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INBRIEF
GOD'S
HAND IN CHINA
by
Stanley R. Rader
H
erbert W. Armstrong recently
pointed out that nearly 15
ycars ago God began to hold
up and slow down the pace of world
events in order to give His Work
more time to accomplish its commis–
sion.
lt
is very interesting, in this
regard, to observe how God has uscd
the Peoplc's Republic of China to
bring about His divine purpose.
While the general pace of world
events has slowed down over the past
15 years the Soviet Union has used
this time to cngage in what many
analysts now believe is the greatest
mili tary buildup in world history.
Soviet power and influence havc
expanded throughout the world (for
example, in Vietnam, Laos, Ethiopia,
Angola, Guinea Bissau, Mozambi–
que, maybe Nicaragua and lran)
while governments have toppled at
an a larming rate.
Western Europe has come under
increasing pressure to either sevcr its
ties to the United States or rearm in
the face of massive Soviet superiority
in conventional weapons. And yet, íf
it were not for the People's Republic
of China, the world would have been
even more unstable.
lt
was just a little more than 15
years ago that Sino-Soviet relations
began to sour. Much of the falling–
out centered on disputes over proper
communist doctrine.
Soviet Politburo member Mikhail
Suslov, who is the Kremlin's fore–
most authority on communist ideolo–
gy, has described Maoism, the
People's Republic of China's brand
of communism, as "deeply hostile to
Marxism-Leninism [and] the inter–
ests of socialism." For their part, the
Chínese leaders have denounced the
Soviet version as "revisionist."
Stirring even deeper feelings is the
resentment that the Chinese feel
because of Soviet border intrusions.
Chinese leaders argue, for example,
February 1980
that the Russian province of Tannu
Tuva, which can be found on the map
just above the northwest corner of
Outer Mongolia, was once part of
China, acknowledged as such even by
Lenin.
lt
was occupied by the Soviet
Unionin 1945. TheChinescalsoassert
that the Soviets have nibbled off more
than 10,000 square kilometers from
China 'sSinkiang province. Naturally,
tensions along the Russian-Chinese
border have been very high, and inci–
dents have often averaged more than
one a day. And American intelligence
sources now reveal that the Soviet
Union was even prepared to launch a
nuclear attack on the Chinese border
forces in 1969.
Because of its festering border
dispute, the Soviet Union has had to
commit about one quartcr of its
armed forces (about 40 divisions), six
ta11k divisions and large numbers of
its combat aircraft and nuclear
weapons to the Chinese border. The
Sino-Soviet split has thus forced the
Soviet Union to divert a sizeable
portion of military forces away from
the west.
But just as important, the Chinese
have been an important counter–
weight to Soviet power in the diplo–
matic sphere as wcll. For the past
decade, the People's Republic of Chi–
na has almost single-handedly shoul–
dered the burden of publicly warning
the world of Soviet expansionism, or
as they often call it, hegemony. On a
couple of occasions Hsinhua (Xin–
hua). t he official Chinese news agen–
cy, has even declared that unchecked
Soviet "social imperialism" will
make World Wa r 111 "inevitable."
Accordingly, China's two top lead–
ers, Chairman Hua Kuo-feng (Hua
Guopofeng) and First Deputy Prime
Minister Deng Hsiao-ping (Deng
Xiaoping) have both broken a Chi–
nese tradition, which goes back thou–
sands of years, in order to travel
outside their own country to warn the
world of Soviet expansionism.
Moreover, the People's Republic
of China has signed a peace treaty
with J apan, sought to persuade
France and England to sell it weap–
ons, and tried to prod Western
Europe to unitc in order to strength–
en its defenses against the Soviet
Union. The People's Republic of Chi–
na has become perhaps the world's
foremost promoter of European unity
and NATO.
It should not surprise us that God
can use leaders who are Communists
and atheists to accomplish His pur–
poses. God used both the gentile kings
Cyrus (Isaiah 45:1 and Ezra 1:1) and
Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 2) to create
conditions amenable for the doing of
God's Work in their day. God can do
thesame thing today.
But now that world events are
speeding up again, there a re signs of
change. Continued displaysof Ameri–
can impotence could eventually per–
suade thc Pcople's Republic of China
that they havc sided with a toser. The
Soviet milítary machine will finally
become powcrfu l enough to compel
the People's RcpublicofChina toseek
rapprochemcnt with thc U.S.S.R.–
China hcrselfcould put the 1.6 mi Ilion
troops guarding the Soviet border to
better use.
There had been talks between Pe–
king (Beijing) and Moscow before the
Afghanistan crisis aimed at patching
uptheirdifferences. Moreover, promi–
nent People's Rcpublic of China lead–
ers such as Ulanfu (Uianhu), who
were once disgraced as " Russian revi–
sionist," havc been reinstated to posi–
tions of power.
Jndeed. Bible prophecy is clear that
at sorne point bcfore the return of
Jesus Christ the Soviet Union and the
People's RepublicofChinaonceagain
will be allied . Ezekiel 38:1-6 describes
an end-timc alliance of many peoples,
including those from whom the bulkof
the modern day Russians and Chinese
are descendent. Rev. 9:16 describes
an army made up of 200 million
people coming from the east across
the Euphrates. Any rapprochement
between the Chinese and the So–
viets would be a sign that God is
now allowing world events lo speed
up once again.
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