mists
visible objects. For foreign-
are more in evidence than
landscape painting, the mists
As in a classical Chinese
ty often turns to frustration.
plored superficially, curiosi-
familiar and the situation ex-
sounds and sights become
different tune. Once the
marching to a strange and
apart from-a vast nation
of living amidst - and yet
style, offers the fascination
ly difficult.
ordinary Chinese is extreme-
ingful human contact with
BUSH, From B1
Peking
nese.
bara as well as George Bush
wanted to read." So far Bar-
oils, and every book I ever
here to Michigan, paints and
needlepoint to stretch from
overseas shipment "enough
His wife placed in their
of his own to crash through.
ing to create opportunities
populous country, and hop-
isolation in the world's most
the potential frustrations of
son Office is conscious of
The chief or the U. S. Liai-
siasm runs down."
elty wears off and his enthu-
come, though, when the nov-
allowed). "The real test will
news bureaus are yet
in. Peking (no American
Canadian newsman resident
cess around here," said a
"Bush is an instant suc-
lomats and four elderly Chi-
attendence of about 10 dip-
ducted in Chinese for a total
services every Sunday con-
the "Bible Society" church
markets Barbara discovered,
public bathhouse, the small
found to treat his back in a
ple-the osteopath George
slight, with the Chinese peo-
some contact, however
look for chances to make
with China.) Both Bushes
formal diplomatic relations
embassy due to the lack of
the U.S. mission is not an
was not an ambassador and
ped (evidently because he
which his predecessor skip-
Day" receptions in Peking,
begun, attending "National
diplomatic corps Bush has
gather information from the
To make contacts and
for effect."
thought they were doing it
the Chinese probably
fellow partygoer. "I think'
chief) David Bruce," said a
of (former liaison office
from the dignified manner
because it was SO different
was astonished, particularly
matic parties. "Everybody
up on their bikes at diplo-
nings recently they turned
ever possible. Several eve-
prefer the bicycles when-
limousine, but the Bushes
highly conspicuous official
U.S. Liaison Office has a
transport in the city. The
the most common means of
the bicycle, which is by far
flat, Peking is well-suited to
Pigeon." Being extremely
a "Shanghai" and a "Flying
Change of Pace
China: It's a
Monday, Dec. 2, 1974
THE WASHINGTON POST
B3
DINNER
Sunday, April 27, 1975; 7:00 p.m. at the Sick Duck Restaurant
HOSTS:
Amb. and Mrs. George Bush
GUESTS:
Mr. and Mrs. FitzGerald Bemiss
Mr. and Mrs. D. Tennant Bryan
Mr. and Mrs. Peter Griffiths - Reuters
Mr. John Burns -- The Globe and Mail
Mr. and Mrs. Gerard J. Levesque (Jane) -- USLO
Miss Jennifer Fitzgerald
From the desk of
JENNIFER FITZGERALD
Bemiss
4
Tennant
Bryan
4
Bush Hong Kong
Consultations
Pop - I hope This cable will produce a reply To me which will
extrity Intonrist. 11 you get word please advise
FITZGERALD BEMISS
P. O. BOX 1156
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23209
S.
I understand Jan Taylor will k in
Diwing on 8 Apr.
March 27, 1975
IF
Mr. John Taylor
PRC Affairs
Room 4318-A
Department of State
file
Washington, D. C. 20520
Dear Jay:
Following our telephone conversation this morning,
I called the Mongolia Mission at the U.N. A very affiable
fellow said that he couldn't do anything about it but
suggested I cable Ulan Bator. So, I sent the following
cable:
Mongolia Tourist Office
Ulan Bator
People's Republic of Mongolia
Request transit visa for wife and self. Will
be personal guests of Amb. Bush, Peking, 21 April-
30 April. Desire rail passage Peking-Irkutsk
30 April. No stop in Mongolia. Leave Irkutsk
for Moscow and London 2 May. Please cable reply
collect 1248 Rothesay Road, Richmond, Va. 23221
(tel: 804-643-2753). Or to Amb. Bush through
your Peking Embassy. Thanks.
FitzGerald Bemiss
We will see what, if anything, that produces. If by
some miracle it produces permission, then I still have to
scramble for the Russian visa and reservations on train
and plane.
Having some doubt that all this will work, I have
requested Air France reservations from Peking to Paris
on 30 April.
FITZGERALD BEMISS
P. O. BOX 1156
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23209
Mr. John Taylor
-2-
March 27, 1975
I will report to you Monday afternoon if there is
anything to report. If it is not too great an imposition,
I would appreciate your taking this letter along to Peking
with you. You might be able to put a drop of oil on the
machinery.
Best wishes.
Sincerely,
FitzGerald Bemiss
April 7, 1975
Mr. Fitzgerald Bemiss,
P.O. Box 1156,
Richmond, Virginia 23209.
Dear Jerry:
In answer to your recent questions, I
believe we can get the Mongolian visa here
in Peking with no difficulty whatsoever. I
also think we can make the Peking-Irkutsk train
reservations here. Keep your Air France reser-
vations and then as soon as we get to Peking
together we will request exactly what you
want by way of train reservations.
As soon as we get to Hong Kong we will
request the travel to Shanghai from Canton.
I am not able to take care of this here in
Peking. It must be requested in Hong Kong.
In other words, don't worry about apy
reservations from Canton on. We can work
on all of these together.
Don't bring tennis balls. I have a
jillion. Can't wait to see you.
Hastily, with best regards,
George Bush
Request for Reservations
1. Please make reservations for Amb. and Mrs. Bush to fly to
Canton on April 16th
2. Please make hotel reservations in Canton for the night
of April 16th -- one double room
3. Please make reservations for Mr. and Mrs. Bush to go to
Hong Kong on the morning train on April 17th.
4. Make reservations for Amb. and Mrs. Bush, Mr. and Mrs.
FitzGerald Bemiss and Mr. and Mrs. G. Tennant Bryan from
Hong Kong to Canton on April 21st
5. Make reservations for three double room in Canton for the
night of April 21 for Bushes, Bemmsses and Bryans
6. Request travel for three couples (Bushes, Beminses, and
Bryans) to fly to Shanghai from Canton --- will also need
plane reservations -- April 22nd
7. Plane reservations for three couples (Bemisses, Bushes,
and Bryans) to fly from Shanghai to Peking on April 24th.
8
Make reservations for three double rooms in Shanghai
nights April 22 and April 23
FITZGERALD BEMISS
P. O. BOX 1156
JF sid no problem one
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23209
March 3, 1975
PERSONAL
Ambassador George Bush
Chief, U.S. Liaison Office
Peking, People's Republic of China
c/o Department of State
Washington, D. C. 20520
Dear SHUB
I am afraid I am swamping you with letters, but -
We haven't heard from PRC yet but know of no
problems. I am proceeding with arrangements. As it
now stands, I am setting off to Alaska several days
early. Margaret, Mary, and Tennant will join me at
Anchorage on April 11. We will spend the night there
and get the plane which leaves on the afternoon of the
12th and gets to Tokyo at 5 PM Sunday, April 13. We
plan to proceed to Peking on Iranian Air, arriving
11:25 PM on the 13th. This is about the best we could
do given the changing and staggered schedules.
If it's not too much trouble, I would appreciate
it if your office would send me a schedule or informa-
tion on the train from Peking to Irkutsk. I am par-
ticularly interested in knowing what days it goes, how
long it takes, and when it arrives in Irkutsk.
As you suggested, I talked to your friend Colonel
Borman this morning. He has checked with Elkins and
Bryan and they plan to arrive about May 10 via Singapore
and Tokyo. He is making his application now and is
writing you a letter about his plans.
As we
Serry
FITZGERALD BEMISS
Fale
P.O. BOX 1156
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23209
April 1, 1975
PERSONAL
Ambassador George Bush
Chief, U.S. Liaison Office
Peking, People's Republic of China
c/o Department of State
Washington, D. C. 20520
Dear Pop
I have just returned this minute from Washington
and gotten your note to Bemiss and Bryan. By the time
you receive this letter you will undoubtedly have seen.
Jay Taylor, who knows all about our comings and goings
and has a copy of the cable I sent the Mongolia Tourist
Office on that rather wild and still totally uncertain
project.
You asked about my visa. As I read the thing, we
have to be out of China by May 5. According to Jay, all
the places that one might want to enter and exit are
listed on the visa. Actually, if we can't take the train
through Mongolia on Wednesday, April 30, we plan to take
CA 907 to Moscow. I haven't heard whether they can
accommodate us in Moscow over May Day, SO if that doesn't
work, we have in mind taking AF 179 straight to Paris.
There is nothing special about April 30 if we can't
go through Mongolia or to Moscow; it's simply that the
Air France flight on that date looked like the best way
of getting us off of your hands and on our way home.
Maybe something will work out on all this before we
leave, but I am just guessing that we might be able to
work it out in Peking.
butterscotch sauce, which Don left by the Metropolitan
Club for me yesterday. I was glad to hear from Don that 1
We shall come bearing your Polaroid and a jug of
Marvin is enjoying his job. We had tried to get him at
WFS last week to see if he would spend Easter with us.
Thyme
SB
CN 614
Cc
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
APR 4, 1975
TELEGRAM
INDICATE
COLLECT
CHARGE TO
FROM
CLASSIFICATION
USLO PEKING
UNCLASSIFIED
E.O. 11652:
N/A
7
TAGS:
OTRA, PER, CH
SUBJECT:
TRAVEL OF MR. BUSH
ACTION:
AMCONSUL HONG KONG
FOR: CROSS FROM: BUSH
AMB
REF: Hong Kong 3482
PEKING 614
CHRON
Re. para. #3 of REFTEL, Mr. and Mrs. Bemiss and Mr. and
Mrs. Bryan do not arrive Hong Kong until 10:40 p.m. so
should not be included in dinner X party.
Look forward to seeing you.
BUSH GB/
DRAFTED BY:
DRAFTING DATE
TEL. EXT.
CONTENTS AND CLASSIFICATION APPROVED BY:
AMB; JFitzgerald:jaf
4/4/75
AMB: GBush are
CLEARANCES:
FORM FS-413
CLASSIFICATION
11-72
late
March 27, 1975
Mr. John Taylor
PRC Affairs
Room 4318-A
Department of State
Washington, D. C. 20520
Dear Jay:
Following our telephone conversation this morning,
I called the Mongolia Mission at the U.N. A very affiable
fellow said that he couldn't do anything about it but
suggested I cable Ulan Bator. So, I sent the following
cable:
Mongolia Tourist Office
Ulan Bator
People's Republic of Mongolia
Request transit visa for wife and self. Will
be personal guests of Amb. Bush, Peking, 21 April-
30 April. Desire rail passage Peking-Irkutsk
30 April. No stop in Mongolia. Leave Irkutsk
for Moscow and London 2 May. Please cable reply
collect 1248 Rothesay Road, Richmond, Va. 23221
(tel: 804-643-2753). Or to Amb. Bush through
your Peking Embassy. Thanks.
FitzGerald Bemiss
We will see what, if anything, that produces. If by
some miracle it produces permission, then I still have to
scramble for the Russian visa and reservations on train
and plane.
Having some doubt that all this will work, I have
requested Air France reservations from Peking to Paris
on 30 April.
Mr. John Taylor
-2-
March 27, 1975
I will report to you Monday afternoon if there is
anything to report. If it is not too great an imposition,
I would appreciate your taking this letter along to Peking
with you. You might be able to put a drop of oil on the
machinery.
Best wishes.
Sincerely,
FitzGerald Bemiss
move JF: Benizo
March 26
Dear Gerry,
answers to various queries:
Have not read Single Pebble.
I am making reservations for you and Bryans at Hilton
for April 18th arrival , leave April 21.
I am requesting travel for all three couples
to Canton, then to Shanghai, then to Peking. I
think we better fly given your time alloted.
Re: Mr. Ho- let's check out his fleet, ho ho ho.
Man's Fate- no I have not read it. Love to.
We have had no trouble getting the Mongolian visas
here in Peking so don't worry about them..
I had a cable saying the Bryans wanted to stay til
the 5th. The only problem is we may have two other
couples appearing then, which clearly overloads our
circuits in the house as you will see when you
get here. But let's not bother Tennant with that
now- a)one couple may not come b) we can probably
work out housing at hotel or with my friend the
N.Z. Ambassador..
Nothing to bring- life is treating us great.
Hastily,
From the desk of
GEORGE BUSH
FITZGERALD BEMISS
P.O. BOX 1156
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23209
March 18, 1975
PERSONAL
Ambassador George Bush
Chief, U.S. Liaison Office
Peking, People's Republic of China
c/o Department of State
Washington, D. C. 20520
Dear Pop
Thanks for your letter of March 10. By now I trust you
have received our schedule. We are delighted with the extra
bonus of Canton and Shanghai. The train sounds fine to us,
but we will be happy to do anything that suits you and Bar.
Tennant Bryan has just received word that his application
is approved and, as you directed, I called Jay Taylor and
asked him to pass the word to you.
Today, through a travel agency approved by Intourist,
we are applying for the Russian visa. There may be a bit of
a problem here because I indicate that we would enter Russia
on the train from Peking through Mongolia. I have received
no acknowledgment of my letter of a month ago to the Mongolian
Foreign Ministry. The question is whether the Russians will
approve our entry without evidence that we have the Mongolian
approval. I suppose the only thing to do is to fire off the
application hoping for Russian approval, but be prepared to
scramble for the approval when we get to Peking. I do hope
we can get it squared away before we leave.
Thanks for making the hotel reservations for us at the
Hilton in Hong Kong. While I am there I might try to call on
Mr. Ho, whose son graduated from WFS last year. He is supposed
to be a fabulously wealthy tobacconist and I would like to get
him to do something for Woodberry. I understand he has two or
three splendid boats for visiting friends to see the harbor.
Shall I check this out?
Thanks for reminding me of The Good Earth, which I read
last weekend. It's a great book, much like parts of the Old
Testament. Have you read Andre Malreaux's Man's Fate? Here's
IS
md
next
&
52/
AM
10
12
Pe
9
FITZGERALD BEMISS
P.O. BOX 1156
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23209
Ambassador George Bush
-2-
March 18, 1975
another great one - but more particularly about the revolution.
If you don't have it, I will bring it in paperback.
Let me know if there is anything particular we can bring
you. I will certainly check with Marvin, your mother, and
Nancy before leaving to get any last minute messages. We are
getting all fired up about this great excursion!
Late bulletin -- it turns out that we can make a lot
better connection in Tokyo if we leave Anchorage on the 17th
rather than the 18th. By leaving on the 17th we have a good
connection in Tokyo from NW 3 to NW 9, which will get us in
Hong Kong at 10:40 PM on the 18th. If we leave Anchorage on
the 18th we cannot make that connection and will have to lay
over a night in Tokyo, which we don't want to do. So we will
plan accordingly and would be grateful to you if you would
ask the Hilton to expect us late on the night of Friday
the 18th.
G.B.
FITZGERALD BEMISS
P.O. BOX 1156
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23209
March 12, 1975
PERSONAL
Ambassador George Bush
Chief, U.S. Liaison Office
Peking, People's Republic of China
c/o Department of State
Washington, D. C. 20520
Dear CHWB
Margaret and I have our entry permits! -- good for
any 14 days between April 4 and May 5, and good for entry
at several places, including the present Hong Kong plan.
I will have to take care of our exit plan but we will
face that one later.
We couldn't be more pleased! Thank you for the
advice on the Pearl Buck book, a great classic which we
certainly will read. Have you read John Hersey's
"Single Pebble"? I thought that was a tremendously
moving story of life on the Yangtze.
I trust you received from Jay Taylor a message
about our arrival in Hong Kong on April 19. Through
good friends here in the leaf tobacco business we can
probably get a lot of help on reservations, etc. in
Hong Kong, but I am assuming until I hear from you to
the contrary that you have got all that under control.
More later.
Serry
They OR The Mandrim is qual
AB
OF
X
STATE
Department of State
ACTION
2)
TELEGRAM
of
UNCLASSIFIED
Classification
GTION TAKEN
BY:
R 181819Z MAR 75
DATE:
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO USLO PEKING 4971
BT
UNCLAS STATE 060415
E.O. 11652: N/A
TAGS: OREP, CH
1805
SUBJECT:
VISIT BY GERALD BEMIS AND TENANT BRYANT
FOR BUSH FROM TAYLOR (EA/PRCM)
BEMIS AND BRYANT HAVE RECEIVED VISAS AND LOOK FORWARD TO
APRIL 19 MEETING IN HONG KONG.
INGERSOLL
BT
0415
IN FS-412(H)
Classification
UNCLASSIFIED
FITZGERALD BEMISS
P. O. BOX 1156
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23209
Eite
February
1975
Ambassador George Bush
Chief, U.S. Liaison Office
Peking, Peoples Republic of China
c/o Department of State
Washington, D.C. 20520
Dear Pop,
Yesterday I went to see Marvin play in the Woodberry-
Benedictine game. Alas, we lost, but to a good team that
played well. I was very proud of Marvin. He played most
of the game and looked to me like the best man out there.
He plays aggressively but always with a good disposition.
I sat with the Athletic Director, Red Caughron, who told
me how much he liked Marvin and what a good job he is doing.
I asked Marvin if he wanted to bring a gang by for supper
but they were going out to their annual team banquet, which,
of course, was a very important affair.
I know you are terribly saddened at the death of your
friend and neighbor, Jerry Pettis. I knew him only slightly
but admired him as a really first-rate man. How I hate to
see the Congress lose a man of that caliber these days.
We spent most of the weekend with the American Tourist
Manual for the PRC, which was very helpful on all sorts of
rudimentary stuff. Our planning and speculating is, of
course, without benefit of knowledge of what suits the PRC
and what's convenient for you. But I did begin thinking
about the possibilities of having the choice between leaving
Peking by train for Irkutsk and then flying westward and
home, versus taking the train to Shanghai, Canton, and Hong
Kong - and thence eastward and home. Tomorrow I hope to go
to see Jay Taylor in the State Department and then to the
PRC office. Perhaps they will have something to say on
this subject. Of course in any and all of this I will be
guided by your advice.
Last week we went to a party with Aileen and Rus Train,
who are plotting a trip through those parts and particularly
to all those wonderful, strange places like Samarkand and
FITZGERALD BEMISS
P.O. BOX 1156
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23209
Ambassador George Bush
Page 2 - February 17, 1975
Bukhara. We also saw Nancy's old chum, Lucy Moorhead.
Incidentally, travel plans shifted on us at the last minute
SO we called Paola and stayed in your establishment. I do
hope that was alright with you and Bar. Paola was very
sweet and I think enjoyed some company.
Love t. Bar
Gamy
FITZGERALD BEMISS
P. O. BOX 1156
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23209
March 7, 1975
PERSONAL
Ambassador George Bush
Chief, U.S. Liaison Office
Peking, People's Republic of China
c/o Department of State
Washington, D. C. 20520
GHWB -
I am very glad to get your letter of February 25 and
know your plans and ideas for April.
I had planned to be in Peking from April 13-23 - just
the wrong time - but will have no great difficulty (with
PRC's approval) of delaying the whole program a week and
following more or less your plan "B"; that is, meeting you
in Hong Kong on April 19, proceeding with you, and arriving
Peking about the 22nd. If you can tolerate us that long,
I would like to leave Peking on the train to Irkutsk on
Wednesday the 30th.
I have some business in Alaska along the way so will
probably fly from Anchorage to Tokyo to Hong Kong. Margaret
will meet me in one of those places - whichever involves
the least wear and tear on her.
Today I am trying to reach Jay Taylor and hope by now
you have gotten the signal that we would like to meet you
in Hong Kong on the 19th. Where will you stay in Hong Kong?
If it is not too much trouble, I would be grateful if you
would get a double room for us and for the Bryans. Inci-
dentally, I have communicated all this to Tennant and it
suits him. But I think he really feels that he is not
going to get the permit.
We are getting all excited about this great excursion
and the fun of being there with you and Bar.
Best
Latest schedule attached.
S.
P.S- Nice Table with Kleppi This morning; Le just called to that.
MR. AND MRS. FITZGERALD BEMISS
SCHEDULE - 7 MAR
April
14 Mon
FB
Richmond-NYC
EA 586
15 Tues
NYC-Fairbanks
PA 801 - 1st Class
16 Wed
Fairbanks-Anchorage
17 Thurs
Anchorage
17 Thurs
MPB
Richmond-Dulles-Anchorage
UA 743/NW 47
18 Fri
FB & MPB
Anchorage-Tokyo
19 Sat
Tokyo-Hong Kong
20 Sun
Hong Kong
21 Mon
Hong Kong-Canton
22 Tues
Canton-Peking
22-29
Peking
30 Wed
Peking-Irkutsk
Train 17
LV 0740 Wed
Ar 0828 Fri (May 2)
(2 soft beds)
May
2 Fri
Irkutsk-Moscow
Flight SV 562
Lv 1255
Ar 1605
2-4
Moscow
4 Sun
Moscow-London
Flight SV 311
Lv 1340
Ar 1420
4-5-6
London
7 Wed
London-Washington
FITZGERALD BEMISS
P. O. BOX 1156
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23209
March 5, 1975
PERSONAL
Ambassador George Bush
Chief, U.S. Liaison Office
Peking, People's Republic of China
c/o Department of State
Washington, D. C. 20520
Dear CHWB
I have just received your letter of February 18.
While I have kept in touch with Tennant about all the
steps I have taken, I have in no way tied our applications
and plans to his. Nor have I referred to the Bryans in
any of my conversations with Mr. Ma.
Mr. Ma may associate us with each other both because
our applications do coincide and, I believe, you referred
to Tennant in the letter you wrote me, which I filed with
my application.
I have been a little embarrassed about the thing,
mainly because while I have the most cordial relations
with Mary and Tennant, I really didn't mean to do what I
ended up doing; that is, more or less causing them to be
invited to be your guests. My rather naive original idea
was to defray some part of the cost of the trip by writing
an article on the trip for Tennant. But I am not a
journalist and that wasn't and isn't the purpose of the
trip. And I have made no arrangement of that sort. So,
as I say, the net effect of my bright idea has been not
at all what I intended it to be. At the same time, Tennant
is a very considerate fellow and I know he would be very
anxious not to cause his status to interfere with our trip.
Our purpose is very simple. Margaret and I want to
come see you and Bar and whatever else we can see along
the way.
FITZGERALD BEMISS
P.O. BOX 1156
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23209
Ambassador George Bush
Page 2 - March 5, 1975
Mr. Ma has told me that he would call me when the
permit is granted. I don't want to pester him, but if
the Bryan application is causing any trouble, I would
like to know about it because I am sure I could satisfy
him about my relationship with you and the purpose of
my trip, and do so without any feeling of disloyalty to
our friend Tennant.
Right now I don't know what else to do but wait and
see. But if you have any advice, I would certainly be
eager to follow it. In the meantime, I might check with
Jay Taylor just to make sure he understands the situation.
As can
G
P.S- After writing This , called Day Tay + reverwed
The matter with crim. Ne foreses no diffeculty,
printing not That PRL can, as at often does,
approve one V not The other I'll Le in Wishington
swend days next week. Hr suggests / stop by
his office + Then click with In Ma, just &
give Line opportunity to sain questions / There
are any.
Depart
ACTIONY
TELEGRAM
8
POL
Classification
ECON
ADMIN
ACTION TAKEN
cars
347
GSC
C&R
TOU
R 080206Z MAR 75
51
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
CHRON
BY:
TO USLO PEKING 4905
BT
DATE:
UNCLAS STATE 052642
E.O. 11652: N/A
TAGS: TRV OGEN CH
SUBJECT: TRAVEL OF FITZGERALD BEMISS
FOR BUSH FROM TAYLOR (EA/PRCM) 1543
FITZGERALD BEMISS HAS RECEIVED YOUR LETTER AND NOW PLANS
TO MEET YOU IN HO NG KO NG APRILL 19 AS SUGGESTED.
INGERSOLL
wrote Bumins - March 10
FORM 4-68 FS-412(H)
UNCLASSIFIED
FitzGerald Bemiss
25 Feb
GHWB
These pectures, which you may
not have with you, will give you
long mommits 7 happy reflection.
Trying To get to China is helf The
fun. we hope T. anive Poking from
Tobyo at 12:30 pm on JAL Wed
16 April. Mr Ma has our presports
& applications. I'm move & m the
overwhe alm id by The vast range Things
K are in . around Delains - and way a
rare opportunity, -A are tom you are
giving m.
my Themis is in one hyp periods.
I'll bring shoes - can we hit a few?
Love 7 Bar As were
Sum
March 7
Dear Gerry,
I have your letter of Feb 25th (also a nice note from Tenna
It crossed with my letter to you on plans, but what
you outline, namely, arriving April 16th is just fine with
After our Peking visit we should arrange to go to Canton
perhaps via train to Shanghai etc I have to go to Hong K
sometime and this will all fit. After you determine how
long you will be able to stay please contact Nan Ellis
telling her of your schedule.
The Borman, Elkins, Bryan (Houston) gang does not get
here til May 12th- so maybe we can get Nan Ellis in here
after you but before them. I can be flexible on my
arrangements for the Canton Fair. If you decide to exit at (
suggest to Nan Ellis that she meet us in Hong Kong and we
will say goodbye Bemiss hello Ellis, carrying her back to
Peking with us. Sorry to have this also complicated, but
is all sorting out. Devine, who will mail this at Alaska
is doing just fine here with Alix- delightful
good weathe
many sights seen.
The pix of the weiners were just great
Free advice- knowl is your intellectual wife you have probably
and properly read up on Mao's thought etc.; but I suggests a re-look
at Pearl Buck's the Good Earth- it can be swallowed in four
hours; and it will give you a good backdrop against which to view
Post-Liberation China. They lack many of our freedoms, but they've
comealong way on basics such as health care, food, housing etc.
I must stop but just wanted you to know all's well.
We are sick about our great friend Pettis- and sick about the
death of that beautiful Lisa Rimmer.
We are happy here in China and we want to share that happiness with
you two.
Love to Margaret,
Guest
file
Dear Gerry and Margaret,
Fob.25, 1975 BEMISS
By the time you get this I hope you have received your
visas.
Latest thinking on the visit
I am now thinking that I
should make an official appearance at the Spring Canton Fair.
One good way to do it would be to leave Peking by train on
the 14th or plane on the 15th of April for Canton.
If your schedule would work perhaps you could come here early
in April, do Peking up right, and then go with us to Canton.
See the fair and then exit China over the bridge into
Hong Kong. You could go your merry way after a day or two
of R & R with us in Hong Kong. I plan to go back to the fair
in Canton on Monday April 21st.
Now if it is not possible to come in early May how about this.
Meet us in Hong Kong April 19th- get caught up on the jet
lag in HK for two days and thentravel with us into the PRC
leaving Hong Kong Monday AM April 21st. I will be giving a
dinner for US business types in Canton the night of the 21st
then we could travel to Peking on the 22nd either by plane or
train. The schedule in Peking is clear until Borman et al
arrive Just check it all out and let me know what you are
thinking. I like the idea of H. .Kong for you all cause it
would give you a guaranteed look at the bridge and Canton.
We might even proceed to Hong Kong or to Peking via
Shanghai. Don't bother the PRC LO with all of this until
we get. firm in our planes. If you decide on coming to
meet us in Hong Kong we'll need the visa to show Canton then
Peking. If you come first to Peking we can request the travel
permits from Peking for Shanghaß and the Fair.
It would be fun to do it this way. I've never slept with Margaret
on a train before, to say nothing of Mrs. Bryan.
As to money- it is hard to cash personal checks in PRC S0
I suggest travelers checks which can be rather easily cashed.
For sightseeing- my car will be available a lot of the time, but
then cars can be rented here in Peking- not too high a rate.
Taxis are tethered three blocks away at the International
Club for short hops.
When we travel hotels are not too high priced- usually less
than equivalent hotels in States although Canton at Fair
time might be higher.
Tell les travelling girls not to worry about odds and ends- most
things can be acquired in Peking.
Bring your camera, Bemiss- we need a classic great wall shot
for posterity.
Give me a reading as soon as possible. Jay Taylor would gladly
include a sentence in a cable-- International mail ( 26c postage)
is less secure but is faster than pouch
If you use
internat'l be sure to put
GB, USLO, Kuang Hua Lu 17, Peking, People's Rep. of China
Excitement mounts as April approaches.
Love to all Bemi.
FITZGERALD BEMISS
P. O. BOX 1156
RICHMOND. VIRGINIA 23209
Dear (HWB
Separately I've mailed 7, you various letters
about The Trip waller; I trust, in accordance will your
advice y Ret of Jay Taylor (State Dipt) with whom I
Talked last week. This is to Tell you about my Talk
with Tunant He understands exactly your, & The
Depts couchn. He has news made application fn
bitry in any capacity He is quite willing 70 come
as your personal creest, in no sense as a newspaper
man & with no intention M conting I Told him They
I planded To write down my own personal observations
x impressions - as most serious travelers do - and
show Them to you before I showed Them to others.
I hope all This is fully responsive % The prints you
made in our recent tell; 4 not please put me
straight my letter 7 The PRL was mailed on 7 Feb.
I'll be in Washington on 12 Feb and in accordance with
Jan Taylors advice hope to 5/02 by The PRC MILL to su of
There are any problems At course point we should
apply for a Russian visa. / assume we will lay over
as Moscow only a day or 2, or perhaps not at all. your
good office might n might not be needed for The Russian
home work. Ive started on R big book, which I'm sure you've
Trip. Any advice? In The meantine will be doing our
seen, called China Today T rel reread E Clubbs 20th cuturn Chura.
And I'se also consult has Trylor on useful mading.
Chambers called Griday ifter The wootherry meeting-
,nst having Dulles -00 I dobut ALL mine , Talked 5 Pressy
last night - I do hope Things are comp well with him.
1 really wasnt our about This new role he has in
I- H, But he was as gennous k optimes & as he
always is, no metter what happens. Lawis Walku
write v offered is his new (mold) 16 port house This summer,
which was thoughtful 7 him , But between Chena &
I celand I Think I'll have to forces that.
By the way - Tennest is holding up on his
application until I set nine moving, as you
negasted I'll report progrem
Love to Ban
As we
Sorry
10 Feb 75
February 20
Dear Gerry,
I have your two letters of Feb 10.
The way you are approaching this should result in a visa
fairly soon, but do not panic if it takes a wile. I am
discussing with our people here whether to advise the
Foreign Ministry as Jay Taylor suggested. Recently the
Ministry send around a note saying not to notify them but
to deal with PRCLO.
The Tennant Bryan thing sound fine and we really would
love to have them join you here.
As to timing Frank Borman, Jim Elkins and Tony Bryan and
wives are coming if they can get visas. I have suggested
to them the last week in April or the first week in May.
I suggest you call Frank Borman, exec. v.p. Eastern Airlines
at Miami to see if their planas have firmed up at all.
The rest of April looks pretty clear here.
AB for Russian visa, I don't believe you'll have any trouble
with that. I suggest you tell them you will be my guests in
Peking and simply make routine application. When people
travel from here they simply get their visas for Mongolia
1 and Russia here; BO we could probably do it that way, but
still think it's better to wrap up the USSR visa in D.C.
Clothes- no Tux. I have plenty of extra warm things if it
should be unexpectedly cold. I have extra racket and tennis
gear- bring sneakers. Sports coats are customary. Women? I
don't know, Beniss, but the bautiful one will do what's
right I know. We are so excited over the visit. I am all well
totally on top of the world. Let me know what we can do
fromthis end. Hurry on over.
FITZGERALD BEMISS
P. O. BOX 1156
RICHMOND. VIRGINIA 23209
February 10, 1975
PERSONAL
Ambassador George Bush
Chief, U.S. Liaison Office
Peking, Peoples Republic of China
c/o Department of State
Washington, D. C. 20520
Dear Pap.
Thanks for taking us in. We loved seeing you and
hope you had a good trip and are fully mended.
Friday afternoon I talked to Jay Taylor in the
State Department and, in accordance with his advice,
I have written the attached letter to Mr. Chi at the
PRC Liaison Office.
Mr. Taylor suggested that you send a copy of your
letter to the Foreign Minister so he would be aware of
your invitation, so I enclose a copy for that purpose.
Mr. Taylor also suggested that I write directly
to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia to
request a transit visa. He said that I might be, able
to get that done in Peking, but since there was the
possibility of delay I should put this in the mill now.
Also enclosed is a copy of that letter.
As ever,
Guny
FITZGERALD BEMISS
P.O. BOX 1156
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23209
February 7, 1975
Mr. Chi Li-te
Peoples Republic of China
Liaison Office
2300 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, D. C. 20008
Dear Mr. Chi:
My friend, Ambassador Bush, has been so kind as
to invite my wife and myself to be his guests in Peking
in mid-April of this year. Attached hereto is a copy
of his invitation.
I should be very grateful to you if you would send
me the forms for application for a visa for my wife and
myself for that visit. We have not made precise travel
plans yet but, of course, will be glad to give you this
information as we make plans, if you would like to have
it.
With great appreciation, I am
Sincerely yours,
FitzGerald Bemiss
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Washington, D.C. 20520
February 3, 1975
Mr. Fitzgerald Bemiss
Box 1156
Richmond, Virginia 23209
Dear Gerry:
This is an invitation to you and Margaret to
be our house guests in Peking as long as you can be
with us during the month of April.
When you apply for your visa to the PRC Liaison
office in Washington, please explain to them that you
will be our personal house guests and will be staying
with us at the residence at USLO.
I am writing a similar letter to the Tennant Bryans
hoping that they, too, will be able to travel with you
and Margaret to the PRC.
You will love Peking -
Sincerely,
George Bush
FITZGERALD BEMISS
P. O. BOX 1156
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23209
February 10, 1975
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Peoples Republic of Mongolia
Ulaan Baator
Mongolia Republic
Dear Sirs:
My friend, Ambassador George Bush, has invited
my wife and myself to be his personal house guests at
the U. S. Liaison Office residence in mid-April.
Accordingly, we have applied to the Peoples Republic
of China Liaison Office in Washington for a visa.
Upon leaving Peking, we hope to take the railway
train from Peking to Irkutsk, and thence home by
airplane.
I have been advised to request of you an appli-
cation for a transit visa for my wife and myself.
If it is not practical to mail that to me, then
perhaps it could be sent to Ambassador Bush in Peking
and I could attend to the matter when I' arrive.
I should be most grateful for this assistance
and for the opportunity of making a trip through your
magnificent country, pictures and descriptions of
which I have admired so much.
Sincerely yours,
FitzGerald Bemiss
February 4, 1975
Mr. G. Tennant Bryan
211 Ampthill Road
Richmond, Virginia 2322555
Dear Tennant::
Barbara and I want to invite you and Mrs. Bryan
to come with Gerry and Margaret Bemiss to visit us
in Peking during the month of April.
When you apply for a visa please show this
letter to the proper authorities at the PRC Liaison
Office in Washington.
We are counting on your staying with us in our
residence at USLO.
It was good seeing you the other day.
Sincerely,
George Bush
Media General Inc. 333 East Grace Street Richmond, Virginia 23219 (703) 649-6000
had
Media
JF
General
visitor
wrote him
D. Tennant Bryan
Chairman of the Board
20 February 1975
Dear George:
First of all let me thank you on behalf of both Mary and
me for your extreme generosity in allowing us to "piggy-back"
on the invitation you and Barbara extended to Gerry and
Margaret. Our eagerness to visit China at your invitation
outweighed any sense of guilt that we should appropriately
have felt.
Gerry and Margaret have now made application for
their visas and have given us the green light, in accordance
with plan, to apply for visas ourselves. I enclose a copy of
my letter to Mr. Chi which speaks for itself.
I hope and believe that we will not in any way prejudice
Gerry's and Margaret's chances of obtaining visas and I assure
you that we will write and do nothing that might in any way
embarrass you in your delicate diplomatic mission.
It was a joy to see and to hear you at the Alfalfa dinner.
There are at least 600 good and true Alfalfans and guests who
will vote for you above any other candidate for the Presidency
of the United States - and this in spite of your frank disclosure
of your proposed Cabinet.
With much appreciation and great admiration, I am
Sincerely,
Tumant
\
Ambassador George Bush
Chief, U. S. Liaison Office
Peking, People's Republic of China
c/o Department of State
Washington, D. C. 20520
Metropolitan Newspapers Publishing Radio & Television Broadcasting Community Antenna Services
Media General Inc. 333 East Grace Street Richmond, Virginia 23219 (703) 649-6000
Gonsial
D. Tennant Bryan
Chairman of the Board
20 February 1975
Dear Mr. Chi:
As you will see from the enclosed copy of his letter,
Ambassador George H. W. Bush, Chief of our country's
Liaison Office with your country, has extended an invi-
tation to Mrs. Bryan and me to visit him and Mrs. Bush
in Peking during April.
Mrs. Bryan and I are extremely anxious to accept
this invitation and to that end we request you to send us
the necessary forms on which to apply for visas. A self-
addressed, stamped envelope is enclosed for your con-
venience.
We would hope to visit Ambassado: and Mrs. Bush
about the middle of April, though our plans are flexible
and will depend to some degree on the convenience of
Mr. and Mrs. FitzGerald Bemiss in whose company we
should like to travel.
Thanking you in advance for your consideration of
this request, and with kindest regards, I am
Sincerely,
Tressant bryan
Mr. Chi Li-te
People's Republic of China
Liaison Office
2300 Connecticut Avenue, N. W.
Washington, D. C. 20008
Metropolitan Newspapers Publishing *Radlo & Television Broadcasting Community Antenna Services
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Washington, D.C. 20520
February 4, 1975
Mr. D. Tennant Bryan
211 Ampthill Road
Richmond, Virginia 23226
Dear Tennant:
Barbara and I want to invite you and Mrs. Bryan
to come with Gerry and Margaret Bemiss to visit us
in Peking during the month of April.
When you apply for a visa please show this
letter to the proper authorities at the PRC Liaison
Office in Washington.
We are counting on your staying with us in our
residence at USLO.
It was good seeing you the other day.
Sincerely,
George any Bush
April 23, 1975
TENTATIVE TRAVEL ITINERARY FOR MR. AND MRS. G. TENNANT BRYAN
April 30th
Peking
Train
1855
May 1st
Nanking
13
1201
May 2nd
Nanking
Train
0840
Soochow
45
1216
May 3rd
Soochow
May 4th
Soochow
Train
1224
Shanghai
45
1351
May 5th
Shanghai
May 6th
Shanghai
SR 317
1350
Geneva
0510
*There are additional trains available not shown on the Peking
timetable that your guide can inform you about when you reach
Soochow.
April 23, 1975
TENTATIVE TRAVEL ITINERARY FOR MR. AND MRS. FITZGERALD BEMISS
April 30th
Peking
Train
1855
May 1st
Nanking
13
1201
* May 2nd
Nanking
Train
0840
Soochow
45
1216
May 3rd
Soochow
May 4th
Soochow
Train
1224
Shanghai
45
1351
May 5th
Shanghai
May 6th
Shanghai
CA 921
1025
Tokyo
1355
May 6th
Tokyo
NW 21
1715
Honolulu
2110
*There are additional trains available not shown on the Peking
timetable that your guide can inform you about when you reach
Soochow.
April 23, 1975
TENTATIVE TRAVEL ITINERARY FOR MR. AND MRS. FITZGERALD BEMISS
April 29th -30th Peking Wed
Train
1855
May 1st Thinks Nanking
13
1201
I
* May 2nd Fre
Nanking
Train
0840
Soochow
45
1216
May 3rd sat
Soochow
May 4th Sun
Soochow
Train
1224
Shanghai
45
1351
May 5th Mon
Shanghai
May 6th
Shanghai
CA 921
1025
Tokyo
1355
May 6th Tues
Tokyo
NW 21
1715
Honolulu
2110
*There are additional trains available not shown on the Peking
timetable that your guide can inform you about when you reach
Soochow.
April 23, 1975
D,
TENTATIVE TRAVEL ITINERARY FOR MR. AND MRS. X. TENNANT BRYAN
April 30th 29th Peking
Train
1855
May lst 30 Nanking
13
1201
* May 2nd
Nanking
Train
0840
Soochow
45
1216
May 3rd
Soochow
May 4th
Soochow
Train
1224
Shanghai
45
1351
May 5th
Shanghai
May 6th
Shanghai
SR 317
1350
Geneva
0510
*There are additional trains available not shown on the Peking
timetable that your guide can inform you about when you reach
Soochow.
Media General Inc. 333 East Grace Street Richmond, Virginia 23219 (703) 649-6000
Media
General
D. Tennant Bryan
Chairman of the Board
18 March 1975
My dear George:
Today was a double "red" letter day for me in that word
came from the PRC Liaison Office that our visa applications
had been approved and Gerry Bemiss sent me a copy of your
letter of the 10th. Actually, I was just on the point of respond-
ing despondently to yours of the 7th to say that I despaired of
ever obtaining visa approval when all of a sudden the skies
cleared and everything seemed to fall into place at one time.
As Gerry has doubtless written you, Margaret, Mary and
I plan to follow him to Anchorage on Wednesday, the 16th -
spend the night there and fly the next day to Hong Kong via
Tokyo, reaching Hong Kong, presumably, at 10:40 pm on
Friday, the 18th.
We are delighted to know that you and Barbara will probably
be in Hong Kong then and that we can look forward to traveling
with you to Peking via Canton and Shanghai. If, however, you
find it either difficult or impossible to get permission for six
people to go simultaneously from Canton to Shanghai and then
on to Peking, Mary and I can probably make arrangements to
fly directly from Tokyo to Peking. Naturally, we would much
prefer to go with you, if possible.
Mary and I are planning to get together with Gerry and
Margaret before this week is out and settle all the nitty-gritty
details of how long you will have to put up with us in Peking,
and whether we can proceed from Peking by air to western
Europe (Zurich, Paris or London) instead of entraining with the
Bemisses for Mongolia and the Soviet Union.
Can't tell you how much we are looking forward to the
privilege of being with you!
Sincerely,
The Honorable George H. W. Bush
United States Liaison Office
Tumant
People's Republic of China
Metropolitan Newspapers Publishing Radio & Television Broadcasting Community Antenna Services
HM
/
China, Ha! Getting there is half the fun.
Bemos
When our friend George Bush became U.S. Envoy to the People's
Republic of China, he said, "Bemiss, you must come see us in Peking."
I replied, "What about mid-April?" His answer, "Great!", started.-
one of our more complex logistical enterprises, and also our own
great cultural homework to prepare for the best possible use of a
very brief look at a very large subject.
/ letn learned They on L.O. hadn't known about This sroup
First about the logistics. Usually the toughest and most
crucial hurdle is getting the PRC entry visa. About 7,000 Americans
have managed to get to China since the Nixon visit in 1972, most
metal after Insury left. One N/ many wamples
Crimm minitang only when how They please
of these being in carefully selected groups of interest to the
Chinese Government - trade, medicine, farm, etc. Not all groups
are that specialized. Recently 20 20 Alaskan school children made the trip,
getting cordial attention and of course returning full of praise
for friendly people and wholesome activities. But the American
tourist who just wants to have a look at China (some when 900, Through 000 have have
applied) doesn't stand much of a chance of gaining entry. One
reason is that there aren't the hotels, transportation, translators,
etc. to handle quantities of tourists. These existing resources are
needed for other purposes. The other, I gather, is that the Maoist
MPRC
society is still in early stages of development and the question of
the nature and degree of contact with Westerners must wait for
To PRL form reasons.
answers to other more pressing questions. Tomat browness is certains interteristors
For us the visa problem was relatively easy because our
application was accompanied by an invitation from Ambassador Bush
to be his personal guests. So our application request was granted as a
courtesy to the Ambassador, and certainly not because our presence
are
served any significant purpose of the PRC. x The PRC Liaison Office
83
is in a large apartment building on Connecticut Avenue - for which,
I understand, rechuse they paid over $5 million. The chince are extensively
re-doing the interior - all with Chinese labor. It's said that
their top man, Ambassador
(actual title is like
Bush's, Liaison Officer), pitches in and does his turn with the
2
-2-
plastering and papering. But the caller like myself gets only as
far as the small entrance lobby. In fact, you ring the bell and
someone in a blue Mao suit (which everyone wears) peeks out and
admits you only when you've stated your business. I was politely
offered a seat to wait for the proper official - a short wait I had
and enjoyed on several occasions. Once I read parts of an article
on the third world, a release on the recent People's Congress, and
a story about a young girl who goes forth to a commune and armed
with the precepts of Chairman Mao settles a difference between a
good older person who is a bit too revisionist and some good
younger people who are a bit too revolutionary, thereby increasing
productivity and harmony. On another occasion I listened to a
conversation in Chinese between a young American archeologist and
a Chinese official, holding both in awe for managing it so easily.
On yet another visit, quite unexpectedly, I was handed the magic
visas. After thanking the official who had been so helpful to me,
I marched off in triumph only to realize that I couldn't figure
what the visa said. The only solution was a trip to a Chinese
speaking friend at the State Department who revealed that we could
enter and leave China by any of the normal avenues and stay somewhat
longer than we had planned.
I say that the visa is "usually" the toughest problem. For us
the toughest problem was caused by our determination to leave Peking
by the train which makes a three day, 1,667 mile passage through
Outer Mongolia to the Russian city of Irkutsk on the western shore
of Lake Baikal, and thence 3,200 miles by plane to Moscow. The
train leaves Peking every Wednesday morning (a Chinese and a Russian
crew on alternate weeks), goes through Ulan Bator, Mongolia's capitol,
and joins the Trans Siberian train at Ulan Ude for the final 280 miles
to Irkutsk. This is no easy matter to arrange from Richmond, Virginia.
There is no Mongolian representative to this country and therefore
no one to ask for the essential Transit Visa. Letters and cables
to Ulan Bator are less effective than notes in a tree trunk for
leprechauns. And the Soviets won't give you a visa without
3
-3-
certification from Intourist that you have secured transportation
and hotel space, which you cannot secure without the Mongolian
Transit Visa. A nasty little circle out of which one might never
get. The effort did lead to happy hours with Airline Guide and
Atlas devising Plans B, C, D, etc. in case there should be no
breakthrough on Plan A. For example, on Mondays there is a
Swissair flight to Bombay, and on Tuesdays a nice CA flight to
Albania. But what we really wanted to do was|ride the train across
the plains trampled by the armies of Ghengis Khan, whence sprang
his grandson Kublai, who in the 14th Century rules not only China
but an empire reaching from the China Sea to the Danube.
As if Twiced out at was good wid grown a little Thought
to Peaso B. C,D. We'd need pieces of all of There in due course.
But never let Due Linb Het it is auy easy matter to sheft
from one plan to another on the PRL. A 100L bit wors about
That later
paul
x
Freeds Man Termant Brayan had to stew & Ert, Thothey Too
were unvision
0
propretingo as Go Busic guast, Ternest is a newspaper
is the fact A rewoper man -L- Western mearpaper men -The
Wort earner to get me have been the most consistently turned
down. Happen u somewher surprough The Bryans State This
visa allowing There, libe ourselves, X not for 14 days between
Apr 4 t May 5.
4
As for the Great Cultural Homework - how does one prepare to
gain in so short a time some comprehension of one of the world's
oldest, largest, most inscrutable, complex and important puzzles?
Well, of course, the look must be superficial; the homework will
be the same but can be less SO. Here are the books we read (in
whole or substantial part and which I believe constitute a fairly
good base) :
State Department - Notes on China
China Today
American Tourist Guide to PRC
Catalogue to China Exhibit
Good Earth - Pearl Buck
Man's Fate - Andre Malreaux
Marco Polo
Notes on China -- Barbara Tuchman
Stillwell and The China Experience - Barbara Tuchman
Dragon By The Tail - John Patton Davies
20th Century China - Edmund Clubb
Historical Atlas of China
China White Paper - General George C. Marshall
Peking Review - miscellaneous issues
3
Smu I have business in Blaska I set off alud 4
Margaret & The Bryons ansons 14 Apr in, Frenbous
in what Sooked like a first class blozzard Actadly
its about break up hull in Alaska Thats a moment to
The 10th 5/ A second When a special us set in The
ice in The Tareour Rever nioves a Unton proceedy
recorded instruce It usually 6ccurs in the last
with 7 April or 1st week of May and the Towns
are a great duty melting 24100 The popilies, to which
my business is related is R whole 2 other story But I'm
always wifessed with the Toul of the Frubanks arrort-
charing with bulldozer operators, Giologists, ozl CO
executives - in parbas & boots - Edkings & Texas -
drunk L solver - some making 1500 fle week, others
guitting because The conditions are too boush. En
great + maybe one of the last fronter made accoss
I resortion This because it WNO an enterestry
where you days later
recollection twn we entered The Fobing arrport, This
tune charning with were & women in blue into under
a huge preture & slogan of Charrwan MAD These people
Too are envolved in Their whe frontier exterprise
6
Back in Anchorage / met Tenant I Mary Margeret
area our Thurs 16 Apr we began our Trip by outry
The The optional Hons Kong Helton, a violorion British count buildings
Gre are
in the plane for 5 1/2 hours before Take of which they
"fixed sourestering." This cassed us To was our counection
I Hous Long That wrong (which as we crossed The
of wa a Set fould
datibul Led Le coure Freday). This wasnt all bad
because it provided as a good nights deep in Fobyo
The Gover Colonoy of Hrug Kong is surely an inque
Bank Income Lond of
all chick by jourl in The heart of Town.
and LM excellent flight the next morning over Okmawa
and around V nib Hong Kong about 1:30pm.
- an active bolcano of entrepresensial
capitalism Miasue Beach splendor, Assen poverty &
with of assunt greatal preportions in view of
mainland Chura X not very far east of Helphons
(The Britch got The Island in 1842 by The Treaty of
Nambing because the Churce tried to wt fare with their
Special Trade [trat Sbit anchronistic Too]. Then they sot
The Rowloon swimanta in 1860 The adjouring New Ten Tours
They leased for a 99 year period which ends in 1997,
a not moignificant factor 141 The future of Hang Rous
Throush Houskong exist. because ARC wants I
To It is a major part of trade x conserce linb with
The outside world (At least one way PRC could
squerge Hing Kong would be to Turn The value Y shot of
na 25% 4 The water supply .) The population is about 4.5
million, among The densist in the worlds * many mett citigins
montan some sort of contact with The maryland and
somehow are able to drift back house to visit
7
relatives in family ohrones I (Lther it would he a
risky Insuress for R wealthy Chonese. Our friend
Ressol Tram TIEPA would expire at the Hous hong
approach to maters If you got
enough money, you can build any Thing any
where There is no servage treatment, everything goes
mght wt the sea
As priends of The Bushas we were weeky welcomed
in splended quarters it The Helton X may magaret
set off % acct Bartana & Gorge at The have of CY Tang,
2
?
whose shipping Travage is said I surpress The
tournage of Ovassin & NIECLES, while Trumant I went
then first drills to secure intry To Canton, Shanghai,
A Piking - a Task unjoisible for use but will manager
by Deares Harter of Lucy Locke 4 The US Consulate
equivalent Incidentable, To this somete his a stiff of about 150 people,
5 Bus 10th largest embassy. This endicates its importance
he R Cama watching pert as well a seneral economic & political post.
8
AP zu in Robert Liu V Jun Bondrice, photo
chief, visited Trunant Bondren was girat but 4 Da Namy
and certium that Sargon would mas fall t. the Commenues T
about whathes about has
happened II
within 10 days. The fularge of man libe throe art for
1
Their frunds American & Yistnamese, are winer; not
all are in stop with Jane Foude. Lice speak, Maudim to 2
statests of is a grifessional Chura watcher There are rra 3900
Cluse characters one may zead snuple matural WILL a knowledge
of R few hundred Mas has smuphford the characters to promote
letters ; Bob Lin Told we that his name formaly required 13
stokes r now requires five.
It Tabs a while to realize Hong Kongs position -notas
K brassy bauking V tounst center Tiell by by jets To Jobyo,
Honolulu, = Los Angeles, but as h part of SE Asia & The
would of Banskole, Surgapore, 1 Maucla. In our Lry stay
we met cummurity comfortable Chemese reporters from
the Vietnear bettle front, a and a delecate little process prom
is marroned
There
may have be
Hur, whose family has her killed, and the wife M a US official
b
have been
who is still me Sacion.
killed
On Sunday we droun acros, The sland X Repuber Bay +
American trained
the Lome 7 Dr Kanneth Hui, attaction + untelligat surgeon.
His drughter Blaine had epaduated from Cornell in Meteriory
& tabn a undusts digree from Harvard in environmental
matiorology We branded his 54ft Alasba trowler fm
a Dweaming picnic excursion he spread tux at The orthem
most tip 7 The Waud Chuck Crow & Norman Setoinger,
numbers / of 2 at The consulate whe aloand There is 20
sports fishing & little commencel frohing near How Kong, due
G
To overposhing + pollution, bet there were two justs
nearby, the families from which had gill-netted a
quantity of purall herroy like fish which they had flabed
out on a great rock to dry & care. Jin M 12 of a.
family may love entire hols m these Gowder X Garsh
quarters in, at n sain, noticially speater Larmoun Then
the where Land-based forevery. On the way home we
went by Aberdeen, a floating city 7 jourbs + samprus.
The name Hong Kong is derived from words meaning Fragant
Harbom Aberdan is much That, All the waste from
These thousands 7 families goes V is
stagnated around These hall to hull craft. A pragance of
significant proportions!
On Monthly morning would we left our splended digs LT The
Hilton (which we will have OCCASION to Univer mayor writfully) /n
The 10:30 train and a 1½ hour ride Thru Kowloon and The
New Territories to the Boarder at LaWn Mn The Shum Chan
Roa The way is Than The submitte of A great city -PAST
the university, small sandlus Tended 55 The last inch,
mA The Fauling a series SM/ Course, a and tain Issued load. Threing of very a load swelling of The piso,
prgs of X small market market Towns. The latitude is sweet
degrees south 7 Miamis 10 The vegilation is nearly tropical.
At Luwo ar were locorted to 6 waiting soom for The
first in a sell htless shies of passport examings t
form fillings, and than on foot across The famous tridge-
a plane stul sadroad bridge, coucred with conugated
metal, not 30 yards long, aGrs The still X felthy little
rever, guarded by proph but smokehing PRC solders
10
Across you are in The PRC and m a world Do different =
one might at first my anreal - that one is Land put E
record V recondile mes impressions Here suddenly are
The pronomiccents of Charman Mad on vorst red backgrounds
and a Troup of school Ch then, 6 or 8 ups old led
by one of Their own bearing a red flag and singing
a patriotec song at full that They smile V ware
and we applaud will are less smoking ao we 80
North They say. Hready the official smile less a
sharp contrast with The HK charles who record always
E be smeloug Over The P.A system blares one of
The PRC peras maybe The White Hand girl or The Takeng
of Tiger Monu Tain by Strateges
We are escorted To a VIP waiting room - huge
base, with overstuffed funuture and an assortment
of magazines about agreeultural Triumphs and dictatorship
of The proletarist we have A good lunch of shrimp,
AIU, vegetables, eggs, been, + of course, tea which soon
becomes a Labit a. Once cleared we beard The train
for Canton - clean & counfortable (more tea) - I In 45mmin
trip Have you Legan to see China, so old & BD
new.
11
stanter, shoots of wee
There, ins for were is The ch wese present in The we peolay will
Sin water buffalo in the paddy. of the Perl Diver Aclta - The old me
Thinking The idle baffalo. The farming is interse; The serve land produce,
two crops of sice T one of whent in a year It is clear That
production has been wcressed by conseption K by cattos sway shill
Littsdes to make more Aloohd pound Insclumization is nare man
Hat permitte
woman - child Tord The fields They also chop a why hollsches, harsly
but H 18 do in baskets to build not another TOUSE for more food water
The chooters T/ monthy NCE have but also vegetables & frasts
unforendurents & virducts have been a major for flood
control DL mustion At the Cauton trade fair we Jan & model
Peoples
The working proper oft
of The Tachni Production Brigde where, " before liberation were
cruelly exploited by The Knommtary reachaveries annual
never exceeded 750 kg ph Lecture The por V town widle
peasants put politics in commond & put ideology absoc all else,
{we full spout 4 allying one theoselves & persivering in had struggle,
develope Their comment style of loong The & The collective,
14 my mg on the strength of the collective iconoury reshape mountains
% build for wand Jerry rock to Twace fields L Row The gulder
A
build The land & now crops now The production has increased
Twfold to 7,590 Tous per Lectare A little heavy Landed, This, hat
I are concrund esecutionly Time.
The rail station at counton is another of REST vast place Its Land
to imague why They build a such a scale In Li of Claus Travel
Service wit he (we couldnt negbr a wore without him) t enscound us
at The Twnspans Hotel another very r dabl building and How at is past quote
from The Extubion Hall or ct we farsty frostling with fair soess from
all 100 The world / (whered That the Cheese are scrived description
up to The Hrug Kong Hilton our room had a 15 ft high
crelms, an elegant Chemose electric fan, moszunto
nething around The hea, and a try in the bathroom door
indicating That The store Lad hem disubected. It had not
Lowan been deodonzed The Lotel staff was largely
Indents assigned 7 Tablet advantage of foreign lauguage
experience.
The Gain in held in a (reat Bxhabition Hall opposite The hotel.
It choplayed a Textiles, fune baskets, perposes, searing
meachines feeds, and a few iTems of Leavy machinery
Buyers come from around The world, but I industrand The
?
Cheese are dessipointed at This years spince -
me of many ironies of The Lawse economy since a basic
Chanese lune is undependence from the rest of The world.
But reassion outside is none The less harting imside. informed asked,
7/ an American economent about The despee r levels of
state economic plauring Alho decides they're going To
produce searing machines 7 how many. In economics
in everything stal The Chinese reveal as little as possible.
They have not Taken The Market approach of giving frot
priority to control development M Leavy undestry, hs have
The Rassians (wite The opposite - fust priority in Chura
has been agrenture to fud her prople Throughout the
Fair are displays showing Hood control, imagetion, &-
tenacing ; one is called Transforming The Mountain X
Pwers in Charran County in The Sport of The Foolesh old Man
who removed Monutann." Heavy proparanda, but dead
serious business.
13
The allocation of us for export reflects The simple
necessity of foreign exchange capacted x pay for Snaus
which sTill must he imported. Denseons of This soit
are made at The Musstry of Freyn Affans (and alrue) which
and assignments A illocations are To geographical repous +
Trading corporations. Later, as Peking. we and something
quite new - some skirts in a shop worder, with
ballots for people to are me whether They wonted them &
which modles They prefer. But I have yet to all
a about on a Chinese girl. Apparently Will the Churse
people, like The Russians advad of Them, once They are
fed K relatively occure begin demanding more
niceties? - amprity lamp This question, I understand, is
one this of Crawn concern to the leadership, which fears That
Checks Lemand could very will (et out M hand. I
dont alone them. I feel ) saw at least h few
million Chemese I never law a hungry looking one.
The Tun age boys X fires are particularly Good looking
x margetic and, I'd guess, not likely 70 be forwer
content with bagy blue pauts. A particular
hazard is The practice - a very seusible one in Dome
respects - of shipping large numbers of 1642011
graduates of jusior unddle school frue The city To The
country, requiring That they stay the for 2 yrs or plemantly
ruless They are selected fn higher K specialized education.
Just a little experience with Theragers neverls The much peries of
This process And These children an like their parents remember
The Long March no better than runs do the hut Depression.
14
The Gg character postu was The device which was used for free
speech in The Ley a Lucked flowers Wasson period, which
got badly out of hand and The subsquent Gent callural
Resolution which brought Lack a severe Rectatorship of The
protetariat lure. At This moment That And In prod Z
major discussions are
an Brount on.)
major quite park F typect, which explain
The meaning 19 "dictatorship 7 the protetariat "in relation
To Chemica present state M development One of These
is by Chang - Chim-charo R leading intellectual member
cy The (tauding Committee of The Politbuse of The CCP
where expresses, of consal, contereet for Russion
but also concern over capitalist Y class Tendencils express
China in the Right scale wage system Acare and The comments
system & show that The revolution is empurshed.
Chausman mao, for what Le has cheady accomplished,
must be regarded is me of the worlds creat leaders;
he has The inTelligmen, nerve, power To conTinue
the just enough revolution to keep capitalism from
interfering with The march Toward full dectatorship
7 the poletariat". the remunds we of St Paul in
the absolute authority of his pronouncements based
on CONNICTION V certainty 7 his poal. But he is
a very Md man & Luman nature is a very personal
free. Will hu sucessors be able to carry on. New
& nadical as The affort looks, one has only to Thing
back across The Dyansotics Ruydows M Chenk past
To ful That all This is not 00 new V radical, That the
Dumasty will Lave its Loun - and The churce farmer and his
will be putting out The sprace of MCL which The Md one trids The ide bel/Ale.
15
Seo d Barbara Bren
Due Thing I was most currous about was how the
Busles live V operate in Peking
The Liastu office H residence are in counected modern
Two - story buildings The residence is large & comfitence,
funushed migually by The Doord Truces v made warm by
many pictures of Bush family & freends The house
staff is excellent Dt is employed & assigned by an agency
7 The PRL. The food is superb t 5/ wfacte variety with
The exception of a few staples like sue, stramp, or
noodles, we hardly had the same dish Twice & almost
never one The contents of which 1 could identify
This establishment is noxt to the ^ Park and a
Temple ofthe Sun
bloc or Do away from The International Club F
The Friendship Store at Due not impressive fact af
life in Beking is that before bed Barbana Takes
negat
C. Fred, The rather special Cooker for a long walk
Inc how many There capitals could one do that ?
Imadentathy S liked The park between 607 in The
morning when it was fairly full of people young & old
doing Their Misclester Tar chi chaian excercises or
just stauding alone in a grove of trees singing Lt full
voice At the sheel truel a will tory band is precticing
F creats are going Three drills
Bush job on is of course The job of any ambassador :
communication Chana matters & Washington, representing
hn countrys views to Beking, sincerely provioting The
aims M The Shaughai commany gue, assistues V
concressonal burness professional, and personal visitors
16
But here at is more Than that. It is % build from
The Ground up The Cheuse regard for The USA.
Admittry some projudice in The matter, 2 can hardly
Luague a couple better outed & This assignment.
In The first place The Paking assignment is are he
chose over others a good but mre comfortable and
visable because he felt it to be outstandingly
important and dwillinging Secondly They are
prepared by experience Bush has lew a mumber of Congress,
Ambassador. s The UN x Charman of The RNC. Neither
of These last Two jobs, at The Twice Bush hold them, were
severally regarded as easy, pleasant, r politically
reading But in both, Through his extrendinary
good WIH, interputy, X positive outlook, he has made
a wide rause 7 freends mong leader aboad
at home. The Third ingredient which 1 ful must make
favourble * productive impression is that They traly
like The therese people & show ereat sensitivity To
This feelings and Their way of life Barbars buyclung
to market & Froges to Tounis her grotten Dome
publicity at home. This in no nefectation. its The
way They'd operate any where And you can be quite
sure That their goings & commy and De His
personal contacts along Refusary are not unbuown
technically
X Change official dom.
Lino
play
George is the best Themis player in The foreign community
A
probably in Pribing The Chinese pro F his assistants enjoy
avail
Fourthine ereath Y They Tease each Ther constantly had with
17
eseat good homor After Charch (Thats another oxbput)
Rush and I had a 5 set match against The
Churles pro and The Shausa Am bassaker David
Richard
Akwei I request Th advent That 152 lost but The
Two assistant pros who stood by The net throat
were deligited because Brook had announces there
in advance the acore by which we were 50mg
to arin.
The Charch is dear * The Bushes
The Tresher 10b is hand work He soco to his
04/16 it 8:30, has his daily staff meetus, reads
mountains of cables of mad, calls on 07 ARCEIVES
other diplomats, and attacks Z, visiting complessmen,
delegations, & Travelers tike onselves. He leaves
his r/live at 5:30, of not for A reception + dunner
Then for Train x a quiet waing LY 40ml like ourselves There
must be precious few of These ; house guests, in indless
flow, DLL to that.
Like any foreigners. the Bresher are restructed in
mooement, contact, and access X information Two
Therefo not snow what
mun hear ples: finther want $ attach A cultural or
attletu waits are Takins place in Peking II They want
18
to attend one they apply X The sout and may M may
not receive Ticketor J3y This means we attended
the Chma - Algeria trade meet in the vact
Studinue And while we were free to
Tabe The main road % The Creat Wall & The
Ming Joonbs, we was not free to Tabl any
side roads 6 stop X visit along The way.
But These restructions are part 7/The came 4
weest Le judged not any our own experisies Got
in relation To how Things were last year + how
They might for next year in Caura very Inadually
I gather, rigid Invotations are becoming a but
less regiol in some respects And interestungly,
month. as The society appears, experienced
observers will funk more L beautity in, say,-
Shaughai Than in Teknng.
19
Random discruptions -
estimates her
To be 850
Entrentes 07 Chmas population sauce from 700 to-900 mellion, most
of whom live in The great cityo r rich farm land of The sever
near The China Sea. Shaughai I believe is The largest city in The
world. Bases strongest hupresson is of an suddess, restless
sea of people Then There is this inspormety - all, of first appears,
in a. baysy blue cort with BASSY blue r crey parts, The men
with caps like Charman Maos, The cirls with prs Tals. There are
inly 2 notable exceptions : army officers men in sun (Hlevers with 4
pockets, whoted men with 2), arifrice in specu M blac, navy in blue.
And The children - Learers of colors & s miles. I was somewhere
That Thank are more children in Chma under 10 Three The 75ml payalation
of USER I Care Inlicoe it, At are point There had Lean a
name to break up The family, puttors children where They could
he endoctimated without influence of traditional /amily structure.
This didut writ - The children of course are undoctrunded
in school Y comm munty but one of The most conspicates aspects
of Chma in affection for children. The parks & was
Therring with parents V little children, enjoyves Thair day M/
on holiday visit Z The by city.
How mi/or is Thought r Gehroiar in This unform- lodeug place?
The Answn in gaice uniform. The Rouge prioon has untailly
no access to thought or word not ussued by The State The
cadreo of brigade K block all That The live is hued. From
or Zhejamg, There Are more factional disputes Then protes To agrinst
Thus KB Time There are Meas of against in Fukien, Houschous Szechnan,
The system The Contral Committee publishes the Reference NWD,
concalation about 6 million, whit frings to cadres all over
China which sits forth The "new" and party lene.
20
What is our governments propose in Chma ? Is
Ambassador Bush accomplish mything ? How do
we openate There ? I tried X set answers X These
questions and The rues I M/n I've put Togother m
my own; They are centraly not Those of Aub Just +
his fice.
In once plest Terms, Chma, par in relation I
Russia, To Tapan, R to our Paceful v Asicu interests is of creat
need mereasms we portance Clearly it realses sure for The US
To develope A. owe degree of communication understanding The
with this great force China, at The same Twice, secs, spent
asifulnces of the USA in the all important matter E/ keeping
Russil off balance They were proformally impressed by the Russean
news in Czechosloockia & feel Mat The best way of keeping That
from happening to Chars border lands is continued US capablity
to refore Russes attention.
In Pelerup we have a Liaron office (of about 29 people) aud a
Leason other rather Than a fully accrdited Embassy
R
Ambersador H 4.1 not appear To me that this befference
of Satus seriously lamit, our Ability To person the prosposes
of The Sheughai communique. I gather The all foreignes
are restructed in Their Travel of in access 95 information about
whats going ore in Carora F her cout. As would be to in
aug country some representations are suore warmly received
Than others But I 10/mly felt That Gio Bush & his
conntry are Taben seriously & regarded As unportant To
The goot 5/ PRL In addction Fo street st control &
haditional unscrutable we must pay a Drive for own
21
relations with Taxan, which is are anatherna to The PRL.
my Crees is That aur fundament relationship n work is not
n?
likely % Tabe any great Tarn for I've Lettery in The near
future But & Ro felier of we erust may of curse ouffer
scone, Losses in a would still very newdful 7/ power, forther our
deferes in SB Asia But I cet The feeling that wither These
obsions & 2164 inconsequential lomitations, slow but
study propers is teing made by an excellent
Ambresades (LICOM officer. y you will) and his
outstandingly capable professional staff
The
2 copies please
isspon 60 Dro-
K hubbi & it
yo 200 11 may
22
On Mon 28 Apr - We had referested a visit T. a Commune,
but having hand nothing LC were arming oursilves will inde
books cawnas To explore aurther part of The city. but of The
A depotin Have we got word; Be ready to leave in 10 min for a
Commone
De visited The Double Bridge People Commune which
lies several will to The east 5/ The city. 're sard,
form. morning we moved against The stream M commuter
2 wheelpertbed
X A warked traffic House drawny, mostly, often with Inassive
peddeed loads drawn by 3 006 houses or foat Gen Tricycles
L, one man. Or flatheds Towed br a 2 wheel
ganden Tractor. Always Liavy laden H always with
at least the person sleeping on Top The load. Add
Z these buroloads of workers & heavy industry V
nulstary trucks & you Lave a substantial torrest
But not enough 75 dont mrs The most deturn
X artripid H drivers 30th His boldeness and his
air of authority made we wonder of her does not hold
a position more important Than chauffear However Want The
on PRC
case, his was always we & patient ward
serredy an attnad
Turnay MI The mew noal we drove between well Tended feels Thror
The commune entrance alone columns with h red arch bearing The
assual political messages - 70 The certral brealduys, Sun interputer
introduced as to The Vice Chamman of The Commune & we were whered
into The reception some for Tea fall reception rooms Order to have exactly,
He osme stuffed feverature V pictures 5/ Mas; Marx, Lain, Englis).
The vice cheeman Told us about his commine.
The commine in 1958. IT now has a
4 Dopulation of 40,000 and 70 Occupies area is 90 of klometiro.
23
into
The Commune is subdivided in 3 levels A 6 production ansetes,
62 production Haws, and 15 interprises. major crops are
noce x whent A also produces reselables & frast. the animal
Advision consists N 3 darry farms, / house farm, 3 pis farms
and R duch form which produces The famous Peking delecacy
we'l engoyed The usget before. The Industry division includes
in insections factory, flow most, repair shop, & some froh
ponds. The charman pointed out that This was not naturally
funtle land. Before liberation (The word always used To mean
The 1949 defeat of The The land yealded only 800 kg
per hectame(!). It produced only corn + soighum x was not
self sufferent. In 1974 under Commune management Products
had recreased Gfold, to 7500 kg how it is more than self-
sufficult It produces 10,000 ks of mult. daily and 50,000
ks market. of vegetables as also produces Arecks, fruits, mests for
There are 6 veiddle schools #19 premary. Education is
compulsing Then punior multle school > all have The opportunity
for senior middle school, which I believe is completed at The
age of 16.
There is a public health center in were production buck +
each Team has a elwic staffed by barefoot doctors At
the centers the are 30 state Trained Aoctors, and it The clusics 150
barefoot doctors. The state Trained men Law had a Town studeping
"Wistern medicine "m a asager hospital The Lanefoot para mecheal
practices traditional Chamse medicin which appears to mean
hab t accomentare for menor problems, The common cold
beung The may constant problem. I/ a person is Too sub
24
for cluse = centre be is sent into a yy ajor hospital in
the city Unaoculations have virtually inder infections
diseases of spartan life makes an execptionally healthy
covernments Bour, member prys / yuru per year
and recieves complete webset case
The VICE Charnes said That while great procress Lan
GLEN made the general structard 4 living was still not
Ligh " Yaug problems reverue." most of The coursume work
is done by Laud. Access tife farring is we its insteal stages
Bat 2 fuls with vary creat efforts there is sreet potential
to be achieved Thru mechanisation While that is no
doubt true one wonders how all Those Lands will be
accupied where deplaced by fame machiney.
He ended his covernarits with a Warve welcome to Amb
Bush & hu freends + hoped That The visit would promote
redustrading H freundship between am 2 peoples.
Book asked Low production coals are set. Higher
organs (Mustery 7 Aprealture) make up The basic plan,
with priorities, foroter etc The coursume reviews its
part of The Total of can suggest revisions In The process
The what of The state come first, Then The improvement
of The community, freedly increased weare $5 the
but each winest in considered in relation
N TL other
What
11 The Commune needs outside Lalp ?ean There is great Amphasis
in self-reliaure , But in basy classes The Commune faces can
4 supplemented by city people. Agrentture is basis of Churse
economic development Svery department is supposed to
29
support it in wen, machines,
technique a repairs,
Other depts are supposed to Tabe instiation. Ajouning
corrennes cooperate on sow projects such as lotics
& imigation systems The consumne has 130 wells
& wasits a Total of 300 Apparently There in pretty
good with research on water resources
Forestation is a major effort - to hold and build
seel from world & news off. We saw a has narsiry
&. extensive plantrings overywhere we what
What is the system of payment for work ? Day to
in dividuals is distributed availably according To a
point system for quality & quantity 7 work
The best performance gets 10 pounts for L days work.
The worker estuates his own with generally on the
low side. This is cirsted Then moss discussion assure
follow workers The average annual destribution is
350 Yuan to each laborer (120 per capita). Income
from small family plots is in addition Living costs
are low, prices are stable, i Here are 20 Taxas.
Some families Love fewer labours & more months E
feed ;they receive extra support But WITH
have Donel supplare & they, like our selves, part it
in The bank, investet me The communical interprise, or
sprid it on something like a Guycle n slowy machine
De were Taken the a Tour of The pig T duck fams
Everyone seems to like little pige & little Rucks Then
7. what I'd call The commissing store A with a next stock of
endinary necessities, to a formalys sooms, And & The
26)
Carefoot her doctors chinic The your mother curted as
into * exclus mall on 3 me a satablishment, each noom not much
large. Than 7 r 12, all weat * clean white washed
wall with a picture of Charman MaD, some family
photographs, X a sewing mechine The center room
has a small store from which The heat is piped under
the bed in The adjouring room Plannbing is in a
nearly community facily. She has ^ husband &
3 smell children Two environment students from The
city are Temporarily occupying The Tird room, So
I suppose mother father, + 3 children share the other
small Lednerm. SL wave like to work in The fields but is
page 70 work wherever she is wat needed, which
is The attitude of almost surgent expresses. Eleventary
school children did a little song + danch -very
cute & profecient, & of course The songo were fundamental
doctime.
The Commune, they say, has they little crime or
autioocial behavior; The community structure Tight
and paritanical The occasional bad actor is called
in for mass discussion, The pressure of which, must
have great force He has The opportunity to entrome
humself and punishment of any is not A mattern
meTed according
To rights,
To att,
of codes, & friend priotice but of The unde + resolve
Toward proper future service.
HM- JF- That you'd
like to see that all
other read
went well for Bemiss-
Bryans
GB,
NANKING HOTEL
Dearest Bar,
another first- May cultural Day in nouking. we have JUST
emerged from a 2 1/2 hr., performance- music. bauer. in
The park. At The 2 hr. mark, Mary Bryan was heard to remark
That shid been a real good traveller up to now. Our guide.
Mr Tui (??) is excellent - he took George. Mrs. Bush . mrs.
Clement around at Christmastime and is full of praise
for Them all. He confided This morning That George had
made a very good impression on The Chince people to which
I responded That The American people had Thought it very
important to send to China The best we had. It was apparently
The right line- 2 points for each side.
1 did wish you would have seen us- particularly Tennaut-
friends
sitting in The center of The section reserved for foreign
(on compstools 10 inches high) surrounded by Albanians,
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NANKING HOTEL
Tauzanians. The PLO and about 200 n. Vietnamese.
At least 6 of the musical numbers were in ce lebration
of The glorious victory of The South Vietnamese in liberating
Their country. The down or so PLO's , led by a quite
good looking man in an Arafat scart. all looked like
or hearyweight boxes
middle linebackers for The Green Bay Packers A 1 would with caveers! long
not have Thought most of Them were students.
The train trip turned out to be great fun and perfectly
comfortable. 1 get claustrophobic in lower berths. so That
decision was made early and amicably although Tennant
first announced That he and Gerry would take The top. Once
That was settled, The huggage was satisfactorily stowed and
we settled down to a very pleasent trip. no one on The
train spoke one word of English Thank heaven The numbers
are The same - but we were very good at charades and
The dining car steward protected us from That amazon.
# its * + Ш # 259 17
259 North Chung Shan Road Nanking China
ЭИӀХИАЙ
reservativ. n 006 twode bwo 0.19 NT
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pritendil ni NTNO2 and to probin winds itt to
ring a 1ʳᵈ bel. 2:05 62 so words int New int
rexed stiw 10
metal buskal No. trooz tojorA no ni non unistal boop
past blanco I A nevert post serip with not albbink
. trubite now ment to tasin telperant rual ton.
bus not tarp 2 at two bennet girt nisrt WT
TONT 02 wind rewal ni top I wdotrofinal.
twornest bus pilase abow now naiziosb
wno .cyt WT elst blirow prop bND IN taNT burness that
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bus to boop for rew ru tud - ANDS with ro
NOSPAND YOUT mort w between brocustz 200 prinib NT
book unde yavaO eas
NANKING HOTEL
Gerry had great success at joining The morning
exercise class he came upon in The corridor before
breakfast - the whole Then crew led by an army officer.
He joined Them and, was allowed to photograph. 1 hope
it comes ouT.
we can never Thank you for our week in Peking.
you are The worlds best hosters and champion tour quide.
I wrote down everything we had done and couldn't believe
how much maquifice we had packed in, all of it unforgettable from
Imperial treasure to The glimpses of what it must have been like
to The amazing introduction to China Today which is continuing
here. I am sure you have had and will have many quests who
Come better educated and better prepared. but you will never have
any more appreciative, more affectionate, or as proud of
you and George as we are. Thank you for sharing it all
with us. Love. love. love. Marganes
+ № to + Ш IL BY 259 qh
259 North Chung Shan Road Nanking China
ЭМӀХИАМ
primom WT privial to reasons terp bod prop
retert rabins) w/T ni Nagn TMDS it 220/2
with puno ND pd bit how went starks it - Trabland
repal I et bravello Low 1600 month beniq Att
Two remai ti
pristal No sloow wo not sop shoul when now sw
.sbimp not Noigmons bno restead tead ibtrow wt IVD of
rusiled tablisw bno anab son rw printprove sweb storw 1.
mort. +: to No inj basing territions ball sw Num Law
need rual trun ti tow to 2029milp WT of loingarl
privinities ti Noister, judbot anive st writsend artni prinsance int at
alw streup forses rust Niew buo bail real up your MD | red
run was Nicu NON tud. broging withod bus brosubs istrad ana
to bnovg no 10, raw, svitoisnags grown puD
ND ti evizalz of wop shorT. Ins re 20 sprace bin wor
EnroproM rual ral raj AN NTN
FITZGERALD BEMISS
P.O. BOX 1156
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23209
File
171 May 75
GHWB,
Here are The concluding pages to be
added to what you have (which I've cleaned
up were more) y t he praned or axed
with The rest. Assuming it passes The Tasts
you must apply t, it, is it in 4tm opinion
a jan, + fairly accurate account ?
CB
HM
file Brings
When our friend George Bush became U.S. Envoy to the People's
Republic of China and invited us to visit him in Peking, we accepted
without a moments hesitation. Mid-April suited both of us, so
Margaret and I set out on the considerable task of gaining entry,
arranging schedules, and cramming on writings on ancient and modern
China.
The first and crucial hurdle is getting the PRC entry visa.
About 7,000 Americans have managed to get to China since the Nixon
visit in 1972, most of these in carefully selected groups of interest
to the Chinese Government, agricultural, medical, or trade, for
example. The American tourist who just wants to travel around China,
many thousands of whom have applied, does not stand much of a chance.
One reason is that China has not the hotels, transportation, and
interpreter-guides to handle quantities of tourists. What they do
have they prefer to apply to entertaining "foreign friends" for
political rather than economic purposes. Another reason is that the
Maoist society is still in early stages of development, and the
question of the nature and degree of contact with Westerners, par-
ticularly Americans, must await answers to other more pressing
questions.
For us the visa problem was relatively easy because our
application was accompanied by an invitation from Ambassador Bush
But
to be his guests. ^ Own request was granted as a courtesy to the
Ambassador and not because our presence served a purpose of any
significance to the PRC. Friends Tennant and Mary Bryan had to
-2-
stew a bit. Though they were invited just as we were, Tennant, as
a Western newspaperman, is in a category most anxious for admission
and most consistently turned down. Happily, the Bryans got their
visa, with Tennant's assurance that he would go as a guest and not
as a professional newspaperman.
Incidentally, the process of visa application is good preparatory
education. The PRC Liaison Office in Washington is in a large apart-
ment building on Connecticut Avenue. You ring the bell and someone
in the basic blue cotton suit peeks out and admits you only when
you've stated your business. I was politely offered a seat to wait
for the proper official - a short wait I enjoyed on several occasions.
I read articles on the Third World (Asia, Africa, and South America),
on the recent People's Congress, and a story about the political
activities of a young girl who applies the precepts of Chairman Mao
to settle a difference between an old revisionist and a young
revolutionary, thereby increasing productivity and harmony at the
commune. On another occasion I listened to a conversation in Chinese
between a young American archeologist and a Chinese official, holding
both in awe for managing it SO easily. On yet another visit, quite
unexpectedly, I was handed the coveted visas and marched off in
triumph, only to realize that I couldn't tell what it said. The
only solution was a visit to a Chinese speaking friend in the State
Department, who revealed that we could enter and leave China by any
of the normal avenues and stay 14 days.
We began laying plans, as if plans had something to do with
what we would end up doing, to fly into Peking from Tokyo and to
-3-
depart from Peking by train for a 3-day, 1,667 mile passage through
Mongolia, across the plains trampled by the hoards of Ghengis Khan
and of his grandson Kublai, to the Russian city of Irkutsk onthe
western shore of Lake Baikal, and thence 3,200 miles by plane to
Moscow. This is no easy matter to arrange from Richmond, Virginia
and, as it turned out, no easier in Washington or Peking. There is
no Mongolian representative in this country to ask for a transit
visa, and letters and cables to Ulan Bator are less effective than
notes left in tree trunks for leprechauns. The Soviets will not
grant a visa without Intourist certification of plane and hotel
reservations, which you cannot secure without the Mongolian transit
visa. We learned later that the most experienced travelers would
allow six months of applying and waiting in Peking to break through
this web. But we did not regret happy hours spent with Airline Guide
and Atlas devising alternate Plans B, C, and D. We would need pieces
of all of them in due course.
As important as all these logistics is as much homework as one
can do on ancient and modern China. We gathered quite a collection
of literature out of which I give these titles top priority:
China Today by Joan and Jerome Cohen - a well-described
and illustrated mixture of a Chinese history and art
survey and account of life in modern China.
The Good Earth by Pearl Buck - this classic provides
a reference point for comparing the lot of the Chinese
peasant of present and of recent past.
-4-
Notes from China by Barbara Tuchman - a short report on
recent China travels by a fine reporter and historian.
20th Century China by Edmund Clubb - a full-length history
by an experienced China watcher. Useful for perspective
on ancient Chinese traditions and modern history.
I have business in Alaska, SO I set off ahead of Margaret and
the Bryans, arriving April 14 in Fairbanks in what looked like a
first-class blizzard. Actually, it's about break-up time in Alaska.
That's a moment to the tenth of a second, when a special rig set on
the ice in the Tanana River moves a certain precisely recorded
distance. It usually occurs in the last week of April or first week
of May, andthe towns are a great, dirty, melting mess. The Fairbanks
airport is a fascinating place, churning with bulldozer operators,
geologists, oil company executives - in parkas and boots - Eskimos
and Texans - drunk and sober - some making $1,500 per week, others
quitting, defeated by the harshness of the place. It's a view of
the last of our physical frontiers.
I mention this because it offered an interesting comparison when
a few days later we entered the Peking airport, this one churning
with men and women in faded blue suits, under a huge picture and
slogan of Chairman Mao. Here the frontier is a revolutionary
movement of epochal scale and consequence.
Tennant, Mary, and Margaret joined me in Anchorage and on
Thursday, April 17, we began our trip by sitting in the grounded
plane for 5½ hours, delayed by "mechanical difficulties," not unlike
-5-
ships in the days of sail waiting days on end in port for a fair
breeze. This caused us to miss the connection to Hong Kong but
provided a night's sleep in Tokyo and a more interesting daylight
flight the next morning over Okinawa (which I last saw in 1945),
around Taiwan, and into Hong Kong.
The Crown Colony of Hong Kong is surely a unique anachronism --
an active volcano of entrepreneurial capitalism, Miami Beach splendor,
poverty and wealth of ancient oriental proportions, in view of mainland
China and not far east of Haiphong. The gaudy Hong Kong Hilton, a
victorian British court building, the Communist China bank, and a
cricket field are all cheek-by-jowl in the heart of town. The British
The
got the island in 1842 in compensation for Chinese having sought to
curtail British opium trade. Later they acquired the Kowloon peninsula,
for as good a reason. The adjoining New Territories are occupied under
99-year lease ending in 1997, a not insignificant factor in Hong Kong's
future.
The PRC could snuff out Hong Kong at any moment but does not
choose to do SO because the Colony serves as its major trade and
financial link with the outside world. (At least one way for them
to squeeze Hong Kong would be to turn the valve and shut off 25% of
the water supply.) Many Chinese citizens maintain some contacts on
the mainland and are able to drift back to visit relatives and family
shrines. Officials of our EPA would expire at the Hong Kong approach
to environmental matters. There is no sewage treatment; everything
goes straight into the sea. If you have money enough, you can build
-6-
anything anywhere on the island, or make some new land in the sea
and build there. But all land is Crown land, not owned in fee simple
but leased for not more than 50 years.
It takes a while to comprehend Hong Kong's position, not as a
brassy tourist and banking center tied by free-flowing jets to Tokyo,
Honolulu, and Los Angeles, but as a part of Southeast Asia and the
affairs of Bangkok, Singapore, and Manila. In our brief stay we met
immensely comfortable Chinese millionaires, reporters from the Vietnam
battlefront, a sad and delicate little princess from Hue whose family
has probably been killed there, and the wife of a U.S. official who
was "thought to be" in Saigon. We met Robert Liu, AP Bureau Chief,
and Jim Bondrier, photo chief. Bondrier, just out of Saigon, stated
that the capital would fall within ten days, an estimate which turned
out to be too liberal. Our Consulate staff in Hong Kong is large
enough to equal the size of our tenth largest Embassy, which indicates
its importance for China and Southeast Asia watching, as well as to
our extensive commercial interests there.
Tennant and I, with Consulate help, used a full afternoon to
arrange final clearance for entry to Canton and travel to Shanghai
and Peking, but were free Sunday to join the group as guests of a
most hospitable Chinese surgeon for a swimming-picnic excursion
de grande luxe at the southern tip of the island. There is no sports
fishing and little commercial fishing near Hong Kong, due to overfish-
ing and pollution, but there were two junks nearby, the families from
which had gill-netted a quantity of small herring-like fish which
-7-
ashoul
they had flaked out on a great rock to dry and cure. Ten or twelve
of a family may live entire lives in these crowded and harsh quarters
generally in
in, it is said, noticeably greater harmoney than the average land-based
passed
family. We cturned to the hotel via Aberdeen, a floating city of
junks and sanpans. The name Hong Kong is derived from words meaning
Fragrant Harbour. Aberdeen is surely that. All the waste from these
thousands of families goes right overboard and is stagnated around
these hull to hull craft. A fragrance of significant proportions!
On Monday morning we left our splendid digs at the Hilton (which
we would have occasion to remember wistfully) for the 10:30 train and
a 1½ hour ride through Kowloon and the New Territories to the boarder
at Lo Wu on the Shum Chun River. The way is through the big city's
suburban hodgepodge -- past the University, small gardens tended to
the last inch, the Fanling Golf Course, a trainload of very smelly
pigs, and a series of small market towns.
At Lo Wu we were escorted to a waiting room for the first in a
relentless series of passport examinings and form-fillings, and then
on foot across the famous bridge - a plain steel railroad bridge,
covered with corrugated metal, not 30 yards dong, across the still
and filthy little river, guarded by proper but unsmiling PRC soldiers.
Across, you are in the People's Republic of China and in a world SO
so
different - one might say, at first, unreal - that one is hard put to
record and reconcile one's impressions. Here suddenly are the pro-
nouncements of Chairman Mao on vast red backgrounds and a troop of
school children, 6 or 8 years old, led by one of their own bearing
-8-
a red flag and singing a patriotic song at full blast. They smile
and wave and we applaud. We'll see less smiling as we go North,
our friends say. Already the officials smile less - a sharp contrast
with the Hong Kong Chinese who seemed always to be smiling. Over the
P.A. system blares one of the PRC operas, maybe The White Haired Girl
or The Taking of Tiger Mountain by Strategy.
We are escorted to a VIP waiting room - huge and bare, with
overstuffed furniture and an assortment of magazines about agricultural
triumphs and dictatorship of the proletariat. We have a good lunch
of shrimp, rice, vegetables, eggs, beer, and, of course, Chinese green
pleasant
tea, which soon becomes a ^ habit. Once cleared, we board the train
for a clean and comfortable (more tea) 1 hour, 45 minute trip to
Canton. Here you begin to see China, SO old and so new.
There, as forever, is the Chinese peasant planting rice shoots
in the paddies of the Pearl River delta, with the old ones tending
the idle buffalo. The farming is intense; the same land produces two
crops of rice and one of wheat in a year. Production is laboriously
increased by cutting away idle hillsides to make more flat ground and
by irrigation. Mechanization is rare; man, woman, and child till the
fields. They also chop away the hillsides, hauling dirt and rock in
baskets to build yet another terrace for more crops - mostly rice and
grain here, but also vegetables and fruits. Water impoundments and
viaducts for flood control and irrigation are a major enterprise.
At the Canton Fair we saw a model of the achievements of the Tachai
Production Brigade where "the working people of Tachai before
-9-
liberation were cruelly exploited by the Koumintang reactionaries"
and annual grain production never exceeded 668 pounds per acre.
"The poor and lower middle peasants put politics in command and put
ideology above all else, give full spirit of relying on themselves
and persevering in hard struggle, develop their communist of loving
the motherland and the collective, and relying on the strength of
the collective economy, reshape mountains to build farmland, quarry
rock to terrace fields and dam the gulches and build the land to
grow crops." Now, the production has increased over tenfold. A
little heavy-handed, this, but I am convinced the results are
accurately stated.
The rail station in Canton is another of those vast public
places. It is hard to imagine why they are built on such a scale.
Mr. Li of China Travel Service met us; his translating, arranging,
and guiding was not only required by the Government but essential
to our movements. This was true throughout our trip, as we moved
from city to city and were relayed from one Travel Service agent to
another. We were ensconced at the Tungfang Hotel. Our room had a
15' high ceiling, an elegant Chinese electric fan, mosquito netting
around the bed, and an aged tag on the door indicating that the room
has been disinfected. It had not, however, been deodorized. The
hotel staff was largely foreign language students assigned to get
experience communicating with Fair visitors from around the world.
Canton is a southern city and has the same mixture of relaxed
attitude (and maybe laziness) and occasional social and political
-10-
volatility which is found in some other southern communities.
Monuments to Dr. Sun Yet Sen and Mao Tserung and their revolutionary
exploits are prominent. While Bush did Trade Fair business, we had
a tour of the Chenhai Museum, five stories of pagoda style built in
We were suided am
1380, under the guidance of attractive and eager-to-please girls from
the foreign language institute. In the process I began learning about
photographing Chinese people, which one should not do without first
asking permission, which of course spoils some first-rate prospects.
I spotted three women sitting in the shade knitting -a good picture -
and through Mr. Li requested their permission. Two assented but the
third vetoed emphatically, so no picture. The solution, of limited
value, are either a longer lense from a distance or to get a companion
Then
to pose not quite in front of the subject Make a big do about the
pose and them aim right past the decoy at the bird.
An important monument is the National Peasant Movement Institute,
of which Mao TseTung was headmaster in 1926. The young guide conveyed
the fervor and conviction with which the setting and relics of the
Chairman's early revolutionary career are held. The quadrangles of
the living and studying spaces reminded Tennant of the University of
Virginia; their austerity reminded me more of VMI.
We drove to Shamien Island where the great villas of the 18th
and 19th Century foreign colony were built. Walking along the Pearl
River quai and beneath the big trees, one imagines the extensive
comforts of that departed era. Now all this belongs to the Chinese
people, and Mr. Li tells us with emotion that there used to be signs
-11-
posted to prohibit dogs and Chinese from the island. On these outings
we got first impressions which were repeated and reinforced as we
proceeded: the endless numbers of people, poor but well fed and busy,
and almost all regarding us as great curiosities and far readier to
smile or wave than we had been lead to expect. In every one I saw
there seemed to be the same worship of Chairman Mao and commitment
to the state. To questions about work or family, the arts or religion,
the answer goes the same direction and distance - no wider, no further.
To the question, do you like the work you are doing?, the answer is
always, "Certainly, I like it, but I will be happy to go wherever the
state thinks I can be most useful." This, of course, could not be
entirely so and is not, as we learned later. The past is not measured
by dynasties, but simply divided into two periods: before liberation
chians
and after liberation. "Liberation" was Mao's victory over Chaing
kai-shek
Kai-Chek in 1949.
The Fair is held in a large exhibition hall opposite our hotel.
The displays include textiles, ceramics, baskets, and tobacco -- items
obviously for export. Other items, I believe, were for show but kept
for domestic use. These included bicycles, thermos bottles, flash-
lights, watches and a few pieces of heavy machinery. Throughout the
Fair are political slogans and reclamation and farm exhibits like
is
Tachai, to which I have referred; and one A called "Transforming the
Mountains and Rivers of Chunan County in the Spirit of the Foolish
Old Man who removed the Mountains."
Buyers come from many parts of the world. We encountered
speculation at the Fair that attendance might fall below previous
-12-
years attendance -- one of many ironies of the Chinese economy;
(and do understaction)
while they profess self-sufficiency, they do value exports, which
are reduced by recession and inflation abroad.
I asked an American economist about the degree and levels of
economic planning. Who, for example, decides that sewing machines,
and a certain number of them, will be produced? First, Chairman Mao
has established the basic order of priority: agriculture first, then
light industry, and finally, heavy industry. This is contrary to
Marxist doctrine which aims first at heavy industry. Resources are
allocated for export to provide exchange for import necessities, the
most prominent of which has been grain. But the biggest demand is
for mechanizing agriculture and industry at home. Goods for home
consumption are sparse but increasing -- a bicycle, a watch, a radio,
a sewing machine being generally available. Policy decisions on
these matters are made at the State Council or highest level, on the
basis of political objectives and information and advice passed up
from commune and factory, through trading corporations, provincial
governments, and Ministries involved. Later, in Peking, we saw
something new -- dresses in a shop window with ballots for people
to vote for the models they prefer. But we saw not one Chinese girl
wearing dress or skirt. Will the Chinese, like the Russians ahead
of them, once they are fed and relatively secure, begin pressing for
more niceties? This question, I understand, is of grave concern to
the leadership, which fears the development of a strong demand.
That is understandable. I think I saw at least a few million Chinese
-13-
and no trace of a hungry one. The teenage boys and girls are good
looking, energetic, and fun loving -- not likely, I think, to settle
for baggy blue suits. The activity of The crowds in department stores
shops fortell this, I believe
The big character poster was the device which was used for free
speech in the "let a hundred flowers blossom
period" and which
got badly out of hand. The great Cultural Revolution curbed it and
eniticism of confucius LemPian
brought back a severe dictatorship of the proletariat line to combat
individualism and exercing elitism. At this moment major discussions
are in print on the meaning of "dictatorship of the proletariat" in
relation to China's present state of development. One of these is
by Chang-Chun-chaio, a leading intellectual member of the Standing
Committee of the Politburo of the CCP who expresses, of course,
contempt for Russian revisionism but also concern over capitalist
and class tendencies expressed in the eight wage scale and the
commodity system. These demonstrate that the revolution is unfinished.
He then rationalizes this, saying that it is normal and natural at
this stage and will be replaced in the inevitable evolution toward
dictatorship of the proletariat.
Chairman Mao, for what he has already accomplished, must be
regarded as one of the world's great leaders; he has the intelligence,
nerve, and power to continue just enough revolution to keep capitalism
from interfering with the march toward full "dictatorship of the
proletariat." He might remind one of St. Paul in the absolute
authority of his pronouncements based on certainty and clarity of
his goal. But he is a very old man and human nature is a very persistent
-14-
force. Will his successors be able to carry on? New and radical
as the effort looks, one has only to think back across the Dynasties
of China's past to feel that all this is not so new and radical, that
this Dynasty will have its hour - and the Chinese farmer and his
still
children will be putting out the rice sprigs while the old one tends
the idle buffalo.
(Leaving Canton)
Any sort of arrangements - and particularly rearrangements-lead
one into the world's most inscrutable and uncertain bureaucracy - a
travel permit, a visit to a track meet, or mailing a package can take
days and days. One learns to live with it simply because there's
nothing else to do. Sooner or later things either work out, or they
don't. But every now and then there is a foul-up of the sort which
in the Navy used to be irreverently described as a Chinese fire drill.
Our first good one was at the Canton airport. Extensive
negotiations through the Hong Kong Consulate and the Peking Liaison
Office had resulted in arrangements forthe six of us to leave Canton
on the 4:35 PM plane for Shanghai, see an acrobatic performance, and
proceed the next day to Peking. Mr. Li, interpreter-guide, had us
to the airport at 4 and we proceeded to pile up our considerable
luggage at the counter. Right away it was obvious that something
was out of whack. Indeed it was; the 4:35 had departed at 4. In
some parts of the world, shows of wrath and indignation do some good
(now and then it works on EAL); in other parts it does no good, but
it does no harm. In the PRC not only does it do no good; it is
-15-
certain to make matters a lot worse. In this instance I believe the
visiting team scored by being tolerantly amused while Mr. Li, in
and
obvious misery, in his China Travel group berated an unyielding China
Airways group. Luckily, a half hour later there was a non-stop flight
to Peking - a big IL 62 on which six first-class seats suddenly
happened to be free. Later that evening in the Peking Residence,
after a bath and excellent dinner, we retained no grudges against CA.
Peking is over 2,000 years old and with a few interruptions has
been the capital since Kublar Khan chose it for his own in 1267. It
now has a population of 7 million and aspires to be the ideological
capital of the Third World. Imperial Peking was compared with Paris
for charm and elegance. I had read about the old walled city, the
Tartar addition and the Forbidden City within; about the grand avenues
and exquisite establishments of courtiers and foreign representatives;
about the gentle pink hue of the buildings which, to avoid topping
the Emperor, could be no more than two stories high. Well - the
liberation hasn't done much for all that. It's accomplishments are
in other directions.
It is still a city of grand design. At the heart is the vast
An
Tien Altu Men Square, bounded on the south by the monumental gate to
the Imperial City; on the north the Tartar gate; on the east the
Great Hall of the People; and on the west by the National Museum.
Through it, east to west, runs Chang An Boulevard, a good 20 lanes
wide. The scale of these is overpowering. Bicycles, pedestrians,
flocks of school children, farm carts, trucks, and busses pour in
-16-
every direction, horns blaring from dawn till late at night like an
endless wedding party. The traffic gives way only to the big, black,
curtained Red Flag official car. We saw a good many of these and
other trappings because "the great and glorious leader" Kim Al Sung
of Korea was in town on a state visit. China will certainly make
progress, but Heaven help it if progress includes Western quantities
of private autos.
Impressive as the city is, it can no longer be called elegant.
The old city walls have been removed. High buildings rising in blocks
are anything but exquisite. The masses have moved into once splendid
houses. Pre-liberation architecture, with the exception of designated
historic landmarks, gives way here, as elsewhere, to new apartments
and stores. Historic buildings and sites are preserved by national,
provincial, or local government if they are either useful to the
people or to illustrate the genius of the people in feudal or imperialist
times. The Summer Palace, for instance, serves as a fine, busy park,
SO great pains are taken to preserve and restore it. On the other
Shamien
hand, the legation quarter, like Shamiur Island in Canton, has been
converted to general housing to dispose of reminders of foreign
humiliation. Foreign embassies HE are now in two separate parts of
the city and in deliberate proximity to Chinese apartments and parks.
Peking's dust is notable, the most dramatic doses coming with
high winds from the Gobi Desert, and daily dues doses coming from
the surface of an absolutely grassless city. The combination equipped
us to put some truly impressive rings around the Residence bathtubs.
-17-
One may regret the replacement of elegance and style by general
drabness and uniformity, but it is hard to quarrel with the People's
Republic for making available to the average Chinese family the vast
marvels of the Forbidden City. If one hesitates to appreciate this,
let him read about the miseries of the Chinese peasant just two
The
generations ago. Pearl Buck's/Good Earth is a good place to begin.
(George and Barbara Bush)
One thing I was most curious about was how the Bushes live and
operate in Peking.
The Liaison Office and Residence are in connected modern two-story
buildings. The Residence is large and comfortable, furnished originally
by the David Bruces and made warm by many pictures of Bush family and
friends. The house staff is excellent. It is furnished by the PRC's
Domestic Service Bureau. The food is superb and of infinite variety.
With the exception of a few staples like rice, shrimp, or noodles,
we hardly had the same dish twice and almost never one the contents
of which I could identify.
This establishment is next to the Temple of the Sun Park and a
block or SO away from the International Club and the Friendship Store.
One not unimpressive fact of life in Peking is that at night before
bed Barbara takes C. Fred, the rather special Cocker, for a long walk.
In how many other capitals could she do that? Incidentally, the active
time in the park is between 6 and 7 in the morning when it is fairly
full of people, young and old, doing their ritualistic Tai Chi Chuan
exercises or just standing alone in a grove of trees singing at full
-18-
voice. At the same time, a military band is practicing and recruits
are going through elementary drills.
Bush's job is of course the job of any Ambassador: communicating
on China matters to Washington, representing his country's views to
Peking, generally promoting the aims of the Shanghai communiqué,
assisting and entertaining congressional, business and professional,
and personal visitors. But here it is more than that. It is to
build from the ground up the Chinese regard for the USA.
Admitting some prejudice in the matter, I can hardly imagine a
couple better suited to this assignment. In the first place, the
Bush
Peking assignment is one -he chose over others a good bit more com-
fortable and visable because he felt it to be outstandingly important
and challenging. Secondly, they are prepared by experience. Bush
has been a member of Congress, Ambassador to the United Nations, and
Chairman of the Republican National Committee. Neither of those last
two jobs, at the times Bush held them, were generally regarded as
easy, pleasant, or politically rewarding. But in both, through his
extraordinary good will, integrity, and positive outlook, he has made
a wide range of friends among leaders abroad and at home. The third
ingredient, which I feel must make favorable and productive impression,
is that they truly like the Chinese people and show great sensitivity
to their feelings and their way of life. Barbara's bicycling to market
and George's to tennis have gotten some publicity at home. This is
no affectation. It's the way they would operate anywhere. And you
can be quite sure that their goings and comings and all their personal
-19-
contacts along the way are not unknown to Chinese officialdom.
George is the best tennis player in the foreign community, and
players assemento play with foreign visitors
probably in Peking. The Chinese A pro and his assistants enjoy him
greatly and they tease each other constantly and with great good
humor. After church (that's another subject) Bush and I had a 5 set
match against the Chinese player pro and the Ghanan Ambassador David Akwei.
a
other Change players
I regret to admit that we lost, but the two assistant pros who stood
by the net throughout were delighted because Bush had announced to
them in advance the score by which we were going to win.
The church is dear to the Bushes. It is a Protestant service,
read in Chinese, held in what used to be the reading room of a Bible
Study Organization. There is an altar, a lectern, a pina piano, and
about 30 straight chairs. You pick up a bible and a mimeographed
copy of the service (includes hymns) as you enter. The leader of
the service is a white haired Chinese of great dignity. The responses
and hymns are said and sung in whatever language you happen to speak,
a wonderfully ecumenical bedlam. Freedom of worship is permitted
under the new constitution, but there is no longer "any need for" a
clergy, as that would constitute an elite.
The Bushes job is hard work. He goes to his office at 8:30,
has his daily staff meeting, reads mountains of cables and mail,
calls on or receives other diplomats, and attends to visiting
congressmen, delegations, and travelers. He returns in mid-day for
a Chinese language lesson and lunch and to share mail from family
and friends with Barbara; then back to the office till 5:30, if he
-20-
doesn't leave a bit early for tennis or a reception. There must
be precious few quiet evenings at home; house guests like ourselves,
in endless flow, see to that.
Like any foreigners, the Bushes are restricted in movement,
contact, and access to information. Two minor examples: they do not
know what cultural or athletic events are taking place in Peking.
If they want to attend one, they apply to the government and may or
applied for received Tickets
may not receive tickets. By this means we attended the China-Algeria
track meet in the vast Workers Stadium. A X And while we were free
X
The report of the event varied a bit in tone from that of our
own sports pages: "In a warm and friendly atmosphere, the athletes
of the two countries did their warm-up exercises together before the
contest. In the competition proper, they encouraged one another to
gain good results. After the contest, they chatted cordially and
summed up their experience together. The friendly attitude won the
athletes warm applause from the spectators. " This is a gracious way
of saying "We smeared them."
accomplishing anything? How do we operate there? I tried to get
answers to these questions, and the ones I offer I've put together
on my own; they are certainly not those of Ambassador Bush and his
office.
In simplest terms, China, particularly in relation to Russia,
to Japan, and to our Pacific and Asian interests is of great and
-21-
increasing importance. Clearly it makes sense for the U.S. to
develop some degree of communication and understanding with this
great force. China, at the same time, sees the great usefulness of
the USA in the all important matter of keeping Russia off balance.
They were profoundly impressed by the Russian move in Czechoslovakia
and feel that the best way of keeping that from happening to China's
borderlands is continued U.S. capability to require Russia's attention.
In Peking we have a Liaison Office (of about 29 people) and a
Liaison Officer rather than a fully accredited Embassy and Ambassador.
It did not appear to me that this difference of status seriously
limits our ability to pursue the purposes of the Shanghai communique.
I gather that all foreigners are restricted in their travel and in
access to information about what's going on in China and her government.
As would be SO in any country, some representatives are more warmly
received than others. But I certainly felt that George Bush and his
country are taken seriously and regarded as important to the govern-
ment of PRC.
,
China estimates her population to be 850 million, most of whom
live in the great citys and rich farmland of the river basins near
the China Sea. One's strongest impression is of an endless, restless
sea of people. Then there is their uniformity -- all, it first
appears, in a baggy blue coat with baggy blue or grey pants, the men
with caps like Chairman Mao's, the girls with pigtails. There are
few notable exceptions in dress: army men in green (officers with
4 pockets, enlisted men with 2), air force in green and blue, navy
-22-
in blue. Traffic police stand out in dazzlingly white jackets and
caps. And the children; they are the best bearers of colors and
smiles - as a lot the cutest children on earth. Old women in the
old style might wear a black blouse with high neck and buttons up
the side and hobble badly on tiny feet crippled from childhood binding.
I read somewhere that there are more children in China under 10 than
the total population of USSR -- and I can believe it. At one point
there had been a move to break up the family, putting children where
they could be indoctrinated without influence of traditional family
structure. This didn't work -- the children of course are rigidly
indoctrinated in school and community, but one of the most conspicuous
aspects of China is affection for children. The parks and museums
Terming
were turning with parents and little children, enjoying their day off
The Charge obviously depend on Touch. Parents
or holiday visit to the big city. cany & coddle infants young girls walk Talk
arm in arm , and L oye have on each other. And quite contrary To what expected, almost
How uniform is thought and behavior in this uniform-looking place?
The answer is quite uniform. The average person has virtually no
access to thought or word not issued by the State. The cadres of
brigade and block see that the line is hued. From time to time there
are rumors of uprisings in the provinces. These are more factional
disputes than protests against the system. The Central Committee
publishes the Reference News, circulation about six million, which
brings to cadres all over China, which sets forth the "news" and
party lines.
(Double Bridge People's Commune)
We had requested a visit to a Commune, but having heard nothing,
we were arming ourselves with guide books and cameras to explore
ooldiers m a variow passageway the summer Balace
exchanged smiles with. ran head não a group of
why one of The Thousand Chenese clauses with, I
Instinctively, I reached ont x clapped The leader on The sholder.
This (esture arought forth smiles Y brughs and a round of vigorous
Land shabing - and we all want on our way.
-23-
another part of Peking when, out of the dusty blue, came the word:
be ready to leave in 10 minutes for a Commune.
We visited the Double Bridge People's Commune which lies several
miles to the east of the city. In early morning we moved against the
stream of commuter farm-to-market traffic -- mostly bicycles and
horse-drawn, twe-wheel flatbeds, often with massive loads, drawn by
three horses. Or flatbeds tricycles pedaled by one man. Or flatbeds
towed by a two-wheel garden tractor. Always heavy laden and always
with at least one person sleeping on top the load. Add to these
busloads of workers and heavy industry and military trucks and you
have a substantial torrent. But not enough to daunt Mr. Goa, the
most determined and intrepid of drivers. His boldness and air of
authority made me wonder if he does not hold a position in PRC more
important than chauffeur. Whatever the case, he's surely an attractive
and patient man.
Turning off the main road, we drove between well tended fields
through the Commune entrance - stone columns with a red arch bearing
the usual political messages - to the central buildings. Our inter-
preter introduced us to the Vice Chairman of the Commune and we were
ushered into the reception room for tea (all reception rooms seem to
have exactly the same stuffed furniture and pictures of Mao, Marx,
Lenin, and Engles). The Vice Chairman told us about his Commune.
The Commune was established in 1958. It now has a population
of 40,000 and occupies an area of 22,230 acres. The Commune is
subdivided in three levels into 6 production brigades, 62 production
teams, and 15 enterprises. Major crops are rice and wheat. It also
-24-
produces vegetables and fruit. Its animal division consists of three
dairy farms, one horse farm, three pig farms and a duck farm, which
produces the famous Peking delicacy we'd enjoyed the night before.
The industry division includes an insecticide factory, flour mill,
repair shop, and some fish ponds. The Vice Chairman pointed out that
this was not naturally fertile land. Before liberation the land
yielded only 700 pounds of grain per acre. It produced only corn
and sorghum and was not self-sufficient. In 1974, under Commune
management, production had increased 9-fold. Now it is more than
self-sufficient. It produces 22,200 pounds of milk and over 100,000
pounds of vegetables. It also produces ducks, fruits, and meats for
market.
There are six middle schools and nineteen primary. Education
is compulsory through junior middle school and all have the opportunity
for senior middle school, which I believe is completed at the age of 17.
There is a public health center in every production brigade and
each team has a clinic staffed by "barefoot doctors." At the centers
there are 30 state trained doctors, and at the clinics 150 barefoot
doctors. The state trained doctor has had a tour studying "Western
medicine" in a major hospital. The barefoot doctor practices
traditional Chinese medicine which means herbs and acupuncture for
minor problems, the common cold being the most frequent. If a person
is too sick for clinic or center, he is sent to a major hospital in
the city. Innoculations have virtually ended infectious diseases,
and spartan life makes an exceptionally healthy community. Every
member pays 1 yuan (57.4¢) per year and receives complete medical care.
-25-
The Vice Chairman said that while great progress had been made,
the general standard of living is still not high. "Many problems
remain." Most of the Commune work is done by hand and scientific
farming is in its initial stages. But he feels with very great
efforts there is great potential to be achieved through mechanization.
While that is no doubt true, one wonders how all those hands will be
occupied when displaced by farm machinery.
He ended his comments with a warm welcome to Ambassador Bush and
his friends and hoped that the visit would promote understanding and
friendship between our two peoples.
Bush asked how production goals are set. Higher organs (Ministry
of Agriculture) make up the basic plan, with priorities, quotas, etc.
The Commune reviews its part of the total and can suggest revisions.
In the process the interest of the state comes first, then the
improvement of the community, and finally increased income to the
individual, but each interest is considered in relation to the other.
What if the Commune needs outside help? There is great emphasis
on self-reliance. But in busy seasons the Commune forces can be
supplemented by city people. Agriculture is the basis of China's
economic development. Every department is supposed to support it in
men, machines, and technique and repairs. Other departments are
supposed to take initiative. Adjoining Communes cooperate on some
projects, such as lakes and irrigation systems. The Commune has
130 wells and wants a total of 300. Apparently there is good research
on water resources.
-26-
Forestation is a major effort -- to hold and build soil from
wind and runoff. We saw a tree nursery and extensive plantings
everywhere we went.
What is the system of payment for work? Pay to individuals is
distributed annually according to a point system for quality and
quantity of work. The best performance gets 10 points for a day's
work. The worker estimates his own worth, generally on the low side.
This is adjusted through mass discussion among fellow workers. The
average annual distribution is 350 yuan to each laborer (120 per capita).
Income from small family plots is in addition. Living costs are low,
prices are stable, and there are no taxes. Some families have fewer
laborers and more mouths to feed; they receive extra support. But
most families have some surplus and they, like ourselves, put it in
the bank, invest it in the communal enterprise, or spend it on
something like a bicycle or sewing machine.
We were taken on a tour of the pig and duck farms. Everyone
seems to like little pigs and little ducks. Then to the commissary
store neatly stocked with ordinary necessities, to a family's
apartment, and to the barefoot doctors' clinic. The young mother
invited us into her small three room establishment, each room not
much larger than 7' X 12', with neat and clean white-washed walls,
a picture of Chairman Mao, some family photographs, and a sewing
machine. The center room has a small stove from which the heat is
piped under the bed in the adjoining room for warmth in winter.
Plumbing is in a nearby community facility. She has a husband and
-27-
three small children. Two university students from the city are
temporarily occupying the third room. So I suppose mother, father,
and three children share the other small bedroom. She likes to work
in the fields but is eager to work wherever she is most needed, which
is the attitude of almost everyone expresses. Elementary school
children did a little song and dance -- very cute and proficient,
and of course the songs were fundamental doctrine.
The Commune, they say, has very little crime or antisocial
is
behavior; the community structure/tight and puritanical. The
occasional bad actor is called in for mass discussion, the pressure
of which must have great force. He has the opportunity to criticize
himself, and punishment, if any, is not meted according to rights,
codes, and blind justice but to attitude and resolve toward proper
future service.
Drill #2 revolved around a rug. The Peking Friendship Store
offers foreigners rather good and inexpensive handicrafts and
reproductions (a 93 piece set of China for about $60, for example).
In addition, there are a few antique stores which have pre-liberation
porcelains, carpets, and books. They appeared to be a means of get-
ting foreign currency for the leavings of the past which are of less
than museum quality. In one of these I bought a nice rug which, with
other acquisitions, we hauled back to the Residence to ship home.
respected
Later, following generally accepted advice, we took our modest loot
to the Transportation Office to be packed off. This process begins
-28-
with a long set in the usual overstuffed chairs filling out forms
and having passports examined. Here we discovered the need for
another step; all our forms would have to be taken to the customs
office at the railway station and then brought back for completion.
Fortunately, we had Mr. Goa, office driver, not just for the long
hanls
hands back and forth, but for the confrontations with the officialdom
of customs, a batch of whom shuffled through our purchase receipts,
giving the most pains and time-taking attention to the one for my
rug. After a great deal of conversation, which liberally translated
meant that the rug was in trouble, we were sent back across the city
to the Transportation Office and informed that by regulation effective
April 1, no articles from a second-hand store can be exported! Here
again the temptation to wrath and indignation; here again the plain
fact that it will avail you naught. So I shouldered my rug and
marched home to present it to my hostess to embellish the Residence
and, if possible and convenient, to be hauled back to the USA with
Bush stuff when they complete their tour; if not, then to be a gift
from me to the U.S. Government. Again, there was a happy issue from
this affliction; Margaret, Mary, and Tennant had to pay more than the
cost of their first-hand purchases to have them shipped by slow freight.
I shall mention only a few impressions of the great sights we
saw in and near Peking. The Great Wall, Ming Tombs, Summer Palace,
and Forbidden City are well and fully described by many distinguished
and talented writers. Standing on the Great Wall, after one has taken
his pictures and recovered a bit from the impact of simply being there,
-29-
he must find a place for a moment alone to listen only to the wind
and try to imagine what forces it took to build the Wall and to
picture the rude hoards from the north that it held back, allowing
the development of a civilization which by the 1st Century A.D.
produced paper and astronomical instruments. We were lucky that
the gate to the restored Ming Toomb, selected for picnic lunch, was
locked, compelling us to wander further to another site, silent and
in rain, which reminded us of the drawings that Piranesi made in
mid 18th century of decaying Roman, Rome. ruins. Stone and tile fragments are
strewn about the EMMIXY courtyard. Trees and grass grow from rotting
roof timbers. Though the site is protected by the Government, the
structures will soon be beyond restoration. Under the mound behind
the Temple lies, yet undisturbed, goodness knows what treasures.
The Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) Elizabethan England and the Italian
about the same about
Renaissance were in flower at this time - occurred as a Chinese
Renaissance between dominations of foreign Mongul and Manchu. The
tombs, the approaching avenue flanked by great stone animals, priests,
and warriors, and the hills and valleys in which they are set comprise
an awesome and lovely place. And everywhere about are men, women,
and children working -- one team removing a hill basket by basketful
of dirt to level the hill and build another plot for planting. The
variety of levels puzzled me at first. Why always changing? Then
you see that the fields are all linked by irrigation ditches. The
water serves one field and then another at lower level and SO on.
Rice fields are flooded; others are watered from two baskets at each
end of a bamboo shoulder bar or, on small plots, by using long handled
scoops to take water directly from the ditch to the plants.
-30-
Drill #3 involved embarkation at the train for Nanking, assisted
by Barbara Bush and George's assistant, Jennifer Fitzgerald, and
encumbered by five large and six small bags, passports, travel passes,
tickets, a three-word pool of Chinese words. We were led through the
nareway station to an office for examination of documents of foreigners
and thence to track level and our first-class car. Our luggage and
ourselves filled not only our compartment but the entire corridor,
so six Americans opened discussions with twelve Chinese railway
functionaries on possibilities of another compartment - with no one
having any idea of what the other was talking about. The arm waving
and confusion of tongues were applied to the cost of an additional
compartment, with no result other than to overheat the four travelers.
When all had had enough, the conductor - an oriental Valkyrie -
pronounced with a few firm gestures that there were no additional
compartments. The train departed on the appointed minute and there
was nothing else to do but stow our gear, snuggle in, and make the
best of it, all which turned out to be surprisingly easy to do. The
compartment was actually quite elegant - a big storage area over the
corridor, a potted plant in bloom, a huge thermos and mugs for tea,
We came prepared with
and a loud speaker. Bush had given us one valuable bit of information:
under the table there is a small knob for turning off the speaker with
its endless supply of patriotic opera. The dinner, which was quite
good, marked the beginning of a series of amusing and rewarding efforts
at ordering from a Chinese menu, conveying our choices to the waiter
who spoke no more English than we did Chinese, and then eating the
results with chopsticks. We tried everything but sea slugs and liked
-31-
most of it. Eight courses, plus rice and soup, make a proper dinner.
We struggled to hold it to three.
The problem of the four of us bunking down together for a good
nights sleep was far less difficult than feared. The next morning's
trip through Yangtse basin, after calisthenics in the corridor with
new
passengers and crew, let us see, flatter and richer farmland, but
the endless labor of terracing, tilling, and irrigating is the same.
One sees an occasional Buddhist pagoda and frequent small burial
mounds. The constitution provides freedom of religion and I was told
that a few "old-fashioned" people still practice their religion
privately, but it's not something for a good Leninist, and the old
religions have virtually no followers among the young. The dead are
cremated and the ashes, without ceremony, are put in the ground or
added to others in these small conical mounds.
The train crosses the river and enters the city on the Nanking
Yangtze River Bridge, an object of great pride pictured on embroidery,
calendar, and poster across the land. The visitor should, and
practically must, visit the Bridge - not so much for the Bridge itself
as for what it means to the Chinese. It was built in the 1960's;
before, every freight or passenger rail car, every truck, cart, and
man had to cross the wide and powerful river by primitive ferry.
This conquest of the river is good cause for pride, but more than
that, it is an outstanding example of Chairman Mao's call for "self-
reliance" and hard work" in that it was designed and built entirely
by the Chinese. It was pointed out that the "perfidious, revisionist
Russian Government" had contracted to assist with advice and steel,
-32-
but had torn up the contract and tried to sabotage the construction.
The Anshang workers developed and delivered the steel within two years.
Four thousand full-time workers were supported by many more thousands
of volunteer students, workers, and soldiers. I dwell on the Bridge
because what we heard here we heard many times over: China is a poor
but developing country - only 26 years old one interpreter told us -
destitute in 1949 after centuries of foreign exploitation and
imperialist tyranny, it is rebuilding under the leadership of Chairman
Mao and the dictatorship of the proletariat - it is a slow process but
success is certain. In this presentation, and in every other, the
propaganda was heavy-handed. It was not somethingrecited just for us;
it is fundamental doctrine faith and a matter of deep and zealous faith. More
and more it seemed to me that Chairman Mao is for the Chinese a mixture
of Moses, St. Paul, and George Washington. The visitor may not like
a system which puts state first and individual last; but he is bound
to respect its seriousness, its accomplishments, and its determination.
The "self-reliance and hard work" and the propriety and discipline
of the society would be a rude shock to many vocal leftists who
criticize our own society.
In Nanking we were met by Mr. Tsei Yen of China Travel Service,
a gentle and intelligent man who got us in two Shanghais (like maybe
a 1950 Plymouth in appearance but quite modern in performance) to the
Nanking Hotel. Its grounds are attractively planted and ample enough
for me to have a frizbee throwing session with the staff. This hotel
and others we used is operated by China Travel Service for overseas
visitors. They are quite good, with a mixture of elegance and deferred
-33-
maintenance. At each point we seemed to be the only Americans.
Other guests were Albanians, Africans, overseas Chinese, and a few
Canadians, all in special groups. Nanking is a relief after Peking.
Though it has 2-4 2.4 million people, it appears relaxed and intimate.
A green arch of severely pruned Plane trees (Sycamore) cover and
shade the streets; azaleas and other spring flowers were in bloom
and the nearby Purple Mountains look not unlike the wooded foothills
of the Blue Ridge at this time of year. We went to the Nanking
Observatory, on top of the highest of these hills, and saw the
magnificent Ming bronze reproductions of instruments invented by the
Chinese nearly 2,000 years ago - the celestial sphere and the
armillary sphere. The modern 60 centimeter telescope for tracking
satellites is a modest affair, but here again, it was built through
hard work and self-reliance by the Nanking workers. Just down the
hill you see the remains of the tomb of the first of the Ming emperors,
which to our regret was not a first magnitude star for Mr. Tsei.
We hit it offwell with Mr. Tsei and persuaded him to take us to
a good local restaurant. Foreigners are always segregated to a special
antiseptic sideroom, while the Chinese churn about in the main rooms
which are large, dim, and noisy. We were complimented to be asked
across the line to exchange greetings with an ebullient wedding party,
shaking hands and clapping for each other. Tennant, Mr. Tsei, and
Margaret (who was trained in Korcula and upper Hanover Counter)
handled the 120 proof sorghum brandy with graceful ease. Mary and
I went through various subterfuges to avoid having to toss it down.
-34-
May Day in Nanking People's Park was, mildly described, an
unusual experience. Mr. Tsei had tickets for us to the open air
stage show. To our embarrassment, the two Shanghais blared and
shoved through the masses along the no-vehicle park lanes right to
the stage. We were ushered to special seats for visiting friends -
the Third World and us. The most intriguing contingent, several rows
in front of us and much photographed, was the PLO gang - a good looking
version of Arafat (if you can imagine that) with Arafat scarf and the
five toughest looking characters I've ever seen. The show was a
long sit on tiny camp stools through long exerpts from the Peking
Opera, which includes a number of troops in several major cities.
The theater, it was explained to us, before liberation belonged to
the upper classes and the people were rigidly excluded; now it belongs
to the people and therefore must serve the people. Madame Mao sees
to this. Each selection from the Peking Opera bears some sprightly
title like "We are determined to study the theory of Proletarian
Dictatorship" and "On presenting a brocade to Chairman Mao." The
melodramatic pieces are about peasants struggles against landlords
or Liberation Army heros freeing peasants from bandits. The singers
and instrumentalists are obviously competent. One might think that
relentless repetition of the message and the medium would become a
bit tedious to them and that an audience SO fun-loving might get a
bit restless. But two thoughts on this come to my mind. First, they,
with great devotion, are practicing their religion; they are singing,
again and again, their gospel songs. And second, from an entertainment
standpoint, the Peking Opera is not much more boring than much of our
own TV.
-35-
There is, in fact, occasional relief. That evening we attended
an acrobatic show which included almost no propaganda. It had us
gasping and cheering throughout at feats of acrobatics, juggling,
and dancing which were beyond belief. The best seats in the house
cost less than 25¢. It is clearly the peoples theater. Later in
Shanghai, the Peking Opera had us on the ropes praying for the bell;
we were saved by the last act, the amazing traditional Chinese
acrobatic exercises with swords, spears, flags, and clanging cymbals.
Early the next morning we saw children on the sidewalks practicing
these acts.
The May Day attendance in the Nanking park must have been in the
hundreds of thousands. As was the case everywhere, we drew large
crowds, close around us staring in blank amazement at every detail
of our large, pink, strangely dressed selves. At the Zoo we joked
about out-drawing the pandas 4 to 1. When Mary and Margaret were
making a purchase at a department store counter hundreds of people
would pack tight around them. Oddly enough, they are extremely shy
about having their picture taken - SO if the press is too much, just
quietly take aim with your camera. Many times I saw people I wanted
to photograph; if I asked permission, they would shake their head or
turn and disappear. Mr. Tsei arranged a" special treat for American
friends"- - a boat ride on the Park's extensive lake system. It was
clearly a big thing for him too because he had gotten his wife and
little daughter and some colleagues along, and we all enjoyed the
holiday outing in proper holiday spirit. Still alive after all this,
we went to the Sun Yat Sen Mausoleum, built large scale on the Purple
-36-
Mountainside. We were received in the unvarying reception room for
U
tea and candy by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Kiangsu Province,
Mr. Chu Han Ching; he was smart and friendly and looked a bit like
Ronald Reagan. My compatriots were not unjustifiably content to
gaze up the 398 steps to the Mausoleum, but out of respect for
Mr. Tsei's reverence for this place I climbed to the top with him,
a gesture which I believe he appreciated. I should point out that
the warm and ample treatment we received was not for us as particular
persons or as prosperous tourists. Most "foreign friends" are Third
Worlders and obviously don't carry the full cost of their visit.
Touring foreign friends are provided for not to benefit the economy
as elsewhere, but "to promote friendship and understanding between
peoples."
Mr. Tsei packed us into a compartment for a four hour morning's
trip to Soochow, which a Western guidebook calls the Venice of China.
It is indeed a city of canals which lace the city to the Imperial
Canal and Soochow Creek, the former, built in the 7th Century,
reaching the great distance to Peking and the Yellow River and the
latter the short distance to Shanghai and the sea. But our Soochow
interpreter, Mr. Shen
, whose wards we became the moment
we arrived, objected to the comparison to Venice: "It is a sinking
city and it is a dying city." Actually, there are a few points on
which the Venetians might not like the comparison, but I left that
for the Venetians.
Soochow has only 540,000 population and accordingly even more
relaxed and intimate than Nanking. People seem to live half in their
-37-
houses and half on sidewalk and street. The living rooms of rows
of white-washed houses include the sidewalks. Children do their
Shan Pi Ching rubber band dance which is a fascinating improvement
on rope skipping; women do their wash and hang it on bamboo poles
suspended between low sycamore branches; and after work men pull
chairs and a little table out for a relaxed glass of tea. Through
it all ambles or hustles the traffic on foot, bicycle, cart, and
truck. The canals do not get the flushing of good and bad tides as
do those of Venice; the water is nearly still and heavy laden with
refuse - but not sewage. That is gathered as is our garbage, and
loaded aboard barges which take it back to the farm for fertilizer.
Only a few of the barges have a gasoline engine; most are pushed
with long bamboo poles, skulled with a great oar, sailed with the
wind or towed against the wind by man and woman in harness leaning
against the huge weight as have their ancestors for countless
generations. At the confluence of the Imperial Canal and Soochow
Creek, standing on the ancient Ming Bridge - a new bridge nearby
now carries all traffic except those who tow - we saw a man and
woman on a barge from a nearby commune tonging (as we do for oysters)
for river silt. This will be taken to the commune and mixed with
pits
purple vetch in pots for compost.
The Soochow Hotel, banked in flowering shrubs and trees, was
nicer
even newer than the Nanking. Margaret and Mr. Shen got along
famously on the basis of a mutual interest in plants. Margaret
made a careful list of plants which grow in both Soochow and Richmond,
-38-
using Latin botanical names which are the meeting ground for Chinese
around The world
and American plant lovers. It's probably just as well we couldn't
see the kitchen, but I would surely like to have seen how they stored
and prepared food for perhaps 50 menu selections. Totally befuddled
by the menu, we resorted to taking our waiter to other tables and
pointing at things which looked good. It didn't always work; one
morning Tennant got 9 eggs: 3 scrambled, 3 fried, and 3 boiled.
Soochow is noted for embroidery, silk, and furniture so we
visited the factory of each industry, having tea and briefing with
the Revolutionary Committee, then a tour of the plant, and afterwards
tea and discussion. In each case the Committee members and workers
were gracious and ready to answer all questions about their products,
processes, planning, markets, etc. The embroidery operation was a
strange sort of thing to me: It involved more than 200 people, mostly
older, doing the most delicate and intricate stitches with the finest
silk threads. Some work, like a two-sided screen of translucent
goldfish, was very beautiful. Most, however, were in the same vein
as the Peking Opera and are produced to hang in all sorts of large
public rooms where the intricacy of the process is lost. The output
is too limited for the market place. So we supposed the justification
of the effort is preservation of a handicraft tradition. The silk
and furniture are important export items which we'd seen on display
at the Canton Fair. Much of the labor is manual and mechanization
in its early stages. But everyone seems to be working full blast and
in good humor. Throughout the factories are large political slogans
and posters and each section has a board listing all workers with
-39-
stars indicating extra performance. A favorite decoration is a
large black and white reproduction of lines from Chairman Mao's
poetry written in his own hand. No one I asked was able to read
them. Two of the silk mill committee members whom we had met we saw
that evening in a film on Soochow. The older one made an impassioned
speech to younger fellow workers criticizing Confucius and
and telling that she, as an infant, before Liberation, had been sold
because her parents could not afford to keep her, and as a child had
slaved long hours under dreadful conditions. In myopinion, These
efforts to keep alive the emotional commitment by passing along these
no doubt
experiences to the younger and more comfortable generation, is vital
to maintaining the course and speed of this intense society.
The Ming and Ching gardens are highly sophisticated and show
the leisurely elegance which surrounded the rich and powerful.
Mr. Shen noted that one garden had been built by a Ching Minister
of Foreign Commerce with bribes he had taken from foreigners for
special advantages. Another was forfeited to pay gambling debts.
The gardens are actually a series of reception, living, and leisure
buildings connected by paths, bridges, and covered walkways through
a wonderfully contrived landscape of little pools, hills, and all
manner of planted spaces framed for best effect by open windows of
just the right size and shape. The principal, and unique, material
of the gardens is rock, eroded into strange shapes, excavated from
nearby lakes. These gardens are now parks protected and maintained
by City or Provincial Government, but I'm afraid the level of
maintenance is not up to the pressures of the enormous flow of traffic.
-40-
Tiger Hill leaning Pagoda
Our final train trip was in a prim first-class chair car for
the 1½ hour trip from Soochow to Shanghai, the biggest city in the
world. The large buildings, including one hotel on the Bund along
the Whangpo waterfront are european left-overs. These and the great
houses in other parts of the city indicate the extent and power of
the long domination of Shanghai by foreign commercial interests.
We made a bad tactical error in not feeling out our interpreter a
bit before telling him that Margaret's grandmother, now 103, had been
born in Shanghai to missionary parents. We thought this would interest
him and show him our particular interest in his city. Not so; a
zealous fellow, he disliked the missionaries, all of whom he pronounced
were imperialist spies and stooges. Margaret fumed while I tried to
point out that maybe some of the missionaries were not all that bad.
But he would not bend an inch and we all felt the first and only
attitude of resentment of the entire trip, and we got less of a look
at Shanghai than we had hoped for We did nevertheless have the
Having read some of The old missionary's letters I was armused attle
thought That be and our guide ware not ToTally unable in style and
exclusive 36al
-41-
extremely valuable experience of a long visit to a school, the
institution which to greater extent than farm or factory will make
or break the new China. We were, as usual, welcomed by the Revolu-
tionary Committee, which in this case consisted of principal and
assistant principal, the chairman of the Workers Mao Tse Tung
Propaganda Team, two faculty members, and several students, two of
whom were members of the Red Guard. While we had tea the principal
told us about his school. It is a middle school with 3,300 pupils
of ages 13-17 and one of 300 in Shanghai of more or less the same
size. Affiliated with the school, there is a school farm outside
the city on which all students and teachers work two months per year.
There is also a small factory in the school for assembly of electrical
fixtures and building transistors and TV sets. The following courses
are taught: politics, Chinese language, math, foreign language, hygiene,
revolutionary art and literature, geography. There is a large physical
training program for pupils and teachers - drills and calisthenics,
basketball, ping-pong, and eyen a controlled parachute jump (which was
out of order). The most important studies are Marxist, Leninist,
her
Maoist thought and mass criticism of Loir Shao Chi and Ling Piao.
Supporting these is the compulsory rotation to farm and factory to
relate the theoretical to the practical - for worker to learn from
student and student to learn from worker. At the completion of middle
school every student goes to farm or factory for a minimum of two
years and goes to college only when selected by farm or factory
committee on the basis of attitude and aptitude. Teachers must also
do these tours of "reeducation by peasants and workers." A practice
-42-
as hazardous as it is vital is that of shipping large numbers of
17 year old graduates of junior middle school from the city to the
country, requiring that they stay there for two years or longer,
until they are selected for higher and specialized education. Just
a little experience with teenagers shows the perils of this process.
And these children, unlike their parents, remember the Long March no
better than ours do the Great Depression. This, I guess, is the real
reason for all those "criticism" groups, so that those who do remember
can make those memories into the new mythology, which will then become
gospel.
After this presentation we watched the mass calisthenics, sat
in on a number of classes (including English taught by rote), visited
the work shops, and watched an extremely good student program of music
and dancing.
The English teacher went through several "repeat in English
twice after me" exercises with the children parroting loudly in
unison. I thought it appropriate to let them hear one of us speak,
SO with the teacher's permission, using simple words slowly, I thanked
and complimented them, telling them how much we liked China and
inviting them to come to see us in America. I saw no trace of under-
standing, so I felt they had, at this stage, been taught only to
repeat certain words and phrases.
Music and drama is obviously a vital outlet for talented students.
The faces of the performers were joyful. We sat on the front row and
our smiles and expressions of approval drew their immediate warm and
-43-
touching response. One lad masqueraded as a Tartan chieftain with
his harem. Wearing turban, handlebar mustachio, and flowing robe
he danced and sang with great style and relish. Clearly a very
bright, talented, and imaginative youngster. What is his future in
that severely channeled society?
The buildings and grounds were bare and clean, with no trace of
a frill. All drills, basketball, and other exercises took place on
the asphalted yard. From a stand at one end we watched 2,000 students
and faculty march to positions and do calisthenics by command of the
director and in time with recorded military music. Later I took two
defeats, to the great merriment of the children. I rushed to the
aid of the weaker of the tug-of-war teams, which only hastened its
defeat. Then I was trounced at ping pong by a little girl over whom
I was sure I could prevail.
Then we returned to the reception room for discussion with the
committee. What about discipline? Disciplinary problems are met
with the combined attention of teachers, parents, and peers. The
miscreant is showed the error of his ways, the reasons why he is in
school are carefully explained, and, I am sure, strong and effective
community pressure is focused on him. If the student doesn't shape
up, you can bet he is packed off to a suitable job at the bottom
rung of the farm commune. Are students allowed to smoke and do they?
No - it is simply not permitted and not done. (Adults smoke busily
and increasingly, preferring their milder cigarettes over ours)
What about the slow learner? He is kept in regular classes and
-44-
helped and encouraged to do his best. In a ship and plane model
class we saw two obviously retarded boys simply sanding a block,
getting occasional direction and encouragement from the teacher.
What does the Red Guard do? These are studentsselected by the
committee of students and faculty on the basis of their exemplifica-
tion of Marxist-Leninist principles and the thoughts of Chairman Mao.
They exercise leadership among students (more or less Student
Councilors) and have the right to criticize faculty members for any
of their shortcomings. I wondered but did not ask how much bullying
students and faculty get from ambitious or over-zealous Red Guards
and the not-too-charitable looking Chairman of the Workers Mao Tse
Tung Propaganda Team.
We were lucky to conclude our trip with this visit because the
school is a fair summary of the society we'd been seeing in fragments,
and it displays much of what, in my opinion, is good, bad, indifferent,
and puzzling about modern China. As for the school itself, it in
many ways is excellent. The parents and certainly the grandparents
of most of these children of workers were illiterate, diseased, and
in miserable poverty. These children are getting a good start in
the three R's, regular physical exercise and clinical attention,
some opportunity to develop speech talents, and very good vocational
training. In our view, obviously a limited one, the students were
healthy, happy, diligent, and proud of themselves and the great
social and political movement about which they are relentlessly
taught. All this I found most impressive, and I must say I envied
much of it for our own school systems.
-45-
There, of course, is another side to it from the point of
view of one raised on Mr. Jefferson's principles of reason and free
inquiry. The intensity, rigidity, and monotony of the all embracing
mind and thought control is appalling. The principles of a new faith
are being taught - not just taught, but implanted, and any other ideas
which might distract or compete are totally excluded.
(more to follow)
-45- (Con't)
While this might offend our Western liberal democratic sensibilities,
we must consider that these are not part of the Chinese tradition.
The PRC's approach to education is not inconsistent with two of
China's long established belief systems: the traditional hierarchical,
ordered society and the totalitarian penetration of government and
control of the individual by the state. (Michael Oksenberg, Foreign
Policy Association, Headline Series #203, explains these and the three
other equal and competing belief systems: revolutionary, technological,
and bureaucratic.)
Will it work? Several answers occur to me. First, at this
early stage, it certainly appears to be working -- judging by expan-
sions of literacy, vocational training, and the degree of conviction
and pride in the young people we saw. Second, it must work if the
new system is to endure; this obviously requires that new principles
be well learned and old ones uprooted. My third answer remains a
question: can this system of education achieve both an élite-free
dictatorship of the proletariat and leadership well enough educated
in government, management, and science to take the place in the world
to which China aspires?
If we did not see and enjoy as much of Shanghai as we had of
other cities, it was partly due to fatigue of travel and apprehension
about the reliability of departure plans. These were unwarranted
excuses, for we had traveled comfortably and without illness and
each change of plan had been for the better. In fact, we departed
right on schedule -- the Bryans with the sun for Geneva and ourselves,
against it, to Tokyo and Hawaii. One can argue which route involves
the worst jet lag.
-46-
Wearing as is the long voyage home, it is a time for sorting
thoughts on what we had seen of ancient China, of modern China, and
of the constant mixture of the two. Strangely, for every observation
we made, we had an opposing one. Chinese society is dead-serious and
straight-laced; at the same time, it is smiling and affectionate.
The ethic of hard work and self-sufficiency is pervasive; and the
people enjoy games, theater, parks, and just plain leisure as keenly
and happily as any could. There is a drabness of dress and modern
buildings -- and also bursts of color and gaity from the children,
the stage, political posters, and plazas and gardens. China aspires
to a classless society and a display of "bourgeois tendancies" can cost
one his career; but it is far from classless, with those who work harder
and produce more making more and living better. The PRC is against
capitalism, but it values foreign trade and its shops are jammed with
people buying, with hard-earned money, items for conveinence and
comfort. The people are kind and gentle. Not once did we experience
scowls or rudeness or voices raised in anger or impatience. (It was
a relief just once, when Mr. Guo, the Bush's driver, spoke a little
plain Chinese to a competitive truck driver.) But one must not forget
the harshness of recurring revolution; kindness and gentleness were
not the main attributes of the Red Guard in The Great Proletarian
Cultural Revolution.
Finally, there is the overwhelming fact and force of new
post-liberation Maoist China -- free of hunger, exploitation, disease,
and flood, building toward its millennial vision of pure communism.
At the same time, there remains, largely unchanged, the ancient
-47-
underlying systems of belief and practice: the peasant and his buffalo
in the rice paddies, the herdsman on the plains, the worker in the
factory, their families -- all accepting an ordered society, supremacy
of the state, extensive bureaucracy, and the transcending role of
Chairman Mao.
Regardless of the ultimate duration and impact of this great
new force, aspects of which we must respect and all of which, in our
own interest, we must try to understand, I end by thinking of Voltaire's
observation on the French Revolution: The more things change, the more
they are the same.