The paper is a colossal bore. Turgid editorials crawl on, column after column; leaden propaganda handouts in the form of "news" stories weigh down the front page. But in Communist China, nearly everyone who is anyone reads the People's Daily of Peking—and for good reason. As the official organ of both party and government. the eight-page daily (circ. 700,000) is handbook and scripture to right-thinking Chinese Reds.
Last week People's Daily celebrated the tenth anniversary of its birth in 1948 in Yenan, whence the Communist leaders had launched their grab for all China. Today the paper employs 500 card-carrying newsmen, has just...
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