Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 29, 1968, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press saturday june 29, 1968 19 ins into Tanzania acc Refik news by Stanley Meisler Dak is Salaam spec Ial tons it is just As easy to be complacent As Panicky about chinese influence in Tanzania. The panic shakes observers who watch Tanzania Taiwan is China in miniature by Dennis Bloodworth Taipei Taiwan special a fans after the fumes and f if in z i e s of Taipei traffic the old British consulate on the Estuary at Tams i looks like an etching from another age printed on the same misty formosan sky _ a 17th Century fort in a Flashback Pink on the Hilltop if patched with ministry of works Cement. But the Union Jack that snaps from its Mast is not so much a Symbol of the diversity of Britain As of the abiding oneness of China. The communist regime makes no official protest at this British presence on Taiwan among Chiang Kai Shek s and the nationalist government Here accepts it tactfully despite Whitehall s recognition of peking. For to both parties this Island fallen like a tear from the Cheek of China is still Only a province of the same indivisible Republic to which each lays claim. To deny the British their traditional consular rights 1 would be to imply the ultimate blasphemy that there was not just one China but two. This is Mainland China in miniature. The exquisite food is inspired by the cuisines of the entire coun try from Mongolia to Canton. The House doors in narrow Blind walled lanes Are Bright red As in peking. Outside Taipei the unlikely mountains begin notched Here and there for a solitary Pagoda or Aerial Temple of up Curling eaves wreathed in thin chinese Cloud. Bound in red in the splendid Palace museum the displays of a fabulous accumulation of bronzes Jade paint Ings and porcelain change every few months for they Are drawn from an almost inexhaustible Stock. But one item of China s cultural heritage is permanently on show the writings of Chiang Kai Shek inevitably bound in red. The army assiduously studies these thoughts of the Gimo at special political sessions but a saving sense of proportion May sometimes destroy the parallel with peking. Faced with an ideological test paper one general scrawls across his Sheet the single phrase i will fight and die for Chiang Kai Shek but i am no shortly after wards the president names him commander of the Taiwan Garrison. In peking presumably he would have been attacked by a swarm of angry red guards. Taiwan too has its Mili Tant youth corps its thought Reform Camps its one party system. The communists cannot subvert the Island s 14 million hearts and minds simply because the ruling Kuomintang defends the province with the same close weave of police and party networks that lines the other Side of the Bam boo curtain. The excuse for this is that China is at War and democracy must also share the austerity War imposes. Or would you rather have a Viet Cong tet offensive Here one official asked sarcastically. Chiang Kai Shek rules the Island with an atrophy ing National administration brought across from the continent nearly 20 years ago weighed Down by a Host of ageing bureaucrats and served by legislative bodies whose sex Genaria deputies elected in Long lost Mainland provinces and therefore irreplaceable Are dying off like autumn leaves. Prosperous the 12 million local taiwanese hold virtually to political Power never Rise above the rank of Captain in an army for which they provide 90 per cent of the Cannon fodder. But they own All the land and most of the business in this booming Little Island and while Man May not live by bread alone they have never had it so Good. The president Hale at 80 but baulked of a triumphal return to China for which newer generations already show Little interest has set out to confound the communists by making Taiwan an exhibition province and a a e Positora of traditional civilization. The government is challenging the cultural revolution on the Mainland with a chinese cultural Renaissance Here. As in China textbooks Are to be revised and local cultural committee set up in cities and schools. Unlike the communist movement however one of the objects is to build a Bridge be tween chinese and Western this is already being achieved by the gentlemen who publish pirate editions of Western works in Taipei and sell them for about a fifth of their original Price. The Choice is often bizarre. I found the thoughts of neither Mao nor Chiang in English but sitting on one shelf were the thoughts of a. A. Milne in latin Winnie Hie up for 45 cents. From outside. They see the signs multiply president Julius Nyerere of Tanzania visiting peking More t n a thousand. Chinese communist Tec Nicias and advisers in Tanzania million of foreign As s i s t a n c e a chinese Promise to build the great Tan z Railroad across Tanzania the tanzanian vote in the United nations against the treaty Banning the spread of nuclear weapons. The indicators Are not enough to persuade any informed observer that Tan Zania is a chinese satellite. But some fear that the tanzanians naive and Well meaning Are slipping into a chinese morass. On the other hand complacency calms the West Erners who live and work in Tanzania. Diplomats teachers at the technicians in the ministries usually smile at All this foolish talk about the Chin Ese. In fact they sometimes grow irritated with the panic on the outside panic that they believe is powered by ignorance. The signs Are just As Clear to them an educated tanzanian class that is Western in thought habit and language a Brilliant Leader president Nyerere who Speaks and acts in the great tradition of Western logic and Christian beliefs a corps of Western technicians and advisers who far outnumber and have much greater influence and authority than the thousand chinese a strident nationalism ready to repulse any chinese attempt to shackle it. It is tempting for anyone who knows and admires both Tanzania and president Nyerere to accept this Case whole. In View of the Western hold on Tanzania it is foolish to be Panicky. Yet in View of the weak Ness of african institutions the fragility of african leadership the uncertainty of african succession and the ease of buying influence throughout Africa it is just As foolish to be Compla cent. China s chances for Suc Cess depend of course on what China is after and this has been obscured by the Blandishments of the chinese and the contradictory analyses of out siders. If China Hopes that Tanzania will someday break with the West turn communist and allow China to use it As a base for subverting the rest of Africa then is probably wasting a Good Deal of Money and Energy on a nonsensical venture. But if As Likely China has More limited Aims of winning a Good Deal of prestige some influence a bit of Trade a. Chance to outshine both the soviet Union and the United states and attract support against them and gain a strategic and favored position if White Southern Africa erupts then China has a fair Chance for perhaps an even Chance. The chinese have several advantages first they seem eager to undertake projects wanted by africans but turned Down by Western Powers. One example is chinese training and arming of african guerrillas trying to Over throw the White rulers of Southern Africa. The Janzam Railroad is another e x am pie. The United states refused to finance it because Ameri can engineers believed that improving a Road would be a far cheaper Way of open ing the East african coast to Zambia and freeing1 it from dependence on South Ern Africa. The zambians and tanzanians accepted the chinese offer after the american refusal. Nobody can Tell me not to take Money from communist countries to build a Rae link which i believe is rail link which i believe is Good for my people president Nyerere told a news conference three years ago. All the money1 in this world is either red or Blue. I do not have my own Green Money so where can i get the second advantage is the Vietnam War which has poisoned relations Between the United states and Tanzania. So Long As Tanzania leaders believe the United states is committing aggression against an under developed people they will relish association with enemies of the United states. Finally China has impressed tanzanian leaders by mobilizing masses of chinese infusing them with what president Nyerere has called a spirit of Defiance against the obstacles to development. This spirit is sorely lacking in the tanzanian people and presi Dent Nyerere is hoping to learn the Chin Ese example to mobilize his people with it. But the chinese have serious disadvantages As Well first of All chinese must face the Western hold on Tanzania. In German or British hands until Independence in 1961, Tanzania has always looked to the ideas and goods. The schools pattern after those in Bri Tian. The educated p to i e speak English. Western advisers and technicians make Many Day to Day decisions. Pres ident Nyerere and other leaders were educated in Britain. More than 90 per cent of Tanzania s Trade is with the West. When it conies to actual president Nyerere said a few years ago this country is completely second the chinese have a feeling of superiority that differs Little from colonial condescension. It has been masked in Tanzania because the chinese live together in compounds and hardly meet the people. But As 1iie numbers of chinese in crease these superiority f a e 1 i n g s May become noticeable and antagonize africans. According to diplomatic sources one chinese technician was stung by a swarm of bees recently but x refused help from any african doctors or nurses he waited until a chinese doctor could be flown from Zanzibar. The doctor too late and the technician died. Third the chinese must Deal with a sensitive people who have Little political awareness beyond. An obsession with Black or african nationalism. This is True throughout Africa. Any attempt no matter How slight to sovereignty of the tanzanians could 1 e a d to disruption. Because of certain principles of african nationalism the. Tanzanians broke relations with Britain and refused Aid from West Germany at great Cost. No matter How great their foreign Aid the chinese would not be immune from such a tanzanian reaction if the tanzanians Felt the chinese were thinking of pushing them around. Finley the chinese be straining their limited foreign Aid budget by put Ting so much into their most important Gram in Africa. Home for millions although California is Only the third largest state in the unite states the biggest popu person when it9s 95 degrees on t.-. You la feel he 7o degrees in Liiv Ivitts Riviera shorts Are made to keep you Cool Man. You la find your favorite Jamaica or Bermuda in Cream beige Bronze Plain shades and a. Wide variety of tartans and checks. They re All at the Bay of Cool fort Rel and Wool or fort Rel and Cotton. Sizes 30 to 40 collectively. 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