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U.S. Recognizes China: A VIctory for US-Chinese People's Friendship

By VVAW

As the New Year began, the U.S. government finally recognized what the rest of the world has known for a long time, that the largest country in the world was in fact the Peoples Republic of China, not a small group of renegade Chinese who seized control of a small offshore island almost 30 years ago, with the support of the U.S. declared themselves the "legitimate government of China." The U.S. media occasionally likes the call them "free China." The dictatorship in Taiwan, controlled with an iron hand by Chiang Kai-shek and his rich cohorts, a position handed down to his son, has never been "free," and is certainly had no control whatever over the vast majority of the people of the country of China.

The Carter administration's decision to recognize the People's Republic was greeted by loud outcries of pain by the right wing in the U.S., with the Neanderthal Senator Goldwater in the lead, screaming about "the most cowardly act in the history of the American presidency," and the whole right wing yelping at his heels. With all their attempts to turn the clock back to 1945 when the U.S. sat comfortably on top of the world, these right wingers did hit on one truth as they whacked away at Carter's decision—the U.S. government did in fact back down on every important point in the negotiations with China.

Since 1949 when the Chinese people under the leadership of Mao Tse-Tung and Chou En Lai successfully undertook the revolution which threw Chiang Kai-shek and his rich cronies and their foreign backers off the mainland, the U.S. government has attempt to ignore or subvert the people's government out of existence. During the early 1950's when millions of Chinese soldiers joined with the North Koreans to stop U.S. intervention in Korea, tirades against the Chinese reached a fever pitch. But the government of the people in China persisted, carrying forward their program to modernize and create a better life for the hundreds of millions of Chinese whose history had been full of foreign domination and wretched poverty for all but a small handful of rich landowners and others who worked hand-in-hand with foreign powers to keep down the aspirations of the people.

By relying on the people of the country, the Chinese government passed through a number of difficult periods, constantly searching for the best ways to move the country forward. It became clear, even to those like the U.S. government who didn't want to believe it, that the communist government was not about to disappear, that their influence not only in their own country but around the world was continuing to grow. Seeing their growing ability to inspire liberation fighters around the world and, at the same time, fearing the growing power of the other imperialist power, the Soviet Union, the U.S. government decided, back in 1972, that they could no longer afford to ignore the People's Republic. The result was the now famous Nixon trip to China made not because Nixon was any champion of the people but because he had little choice but they recognize the reality of the Chinese influence around the world.

The same is true of the Carter decision to formally recognize the Peoples' Republic. Recognition was held up for years over the question of Taiwan—the U.S. saying it would never desert its "ally." Chinese leaders pointed out that Taiwan has been historically one of the provinces of China; even the Nationalist government on Taiwan agreed with that—in fact, they said (even if no one believed them) that they were ruling China from the province of Taiwan. Carter, too, said in his talk announcing formal recognition that Taiwan was part of China. He dropped U.S. recognition of Taiwan and removed the U.S. embassy there. And for all his talk about a "continuing commitment" to unsure the "freedom" of Taiwan, the protective curtain of U.S. troops and U.S. military aid will soon be gone. Every point where there was serious disagreement between China and the U.S., Carter backed down on. He had to; he needed China more than China—with its long history of being able to rely on itself—needed him.

While Carter was recognizing the real world, back at home the American Legion was "representing veterans" by unleashing its own statement: "Taiwan symbolized the democratic and free enterprise system," the Legion commander said in a press statement. Vietnam vets who went to Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, on R&R might well agree with the statement. They saw the "freedom" of the Taiwanese women to be prostitutes, the "freedom" of Taiwanese drug dealers to flood the market with all kinds of dope, the "freedom" of the rich (both Taiwanese and American) to exploit the workers. Meanwhile, on the Chinese mainland, prostitution has been wiped out, and former prostitutes have been given the chance to be useful members of society through retraining. Dope is no longer a problem in a country once famous for its opium dens. Workers and peasants, the vast majority of the people of the country, have control over their own destiny free from exploitation of rich bosses. Peoples' control allowed the overthrow of the much publicized "Gang of Four" who were thrown out of power by the people of China because they could see that the "Gang" was attempting to bring back the old system of exploitation. Following the direction set forth by Mao Tse Tung the government of China continues to build a society and system which will provide a better way of life for its people.

VVAW applauds the victory of the Peoples Republic of China in winning formal recognition of their terms from the U.S. government. We welcome the increased relations this formal recognition will mean—the tens of thousands of Chinese students who come to the U.S. and be able to teach us some of the lessons they have learned. We welcome the fact that the Chinese people will be able to benefit from some of the technology of the U.S. and to do so without falling into the trap that U.S. corporations have so long been setting. Unlike Taiwan where, for one example, the electronics manufacture Stewart-Warner could pick up one of its plants and runaway from the U.S., throw American workers out of jobs and exploit the workers of Taiwan by paying them 50 cents a day; in the Peoples' Republic, the government will own 51% of any enterprise built there, workers will retain the right to strike, and ownership will revert to the peoples' government after a limited number of years. Or take the example of Coke, long a symbol of American economic domination of developing countries: while the Peoples Republic has now begun the manufacture of Coke, the same conditions apply—majority ownership by the peoples government, and further, the Chinese have said that their primary interest in a Coke plant is to learn from American technology—in this case, advanced bottling techniques which the Coca Cola company can provide. Aware of the possible dangers, the people of China and those they have selected as leadership are providing safeguards which will insure they gain the advantages of Western technology without falling into the traps which that technology has meant in other countries.

We hope to continue to learn from the many successes of the people of China over the years since 1949 as they move ahead improving the lives of all their people, and we welcome the opportunities that normalization of relations will mean.