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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, SEPTEMBER 2, 1986
PAGE 15
approximately 150 nuclear power stations throughout Europe.
require a nuclear war in Europe to produce an unimaginable
but rather an attack by conventional shells and bombs on the
stations!
It would not
catastrophe-
nuclear power
Diplomatic Flurries The announcement on August 27 that Erich Honecker,
the head of the Communist party in East Germany, will visit Beijing in
October highlights a flurry of diplomatic activity involving three major
sectors of the Communist world -- China, the Soviet Union and the East
European bloc.
Leaders in each region have their own agendas .for
encouraging the increased activity.
In perhaps the most dramatic development, the Chinese Communist Party is
embarking on a program to re-establish party-to-party ties with virtually
all the East European Communist parties, relations which were severed with
the onset of the Sino-Soviet break a quarter century ago. "The renewed
links will mark a dramatic change in the Communist world," reported the
August 23 LOS ANGELES TIMES.
The trek to Beijing by Herr Honecker is expected to be followed in short
order by visits by party chiefs from Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia.
It is certain that these ties could not have been resumed without the
approval of Soviet party chief Mikhail Gorbachev. As stated, leaders in
all three regions have their own reasons for the chumminess.
Soviet
leaders apparently hope that party-to-party ties (as distinct from
government-to-government diplomatic relations, which do exist) between
Eastern Europe and China will be the first step in a process leading to
links between the Soviet and Chinese parties.
The Chinese leaders,
however, have their own reasons.
The uppermost may be their desire to
encourage greater political independence on the part of the Eastern
Europeans.
Beijing still routinely denounces Soviet "hegemonism" or
dominance of the communist world. For the East Europeans, they certainly
see the Chinese initiative as a chance to put a little distance between
them and Moscow. In sum, there is much activity across the broad expanse
of Eurasia, and there is little doubt that Mr. Gorbachev is attempting to
reverse the history of the past quarter century, as reported in the August
3 TIMES of London:
The Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, has begun the first stage
of a diplomatic offensive aimed at realigning Russia and China
in a powerful communist partnership.
Gorbachev last week
launched his attempt to mend the fences, in disrepair for the
past 25 years, in a speech at Vladivostok, 40 miles from the
Chinese border.
He announced that he was withdrawing troops
from Afghanistan, and possibly some from Mongolia.
This is seen in Moscow diplomatic circles as an opening effort
to satisfy Chinese demands that before there can be an
rapprochement, Russia must remove "obstacles" that lie across
the path to better relations.
The obstacles are: Soviet
involvement in Afghanistan, Russian troop concentrations along
the Chinese border (including a large presence in Mongolia) and
Soviet support for Vietnam's military activities in Kampuchea.
Gorbachev promised to withdraw 7,000 of the 120,000 Soviet
troops from Afghanistan.
He also said talks were under way