Show I Ignorance J On China Although we have In this country country country coun coun- try columnists writ writing i n g frequently fre fre- frequently re- re about the Communist regime in China some living in Hong Kong or Formosa or Japan the truth has been strikingly strikingly strikingly revealed in recent days days that hat we know almost nothing about what goes on in this vast country AS AN AJ EXAMPLE it has just been learned that back in 1958 and 1959 there was a rift in top leadership circles in Red China and at that time the man we have accepted all these years as the virtual dictator of Red China was in effect rebuked For eight years we knew almost nothing about this vitally im important important important im- im event In more rec recent nt weeks and months stories have followed stories from stories from the Far East andone and andone andone one usually contradicted th the other The correspondents writing them knew almost nothing nothing nothing noth noth- ing about actual events inside Red China They were speculating ing or writing hearsay hea THIS IS ONE good reason the State Department should relax its opposition to an exchange of visitors and news newsmen men with China Only if we have professional professional professional newsmen in that vast land can we get some of the truth about events events' there back to the people Since the Chinese are the most populous nation in the world it is in the term long-term strategic interest of the tile United States to develop liaison contacts contacts contacts con con- and sources of intelligence and information in that country The Chinese can already find out just lust about anything ng they need to know about the United States by reading the newspapers |