Communists: With a Tight Smile

For a visitor of such rank, Peking might have been expected to roll out brass bands, banners, and brigades of costumed marchers. But for the passenger aboard the Ilyushin 18 that touched down at Peking Airport last week—Russian Premier Aleksei Kosygin—the only decorations were four forlorn red lanterns, and they were leftovers from Lunar New Year celebrations. Mourned a waiting Russian diplomat: "We told them that Kosygin would stop over here. They did not answer us." The Red Chinese inhospitality was understandable. After all, Kosygin was en route to Hanoi to court...