(2 of 2)
Notable Exception. Though the story aroused skepticism among experts, none were willing to dismiss it outright. But Japanese experts said they had perceived no signs of trouble. And at week's end, the New China News Agency published a brief story that mentioned both Mao and Lin as "personally" approving posthumous honors for ten Chinese soldiers who fell in clashes with the Soviets.
Before the Moscow report about Mao, there was a good deal of evidence that the Russians were trying to patch up their bitter, nine-year feud with the Chinese. After the Kosygin-Chou meeting, the Soviets abruptly turned off their radio and newspaper campaign against the Chinese. The most notable exception was a story by London Evening News Correspondent Victor Louis, a Soviet citizen believed to have close ties to the K.G.B., the Soviet secret police. Louis hinted that Moscow, under the Brezhnev Doctrine, had not abandoned the possibility of intervention in China. Despite that report, the 4,500-mile Sino-Soviet border was reported quiet for the first time in months of almost daily incidents.
In any case, the line-up on the dais in Peking's Tienanmen Square next week should be revealing. At that time, the Chinese government will celebrate its 20th anniversary. If Mao, the author of China's revolution, is well, he will be on the rostrum. If he does not show, there will be a strong reason to believe that People's China will begin its third decade with new leadership.