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What probably concerns Chinese leaders most is their reluctant conclusion that the U.S. has not been taking a hard enough line toward the U.S.S.R. State Department Sinologists believe that Peking regards Washington as having been weak in responding to Soviet gains in Africa; the Chinese surely see events in Afghanistan, where a closet Communist regime seized power last month, as another Soviet success. And this is on China's own western flank. Peking is also thought to feel that Carter has been too eager to accommodate the Russians in the slow-moving SALT talks and to abandon or defer development of modern weapons such as the B-1 bomber and the neutron warhead.
Brzezinski is clearly prepared to discuss all these matters. Accompanying him are top Asia experts from his National Security Council staff and the State Department, plus the NSC's security planning coordinator, Samuel Huntington; its science and technology specialist, Benjamin Huberman; and the Pentagon's Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Security Affairs, Morton Abramowitz. Despite the size of his entourage, which is certain to flatter his hosts, Brzezinski is not expecting concrete results. He told TIME: "This is not a tactical trip. It is designed to emphasize that our relationship with China is continuing and longterm, based on common interests. It's not a negotiating trip per se, although if it serves the goal of normalization, so much the better." By cozying up to Peking, Brzezinski is also sending a clear signal to the Kremlin: There is a price to be paid for continued Soviet adventurism.