Meeting with the Vice Premier of China was an unforgettable experience. November 1978. The 74-year-old, short, muscular, less than five feet tall and dressed in a beige wool suit, stepped off a Boeing 707 at Baya Lifen Airport.
He walked briskly, after reviewing the guard of honor. Take a ride with me to the hotel in ** house. That's the welcome villa in our ** house. In the afternoon, we had a formal meeting in the cabinet room. I have seen a spittoon in the Great Hall of the People, so I also arranged to put a blue and white porcelain spittoon next to the seat. I read the information and know that he has a habit of using a spittoon. Although there is a rule in the government. Smoking was not allowed in the air-conditioned room, so I put an ashtray in a conspicuous place for him. This is all for a great figure in Chinese history. I also make sure that the exhaust fans in the meeting room are all on. I welcome this great Chinese revolutionary to this visit. He replied that Singapore was an old place for him.
In 1920, 58 years ago, he had been here on his way to France for two days. When I visited Beijing in 1976, he was unable to meet with me, and he was ostracized and had to "stand aside." He was first defeated by the Gang of Four, but in the end, they were defeated. He spent two and a half hours talking about the threat posed by the Soviet Union to the world. He said that all countries and peoples who oppose the war must form a united front to fight against the warmongers. We must unite against that "bastard" (literally, "turtle egg", which his interpreter translates as "s o b", which means "brute"), he quotes ***. He provided a comprehensive analysis of the Soviet Union's operational strategy in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, and Indochina.
During the talks, ** invited me to visit China again I said that I would go when China recovers from China. That's going to take a long time, he said. I disagree. I think they really have to catch up, and even do better than Singapore, there will be no problem at all; In any case, we are only the descendants of illiterate peasants in Fujian, Guangdong, and other places who have no land, but some of them are the descendants of high-ranking officials, eunuchs, and scholars who stayed in the Central Plains. He was silent. The next day, I expounded my opinion in an hour. Not counting the time it took to translate, it actually only took me half an hour.
I summarize the Soviet threat he is talking about, citing the detailed results of the study of Soviet military power by the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. I pointed out that Chancellor Schmidt of Germany, Kiska of France, and the American leader in Washington would pose a different threat to the Soviet Union. Some of them believed that the Soviet Union was spending too many resources on armaments. In any case, a small country like Singapore can only focus on the direction of the world situation, and is powerless to influence the outcome. We must analyse the situation from a regional rather than a global strategic perspective. The problem left over from the end of the Vietnam War was the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam and Thailand all at once, and it was clear that neither of them would intervene in the communist rebellion on the Asian continent in the future. The next question is, how long do the U.S. military plan to remain in the Philippines to balance the Soviet Union's growing fleet in the Indian and Pacific Oceans?
Singapore hopes that the US military will remain in the Philippines. In order to avoid any doubts about Singapore's attitude towards the Soviet Union, I listed to him one by one our main partners - Japan, the United States, Malaysia, and the European Union, all of which account for 12 to 14 of our international total. China accounted for only 1 8 , and the Soviet Union had only 0 3, and the Soviet Union's contribution to Singapore's economy was insignificant. I have long been aware of the hegemonic behavior of the Soviets. I recount an experience from 1967. At that time, after a visit to Abu Simbail and Aswan, he returned to Cairo on an Egyptian plane accompanied by an Egyptian minister. As the plane was about to land, there was a big commotion in the cockpit, and the Egyptian minister said that he was not accompanied and went to the cockpit to find out. It was only after I landed that I learned that there was a Soviet pilot on the other plane, who claimed to the control tower personnel that he did not understand English and insisted on landing before the VIP airliner. As a result, the Egyptian minister had to yell at the plane from the cockpit to ensure that the VIP plane landed before the Soviet plane.
I have already learned the arrogance of the Soviets, and I don't need to be reminded of it. During the talks, ** stressed that the Chinese are the same. The Chinese never hide their opinions, saying one sentence after another. During the Korean War, China issued a statement saying that once the United States approached the Yalu River, China could not sit idly by. The Americans ignored it. In foreign policy, the Chinese can say whatever they want. At the end of the meeting, I said, I have said that it will take 22 years for China to modernize, and in these 22 years, as long as there are no unnecessary man-made problems in Southeast Asia, the whole situation should improve, and if it does, the result will be not good for China, just like the problems faced by Vietnam and Cambodia. Agree with me. He hoped for ASEAN unity and stability. He "said so from the heart."
** One of the leaders I've ever met that impressed me the most. Even though he was only five feet tall, he was the best of men. Although he is 74 years old, he is always ready to change his mind when faced with an unpleasant reality. Two years later, the Chinese Communist Party in Malaysia and Thailand made other arrangements, and the radio broadcast was terminated. At dinner, I asked him to smoke, and he pointed to his wife and said that the doctor told him to quit smoking. He's trying to smoke less. He didn't smoke or use a spittoon all night. He had read the report and knew that I was sensitive to cigarettes. Before he left, I went to the ** mansion villa to meet him and talked for 2o minutes. He is excited to revisit the old place after a gap of 53 years. Singapore has changed so much that he congratulated me. I replied that Singapore is a small country with a population of only 2.5 million. He said he had always hoped to travel to Singapore and the United States before meeting Marx. Singapore, because he had a relationship with the island nation when it was still a colony, passed through it on his way to study and work in Marseille, France, after the First World War. The United States, on the other hand, because China and the United States must have a dialogue. He shook hands with dignitaries and ministers at the airport, reviewed the guard of honor, and then walked up the ramp of his Boeing 707 and turned to wave goodbye to us.
After the plane door closed, I turned around and told my colleagues that his subordinate was probably going to be "whipped" this time. What he saw as Singapore was completely different from what he had been taught. There was no commotion of the Chinese crowd here, nor a large crowd of crazy Chinese Singaporeans to greet him, but only a handful of curious onlookers. A few weeks later, someone showed me an article about Singapore published in Beijing's People**. The route of the report has changed, describing Singapore as a garden city, and saying that the greenery, public housing and tourism are worth studying. We are no longer "lackeys of US imperialism".
Their perception of Singapore changed the following year, in October 1979. At that time, ** said in a speech: "I went to Singapore to see how they use foreign capital. Singapore benefits from factories set up by foreigners. First of all, the 35% tax paid by foreign enterprises on net profits is owned by the state; Clause.
2. All the income of labor belongs to the workers; Clause.
Third, foreign investment has driven the service industry. These are all (state's) recipients. The Singapore he saw in 1978 provided a reference for the most basic achievements that the Chinese should strive for. February** Dynamic Incentive Program