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Chou En-lai

Chou En-lai image
Parent Issue
Day
22
Month
January
Year
1976
OCR Text

     "There is no conflict of basic interest between the people of China and the United States, and friendship will eventually prevail. "

---ChouEn-Lai, 1960

    Chou En-Lai, "the great fighter of the Chinese people," died last Thursday in Peking. Chou, who renounced his class background to march 6,000 miles with Mao Tse-Tung and establish a revolutionary base among the poor people of China, became Premier of the People's Republic at its inception in 1949. From that time forward, he played a key role in consolidating the Chinese revolution, administering the people's government, and carrying out international diplomacy.

     As early as the '50's, Chou opened the door for normal relations with the United States, but met with no response until 1972. Today, he is eulogized by two Presidents and by mass-circulation newspapers who hardly knew who he was until then.

    It remains for us, in Chou's spirit, to resist the reactionary, Cold-War mentality which has been telling us for years that the People's Republic is our "enemy", and to act on the common interest which Chou, and the Chinese people, have always recognized. The best way we can remember him is to learn from his struggle, and increase our understanding and appreciation of his country --which he helped make one of the most humane and progressive societies on earth.