CHINA REPORT

It was the evening of October 25, 1971, and the events taking place at the UN were of such importance that people were standing by their TV’s and radios around the world. When the U.S.-sponsored “important question” resolution failed to pass in the Genera] Assembly, the resumption of the China seat by the People’s Republic of China had been assured, but when the countries of the world voted 76 to 35 in favor of the PRC, everyone (especially the Chinese) were astonished. Tom, who had a ringside seat on this world shaking event, tumbled into bed at 4:00 a.m. exhausted, but elated. As Chairman of the UN Subcommittee of the Committee for New China Policy (which he had founded three years ago when Director of International Relations for the United Church of Christ), Tom had been lobbying intensely with undecided delegations. We were effective in influencing five vote changes (The ‘important question resolution’ had failed by only four.) As the New York Times quoted Tom as saying, “As fast as the U.S. Government was twisting arms, we were untwisting them.”

A couple of days later, Tom received an invitation for the Committee (CNCP) to send a delegation to the PRC for a month as guests of the Chinese People’s Institute for Foreign Affairs. In January 12 of us left for China. Tom flew via Europe to see Edgar Snow again (He was critically ill.)and then flew on PIA from Karachi to Shanghai. Delayed by Eric’s illness, Judy flew directly to India. (Alex 6 and Ted 2 1/2 stayed with the Chetwynd’s in Arlington, Va.; Eric 5 1/2 months stayed with the Chen’s, and Boyles, our N.Y.C. neighbors - to whom we’ll be forever grateful).

As India and Pakistan were still in a state of emergency, Judy found herself unable to reach Karachi to join Tom’s flight. Tom tried in vain to contact her. After considerable trauma, Judy flew to Hong Kong where she was met by a TWA official with the news that the charge card she’d relied upon to buy her new ticket (her PIA ticket being of no use in India~) had expired. Once over that obstacle, with the assistance of Tom’s cousins, the Blakneys, and the China Travel Service, she found herself the next day still alone, but at last crossing Lo Wu Bridge and entering China. After a night in the spacious and gracious State Guest House in Canton and a little sightseeing, she was on her way to Peking and reunion with her concerned husband.

In the days to follow, we visited in addition to Peking - Shanghai, Wuhan, Chengchow, Canton and their environs. We traveled by plane, train, car, and boat. Weather was as unpleasant as that in NYC, yet only the hotels were heated. Like the Chinese, we learned to wear our outdoor clothing in.. .and to put layer over layer over layer. Hospitality was unparallel in out traveling experiences, as was the cuisine. Each meal was a banquet, and each banquet an artistic, delicious feast. We formed many new friendships and strengthened some old ones.. .with members of the U.N. Mission who had returned to Peking upon the close of the General Assembly. There was so much to visit, to experience, to learn, to try to understand. It is such a new, experimental, so completely different society. Everything was so clean and organized, people so proud and industrious, life so purposeful and patterned.

Our main purpose was to obtain an initial view of China and to determine the possi­bility of arranging cooperative people to people programs. Their main purpose in inviting us was to help us to understand the impact of Liberation upon China, and upon the individual and the society, through visits to the institutions which make up China today. Thus our visit was a combination of both. Due to the wintry condi­tions, our desire for numerous discussions with government officials, and a wait of five days to see Premier Chou En-lai we spent most of our time in Peking. We’ll share with you the highlights of our China visit.

The Chinese have a saying that “You are not man enough until you have seen the Great Wall”. As we stood there, we really felt a sense of history beneath our feet. We lamented to our hosts that there was still a very great wall between our two countries. The Ming Tombs were impressive monuments that exemplify the self interest of the past, having been erected for the enhancement of the ruling class at the sufferance of the masses. The Summer Palace was a serene site of expansive (and once expensive) beauty. The favorite residence of the Empress Dowager Tziu Hsi, it is today a popular place for picnics. The previously ‘‘Forbidden’’ City is now the Palace Museum through which anyone can stroll for only a few cents admission. In addition to the imposing bronze lions, thrones, and lovely park within its walls, housed here is the magnificent collection of artifacts unearthed during the Cultural Revolution (when emphasis was turned inward on discovering and bringing out the best of that which is Chinese) upon which we were privileged to feast our eyes.

Educational Institutions. Upon hearing the members of the Revolutionary Committee (the governing body composed of teachers, students, administrators, and political cadre) of Peking University relate their intense examination of the purpose, structure, and course which education should take to meet the needs of the Chinese masses, we realize that our educational reform movement in the U.S. is merely scratching the surface. Students of all ages participate in factory and farm labor, usually devoting a month annually to each. At a middle school, we were fascinated to watch students smelting scrap metal and then pouring the hot liquid into molds they’d set on the dirt Floor. The school has a contract with several factories. Mao Zedong Thought permeates most elementary school lessons, and through the media ‘of song and dance as propaganda teams, the children carry to the countryside the message of gratitude to Chairman Mao for liberation of their country from the oppressive landlords and warlords. The Chinese are constantly reminded that the country belongs to the peasants (8o% of the population) and workers. To prevent the formation of urban elite, the Communist party cadres are sent to rural cadre schools to learn from the peasants and to study ideology. At Children’s Palaces, an after school program resembling scouts, special training is given the talented. The most precious sight in China was the nursery schoolers greeting us in their colorful cotton padded clothing. They resembled rosy-checked pin cushion dolls~

Hospitals. “Serve the People” is the motto we heard most frequently and saw trans­lated into action. As the vast majority of the Chinese live in the countryside, medical teams from hospitals rotate to supply the rural areas. Communes have hospitals and clinics, and “barefoot doctors”. During the Cultural Revolution, traditional Chinese medicine was given a great impetus. Significant advances were made in the centuries—old practice of acupuncture. We saw children being treated for various problems with acupuncture and observed with amazement its use as anesthesia in four operations. Adequate (and very inexpensive medical care is one of the “five family guarantees” of the Chinese government.

               Communes. The Red Star Commune outside of Peking seemed to have been built to be a commune. Housing was apartment buildings at the edge of the city. Dairy cows and ducks were raised. The ducks, which were force fed (like our children!!) three times a day, mature in only 55 days.. .thus “55 days in Peking!” The commune near Canton was a village like might be seen in most any country, except that the land is owned commonly and the means of production and marketing have been collectivized. Vegetables and rice were the products of this lush southern farmland. Scrap metal was smelted there and made into light farm machinery for their own use. The women were preparing special foods for Spring Festival (Chinese New Years).

                Asian summitry. “One of our leading personalities would like to see you,” we were told by our hosts. And so it was that our delegation and four other American visitors spent over two hours with Premier Chou En-lai in the Fukien Room (Tom’s mother was born in Fukien Province) of the Great Hall of the People in lively discussion, part of which follows:

Premier:  “Have you any advice to give us, Mr. Manton?”

Manton: “This is quite a request. We have tried in every way in the United States to change the Views of the American people. We have been successful in certain cases, but in others there is still a long way to go.”

Premier:   “You have been in the main successful. In the restoration of the legitimate rights of the People’s Republic of China in the United Nations, our American friends have contributed their share. Comrade Chiao Kuan-hua and our other comrades can prove this. They were not embarrassed on arriving in New York; on the contrary, they were welcomed.. .We are thankful that you all and our friends of the U.S. CNCP delegation have come to China. You have done much work in the United States. And when you go back, you will continue to work for the promotion of friendly visits and exchange of views between the Chinese and American peoples, so that we can get acquainted with each other once again. People who once stayed in China for a long time, can all come if they like to, for without coming one cannot acquaint himself with things here. They should not be blamed for holding different views. And it would be a fine thing to have argument when they come, for then things can be thrashed out. If we are in the rights we shall heed the truth. Of course, we will not change our general principles. Do you think this is correct Mr. Manton?”

Manton: “I think that China’s general approach as explained by the Premier just now will make many, many Americans feel it to be right, which will play a great role in promoting better understanding between the United States and China    

Premier:   “Twenty or thirty years ago, many American friends came to China, and at that time it was freer for us to exchange our views. Now we have won political power, and maybe American friends will think that our views are rigid. But in fact this is not the case. We persist in what is right, but we do not reject our friends’ reasonable suggestions. As Mr. Manton has just said, our general approach is right, and in that we will persist. I hope Mr. and Mrs. Manton and our other friends here will tell this to your friends after going back.’

In answer to an inquiry from our group about our ping pong team’s invitation to the PRC, he replied that Chairman Mao himself had overruled the Foreign Office and invited the American team. Every word we uttered was registered by the 36 other Chinese officials present, most being people we’d met from the Foreign Ministry.

As we departed, each of us had an awesome moment alone with Chou En-lai. Noting his “Serve the People” badge and recalling to him the Mao buttons the Chinese wear (she has a collection of l3~), Judy presented him with a button bearing the motto in Chinese and English: “TWO CHINAS = NO CHINA” (in the UN). He was delighted, smiled warmly, and shook her hand eagerly as the Hsinhua camera recorded the moment.

The Premier then worked from 3-5 a.m. and we saw him again several hours later when President Bhutto of Pakistan arrived at the airport. As we’d known Bhutto for six years, the Pakistani Ambassador invited us to join the foreign dignitaries greeting him. Judy merged with the Pakistani camera crew and photographed him with Premier Chou as he ceremoniously greeted the colorful, cheering crowd.

Later that evening we were among the few Westerners amidst the thousands who dined in the spacious banquet room in the Great Hall of the People where President Nixon was to be feted a few weeks later. The world looks quite different from our vantage point in Peking as we heard Premier Zhou, President Bhutto, and Prince Sihanhouk in turn condemn foreign imperialism. After a tour of this massive meeting hall, we stepped out into the snowy night a bit aglow inside from having witnessed a paragraph in history.

In Hong Kong we stayed with the Blakneys for a reunion with Tom’s parents who’d flown over from Taiwan, spent a day in New Delhi seeing many friends, and then Judy returned to the States while Tom spent several days in Pakistan as the guest of President Bhutto. Our China venture was saddened by Tom’s attendance at the funeral in Geneva of Edgar Snow, the journalist who passed from the scene just as the doors to China were reopening, a cause to which he’d devoted his life. The China-America Relations Society (CARS) was formed in March with Tom as President. He journeyed again to China in May, and at the end of June concluded his work with the Asia Society in order to devote full time to promoting Chinese-American relations.