France: Chinese Checkers

"The sun at this time of year heralds the thaw of winter snow and ice," observed French Deputy Marie François-Benard, leader of a seven-member parliamentary delegation that arrived in Red China last week. "I think this time the Peking sunshine also heralds the thawing of relations between our two countries." Word that President Charles de Gaulle would soon recognize Communist China, a move prompted by the faint hope of reviving French influence in the Far East, indeed had broken the ice. But while a thaw set in between Paris and Peking, new and severe chills developed between France and some...

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