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PRESIDENT OF PEK/NG
(BEIJING) Technical University and the university's Chief Librarían receive gift from Stanley R. Rader,
personal counsel to Herbert
W.
Armstrong. Study ares in library, right.
smi ling gentleman- in no sense a
solemn , frowning, aloof, somber–
looking, individual. He is brisk and
enthusiastic and gave us a most
warm greeting, shaking hands with
me with both hands.
We followed him into an adjoining
large room. Heseated menear atable
and the others in a line beside me.
Then he took a chair beside the table,
facing me next to him, and beyond me
the others. Behind the table, between
himself and me, was the interpreter
who had met us at the airport and
accompanied us cverywhere since.
She took notes- apparently in sorne
sort of Chinese shorthand-of every
word,assheinterpreted.
l mmediately the vice-chairman
launched into a discussion, doing all
the ta lking for at least a ha lf hour.
1
made only an occasional interruption
lo ask the interpretcr to repeat some–
thing 1 had not understood clearly.
Knowing that
1
am founder and
presiden! of a college, he first said
(and not apologetically)that he is not
an academic man by background,
then he immediately launched into a
full-scale discussion along geopoliti–
cal lines.
He launched immediately into the
"domino theory" in regard to Viet–
nam. In the early stages of the U.S.
war in Vietnam, this domino theory
was prevalent in Washington- and
1
myself knew it was true.
lt
was the
theory that once the communists in
North Vietnam knocked down South
Vietnam, that would be only the first
42
domino standing on end to fall. Next
would comeCambodia [Kampuchea)
and Laos, then Thai land, Burma,
Malays ia, Singapore and Indonesia.
We thought it was Communist Chi–
na backing North Vietnam, but
Chairman Tan said it was the Soviet
Union.
J
felt it particularly notewor–
thy that he was saying the Chinese
view is that this theory of going on
from there toconquer the whole world
was a Soviet ambition, not Chinese.
He was trying to show me why the
United States should oppose the
Kremlin and be friendly to China.
This "domino theory," as a reason
for United States military interven–
tion in South Vietnam, actually was,
as
1
said (having been an observer),
true. But the theory was rejected by
U.S. allies, and vigorously opposed
by Russia, and through propaganda,
by many in the United States in the
later years of that war.
But 1 thought it interesting that by
this assertion of the Chinese view,
China gets herself off the hook in
regard to the horrifying starvation
now going on in Cambodia.
According to the vice-chairman,
the People's Republic of China is the
strongest advocate of the validity of
the domino theory. While we were
fearful--du ring the 1960s and early
1970s-that Communist China, if
successful in North Vietnam, would
begin toppling the dominoes to the
west and south , it is China that now
is saying that North Vietnam is a big
threat, and if the United States a nd
China do not now stop North Viet–
nam, Cambodia will fall to the North
Vietnamese, followed by Thailand,
Malaysia and very importan! sea
passages now controlled by Singa–
pore.
The vice-chairman pointed out
that Russia is not any longer a true
communist society, but an imperial–
ist country not really different from
that of the czars-that Russia has
been waging war against the rest of
the world through proxies for more
than 30 years. He claimed that
North Vietnam was but a proxy of
imperialistic Russia.
1
was reminded by this part of the
conversation ofwhat Presiden! guyen
Van Thieu of South Vietnam said to
me, short ly before he Aed and his
country fell to theCommunists.
l f 1 have misunderstood the vice–
chai rman in any part in the above, 1
am sorry, but this is what both Mr.
Radcr and 1 understood him to say. 1
askcd him if 1 could bave a typed
transcript from the translator's notes.
He smiled and shook his head. So
1
told him I would write as l retained it
in my head.
The vice-chairman at this juncture
swung all the way to Western Europe
in his geopolitical discussion, with
brief mentions of the l ranian crisis
and the Middle East. He was urging
a strong Europe to oppose a st rong
and imperialistic Russia.
1
did not wanl to interrupt him,
but 1 had something I wanted to say
(Continued on page 44)
The
PLAIN TRUTH