MACAO: Ladder to Heaven

"Communism is paradise! The people's communes are the ladder to heaven!" proclaimed the tattered signs nailed to the masts, but the words carried a special irony for the fishermen who manned the fragile junks. Last month 1,000 of these junks had sailed into Macao harbor from Red China, their crews and passengers ostensibly bent on celebrating Chinese New Year in the 6-sq.-mi. Portuguese province. As usual, the men swarmed ashore to jam the smoky teahouses and to try their luck at fantan. But when the long holiday was over, less than half...

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