Bustling into the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal on the way home from his trip to India last spring, Red China's Premier Chou En-lai wore his sunniest friendship grin. Mouthing sentiments of peace and solidarity, Chou happily played the role of Nepal's big brother in Asia, signed a Treaty of Peace and Friendship with Nepal's Premier B. P. Koirala that was designed to soothe border frictions.
Last week Chou sent a special note to Nepal's Foreign Office to assure it that Red Chinese troops pursuing Tibetan rebels would not violate Nepal's borders (thereby admitting for the first time that there was...