76-13-A7
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Keng Piao[edit]
Transcript[edit]Last January, the Chinese information service in New York released a report about a commencement address in Peking that should have had our ears burning. I'll be right back. With our own counterintelligence capability somewhat hamstrung as it has been recently, it's good to have friends. Intelligence sources in Taipei, the Free Republic of China, have made available excerpts of a speech made by Keng Piao, director of the Department for Foreign Liaison to the graduating class of the "College of Foreign Affairs" in Red China. The college is the training institute for diplomats. Keng's speech, like the Brezhnev speech I reported on a few weeks ago, was not for public dissemination, which is a polite way of saying it was supposed to be secret. His topic was, a turning point in Sino-American relations. It might be well to note that while the name Keng Piao is not exactly a household word in America, he is very much a part of the policy-making process in the Chinese Communist Party. In his address, he was bluntly outspoken about the two superpowers Russia and the United States. He said both were bent on aggression and therefore the spearhead of Red China's struggle would be aimed at both. The fact that, for the moment, we're not being referred to as "United States Imperialists" doesn't mean that Peking has forsaken or even softened on Marxist Leninist principles, says Keng. According to Keng, the People's Republic of China is temporarily caught in a narrow crack between two imperialist camps. Yes, he calls the Soviet Union imperialist, as well as aggressor. According to Keng, it would be unthinkable for his country to try to deal with the two imperialists at the same time. So the strategy is to temporarily, and we should permanently keep that word in mind, put their dispute with us aside so as to have one less enemy. He complained to the graduates that there were some revolutionary hotheads in their people's paradise who don't realize the United States, for all its vaunted power, has a soft weak side which they, the Communists, can use to their advantage. Ah, to see ourselves as other see us. Keng explained that Peking, while recognizing our imperialism, could at the same time promote, for its own purposes, a friendly relationship with the United States. In perfect Mao Zedong language, he called this a, "policy of duality." Under this policy they can denounce us for stationing troops in some lands, Taiwan for instance, and at the same time with no self-consciousness endorse our maintaining troops in Western Europe and the Philippines. This is called tactical flexibility. He admitted there was no hurry about taking back Taiwan, they simply accept that it belongs to them and they don't mind our taking care of it for them, for a while. But he made it plain that normal relations between the United States and Red China will not come about unless we withdraw our ambassador from Taiwan. On that point, he said we haven't lived up to their expectations but then went on to tell the students quote "Just wait for the opportune day, then we'll tell Uncle Sam to pack up and leave," unquote. Before closing, he reaffirmed that the Soviet Union is the primary threat and detente is disturbing to Peking. More American leaders, he said, political, military, and social, would be invited to mainland China to keep us quiet and friendly until they can handle quote "Soviet revisionist social imperialism" unquote. Then it will be our turn. That's something for us to keep in mind, while our touring officials are mastering chopsticks. This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening. |
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