Chapter 47 Section 4 Asia and the Far East

Between autumn 1976 and spring 1977, I visited no less than eight countries in Asia and the Far East.This has given me a series of contacts and a wealth of experience, all of which were useful to me when I was Prime Minister.Although inevitably, since so many countries were scheduled in such a short period of time—Pakistan, India, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, and China among them—I only got a series of political snapshots and had to go through more Supplemented by extensive reading and discussion. However, when I later reflect on what I have learned, two general themes stand out to me.First, to varying degrees and from all perspectives, countries throughout the region became more wary of the expansion of Soviet power and influence: this was sharply intensified by the Russian invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.Second, how China, Japan, and possibly India will arrange for a new balance of power in Asia remains an open question.In either case, achieving dominance is at least as much affected by self-inflicted obstacles as by external circumstances.Thus, 1976-1977 was a very interesting two years for a novice Western politician.So despite criticism from the British press for spending most of my time abroad, I have never regretted these trips.

I arrived in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, early in the morning on Sunday, September 5, 1976.The next night, Prime Minister Bhutto hosted a banquet for me.He was one of the best kind of hosts, never letting his left-wing views get in the way of first-rate dinners and serious but entertaining conversations.Gordon Reese was in attendance, as was Mr Bhutto's son and daughter Benazir and several of her friends.Both Prime Minister Bhutto and I were educated at Oxford University and both qualified as barristers at the High Court at Lincoln's Law Society. Mr Bhutto was a neutral prime minister in difficult circumstances.The previous military regime has helped Pakistan gain some dignity after losing Bangladesh in a disastrous war with India; Pakistan now enjoys better relations with its powerful neighbor.But he failed to seriously address the country's deep-seated economic difficulties.Like many other Third World socialist leaders of this period, he sought to escape domestic economic problems by calling for a "just" New International Economic Order, which was shorthand for a massive transfer of Western foreign aid.In fact, he supported a Third World initiative to this end.

Although I am polite in expressing my views, I am considered to be a critic of this kind of international socialism.So it was somewhat of a surprise to his clerical staff when we quickly developed a rapport.I even found him remarkably understanding - at least in private - about the need to control the immigration of Pakistanis to the UK. Mr Bhutto's call for a new international economic order finally failed in the mid-1980s, when the Third World came to understand that a free market economy was the key to prosperity.Long before then, however, he had been overthrown by a military coup.Perhaps like the Shah of Iran, he has become too detached from the religious and cultural values ​​of his people.

No one knows the full truth about his overthrow, trial and subsequent execution.As Prime Minister I have pleaded with his successor to spare his life, but to no avail.The military's resolve is set.So when I later met President Ziahake at Tito's funeral in 1980, my emotions were strange.He was more pro-Western than his predecessor, and I had envisioned meeting a grim, even cruel figure.However otherwise, I found him to be cultured and he made every effort to be friendly, when my son Mark disappeared for a few days in the North African desert in January 1982, General Zia was one of the first people to call in person to express his concern one.And under his rule, Pakistan has since been remarkably lenient toward the millions of Afghan refugees driven out by the Soviet occupation.

However, at the time of my visit, Pakistan had better relations with its neighbors, including India.In fact, at this time, Indian Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi and her government were almost preoccupied with domestic issues, and there had been a massive movement against her in the first half of 1975, leading to the declaration of a state of emergency in June , banned some political parties, suspended some fundamental human rights, imposed strict censorship, and arrested thousands of opponents, including about 30 members of India's lower house of parliament.There was an unsettling calm upon my arrival.The economy was doing well after several bad years, although opinions differed as to whether this was the result of government policy or a good harvest.Of course, without a free press, it is impossible to know the true state of the country; even speeches in Parliament are censored.

But I don't feel like it's a hindrance to my visit.India's ambivalence in relation to the Soviet Union, its strategic importance, and its traditional links to Britain, which provided it with large overseas aid, all point to India's special importance.However, I do insist that there should be no censorship of my press conferences and that I should be able to meet representatives of the opposition.They raised no objection to this, and both conditions were met.As a result, I found that there were more British press personnel accompanying me on this trip than usual, in part because some British newspapers sent reporters who would otherwise be subject to emergency censorship regulations.Not only did they write about my visits, but they also reported extensively on conditions in India, including the sterilization campaign.

I had lunch with Indira Gandhi at her modest home, where she kept her guests well looked after and asked for their plates to be cleared when major political issues were discussed.Her two sons, Sanjay and Rajiv, were also there, though the former talked a lot about himself.In fact, he is said to be responsible for many evils, such as sterilization campaigns and forced rehousing, which caused a backlash.But despite all the circumstances, I found myself liking Mrs. Gandhi.Perhaps I naturally sympathize with this female politician because of the exhaustion and difficulty she faces in governing a country as large as India.But for all her tirade of self-justification about the need to declare a national emergency, I cannot agree with her government's approach.She was heading in the wrong direction, as would be shown by her party's devastating election defeat in 1977.

From India I flew to Singapore for a short stop en route to New Zealand and Australia.Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew is an old friend of mine from my days as Education Secretary.He shares similar views on education as I do.He was a big believer in the survival of the fittest and could never understand why even socialists wanted to destroy grammar schools.Schools and education in Singapore also reflect his educational insights.More importantly, he is the most important Asian statesman of his generation, all the more so because he is based in the small country of Singapore.He has his own kind of democracy, to be sure, but he has done wonders for the little island he governs by virtue of his staunch adherence to free-market capitalism.To me, Singapore's success shows that with the right economic framework that favors business, living standards can change.It is not surprising that Professor Milton Friedman sees in an economy like Singapore's a model for the West to emulate.Lee Kuan Yew, of course, had the advantage of the cultural qualities of the Chinese people in trade and commerce: some peoples were more likely to enjoy entrepreneurship than others.What I found in my discussions with him was that what really united us was our shared concern for the expansion of Soviet influence in the region through naval deployments masquerading as trade or fishing.During my tenure as Prime Minister, I often turned to Lee Kuan Yew for his wise advice and his profound knowledge of world politics.

Leaving Singapore I went to New Zealand.This is my second visit to the country and I feel very at home.Robert Muldoon recently won a general election.He was a mixed type of politician: energetic and well-mannered, but surprisingly confused in his economic thinking and political philosophy, and accordingly more in favor of government intervention than the Labor government that succeeded him eight years later.He was a bit of a bruiser standing shoulder to shoulder with Malcolm Fraser, the tall cattleman who was the subject of Governor John Kerr's controversial removal of former Labor prime minister Goff Whitlam. After taking office, he became Prime Minister of Australia in 1975.I am delighted that a right-wing government is in power in Australia, as it is in New Zealand.But I never had any real friendship with Malcolm Fraser.Our views and attitudes are very different.

Neither Bob Muldoon nor Malcolm Fraser wanted to make the reforms needed to create an efficient free enterprise economy.The political culture that shaped them both was based on a protectionist economy and a developed welfare state that spanned almost an entire century.Ironically, within a decade the Labor parties in both countries began to dismantle these statist mechanisms altogether.But when I arrived here in 1976, perhaps because public opinion had not changed sufficiently, a free market economy was not yet politically feasible.I think that might be the case when I address the Australian Liberal Party (the British equivalent of the Conservative Party) Federal Council in Canberra.I included in my speech some of the more philosophical assertions which I always insert in such speeches in England.Indeed, I really want to do this, because I have been reading Solzhenitsyn's novel "The First Circle" every day at one or two o'clock in the middle of the night. I bought this book at the airport. I meditate on the complex relationship between freedom and democracy.The applause at the end of the speech was far from deafening, and from the comments that followed it made me understand that Australia's conservative-minded audience is not used to this sort of guilt-free conservatism.

My visit to Broken Hill provided me with a movement.It was an inland town controlled and largely owned by the Miners' Union.The union leaders were delighted and quite surprised to see me.They proudly told me that no one could live or work in this town without being unionized.One bar in town recently took issue with the bylaws, and as a direct result was boycotted and forced to close.My guides took this flagrant violation of liberty with complete composure, and indeed with perverse delight.I can't help but wonder if I've seen Britain's future ahead of time. One of my cherished memories from this visit to Australia is the one and only time I spent with Robert.A meeting with Sir Menzies, Prime Minister for many years and a great friend of Britain.He is ill and is no longer able to walk, but one can see at a glance the force of personality of this leading Australian statesman and member of the wartime cabinet of Churchill's empire, although the ironic wit that once made him a famous political boxer is less than it used to be a little.He expressed his satisfaction that he had read most of my recent speeches, especially those warning against new Soviet aggression.I was reminded that when the British Empire was a world power, a maturing generation of statesmen maintained a global perspective.This is what their lesser-sighted successors lacked.This isn't the last time I hear this reminder.When I find myself being admired by this remarkable man, it reinforces my conviction that I am right and that the détente establishment is wrong. When I visited China in April of the following year (1977), I received encouraging affirmations of the same kind from a very different source.The Chinese know a lot more about me than I do about them.They appreciated my speeches in Helsinki and Kensington, and saw me as a worthy newcomer to the struggle against what they called Soviet "hegemonism."My daughter Carol is also here: she has decided to start her career in Australia and I have convinced her to travel via China.It was fun to have her with me, and she was a great antidote to most of the official decorum.There were two others in the entourage - John, one of my parliamentary private secretaries.Stanley and Douglas Hurd, who used to be a staff member of our embassy in Beijing, he has a wealth of knowledge and anecdotes about China.Douglas named us: "The Gang of Four." I was greeted at the Beijing airport by Chinese Foreign Minister Huang Hua before driving into Beijing.It was the dry season, hot, dusty and static, so I was told not to wear silk clothes.There was a banquet that night in a wing of the Great Hall of the People, and I was the guest of honor.A Chinese orchestra played a series of old Western favourites, including the usual Green Sleeves.I've mastered the more or less advanced way of using chopsticks, but we still find that there are a few exquisite Chinese foods that don't appeal to me.I let the sea cucumber and fish maw pass me by.The Chinese drink Moutai - a strong liquor made from grains - and use it in the habit of toasting endlessly.I'm glad to see that the British journalists here appreciate this approach.But this habit has created many dangerous social problems.Fortunately, however, I surmise that it was little more than pecking at the women, rather than gulping down this deadly spirit. After 3 days, I flew to Suzhou city in the south. This is a beautiful historic city with many parks and gardens. It is famous for its ancient vegetable carving art featuring cooking.It's nice to get away from the heat and noise of Beijing.Thousands of people welcomed me on the tree-lined road.I saw women embroidering silk portraits of Mao Zedong, feeding ducks and roaming the aptly named Humble Administrator's Garden.But the peaceful and contemplative atmosphere is fake.As we were leaving the banquet given by the Revolutionary Committee of Soochow City that night, several photographs on display caught my attention, and we left our guide for a moment to look at them.The photo shows a denunciation of a former local official.There was a group of people questioning him - hissing and spitting on the terrified man.The guides hurried us out of there. From Suzhou I flew to Hangzhou, the site of riots during the Cultural Revolution and full-scale fighting the year before.Perhaps I was invited there to show the outside world that peace has been fully restored.It must have been peaceful rowing on the West Lake there, where Mao Zedong had a country house. I took the train from Hangzhou to Shanghai.My first engagement was to visit a university.I know of several UK students who are studying at this university under an exchange programme.I asked how they were doing and one of the students showed up on time.Everywhere we went the floors were wet and the furniture was polished.Several copies of The Economist are on display in the university library, and there is even the Hanseatic Hansard of the British Parliament.Everything seems too good to be true, and yet that is the case. On the outside, Shanghai is the most Westernized city I have ever visited: our group was taken on a river cruise and we were all completely mesmerized by the Western-style buildings of the former International Settlement, which looked very It looks like it was built before the Japanese invasion ended the colonial concession in 1941.But the atmosphere in the city is disturbing and out of place.Political proclamations were read aloud from megaphones in the bushes.Shanghai was once home to three members of the "Gang of Four," but the new regime has been able to establish its authority there with astonishing serenity.I once had lunch with the new mayor, who is busy purging political opposition. After all the excesses of the Cultural Revolution—which included the burning of the British embassy library, which held an irreparable collection of Chinese books and manuscripts—some of the most precious treasures were secretly preserved.My interest in Chinese painting led me to ask to visit the city museum and art gallery.The scrolls and hangings which were shown to me were too fragile to be viewed in sunlight, and I saw them in a darkened room.There is also ancient porcelain and metalwork, the former having a special fascination for me.After the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution, some things belonging to the essence of China were lucky enough to survive.