Among Friends

Hammer's China deal

Prospects for the agreement first glimmered at a Houston barbecue four years ago. Deng Xiaoping, Communist Party Vice Chairman of the People's Republic of China, who was making a brief U.S. tour, was introduced to Armand Hammer, 85, chairman of Occidental Petroleum. Brushing aside the interpreter, Deng said, "No introduction is necessary. We know Dr. Hammer as the American who helped Lenin. Why don't you come .to China and help us as well?" Hammer, whose close trade ties with the Soviet Union stretch back for more than half a century, said...

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