February 8, 1979

Fortune Cookies Carry A Somber Message

Teng Hsiao-ping descended on the U.S. with a grab-bag of fortune cookies to be washed down with a river of Coca-Cola.

But the somber message inside still reads, "Help!  I'm being held prisoner in a Chinese fortune cookie factory."

It reminds us not to get carried away with visions of quick profit and peace.

The Peoples' Republic of China remains, after all, a self-centered communist state opposed to freedom in Korea, Cambodia, Albania and Taiwan.

Red Chinese prisons still are crammed with thousands of merchants, landlords, and professionals victimized by Mao Tse-tung's "great leap forward."

Extensive trade, and anti-Soviet alliances, still are blocked by President Jimmy Carter's human rights initiative and the Jackson-Vanik Amendment requiring liberal emigration policies by communist countries.

Mainland China, though vast and populous, is an agricultural nation that must devote 90 percent of its resources just in feeding itself.  Having deliberately cut itself off from the outside world for decades - even centuries -The Peoples' Republic lacks foreign currency and modern technology.

To catch up with Taiwan China, mainland China needs a mountain of credit and sympathetic friends.  Only the United States has the money and inclination to cooperate.  The road ahead will be costly and emotional before it becomes mutually advantageous.

Deputy premier Teng, it should be remembered, was twice purged by the communist hard-liners in Peking and twice "rehabilitated" to a position of authority.  His ability, at age 74, to redirect a billion Chinese people overnight requires a cautious American response.

A step-by-step approach, with solid progress established before new commitments, is vital for both countries.  Contracts for Coca-Cola, Boeing jet liners, nuclear research equipment and a communication satellite are dramatic indicators of a new Chinese attitude.

Next will come "cultural exchanges" between entertainers, journalists, and educators.  Can Rotary Clubs be far behind?

Until deeds overtake words, however, we must judge Red China by Teng's statements.  These are provocative.

Public opinion polls reveal that Americans do not trust Russia.  The Soviets are considered the principal threat to peace; and, indeed, their meddling in the affairs of troubled countries bear out the view.  Congressional criticism of a second strategic arms limitation treaty (SALT) is widespread.

Teng caters to American fears by his call to "place curbs on the Polar Bear."  The Soviet Union, he declares, is "the main hot-bed of war."  He suggests an alliance between China, U.S. and Japan to build a "new world order."

It is tempting to embrace a strong ally in the continuing ideological struggle with communism.  So far, though, Teng's strategy looks like a case of "Let's you and him fight."

There is a nagging feeling that Red China's overtures may be short-term expediencies.  Communism by any name is still repression, and the memory of past reconciliations between totalitarian regimes is freshly in mind.

Yet, the world turns.  We must deal with situations as they are today and might be in the future.  It is hard to deny liberty to an educated, skilled, industrial society.  Even Russia, which has tried mightily to control its home folks, is giving way to western technology and culture.

Contact with western civilization invariably shapes the substance, if not the form, of developing government.  Dictatorships flourish only behind iron curtains, Berlin walls, and guarded borders.  We laugh at the frivolity of soda-pop, but the choice to buy it is an entry into the competitive, free enterprise system.

Certainly some movement toward personal freedom, not less, will come with Sino-American trade.

Not to be overlooked is the potential for eventual benefit of an exchange of natural resources.  China's oil reserves are largely untapped.  American grain is a priceless commodity in a hungry world.

Now that Teng has gone home, we must evaluate the visit.  In this complicated world, detente between the U.S. and communist nations is important.  An agreement to disagree is a poor substitute for peace, but it is not war.

Teng stoutly refused to rule out a military takeover of our old ally Taiwan.  Yet, to do so would outrage Americans and nullify whatever objectives the Red Chinese have in mind with the western overtures.

Sabotage of the SALT agreement is too trivial for a mass upset of painfully built Chinese opinion.  It doesn't really make much difference whether we adopt SALT.  Both the Soviets and Americans will take whatever steps they feel necessary to maintain adequate defenses.

Teng's taunt that "the United States is in strategic retreat" is true enough to sting.  But it is possible that Red China is negotiating for a place under our "nuclear defense umbrella."

Or - and we must recognize this possibility - Teng's affability might be nothing more than a ploy to keep the United States neutral in some future war between communist giants.

No matter.  We must first get inside the fortune cookie factory before we can rescue its prisoners.

Author: Lindsey Williams