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Deng was a locksmith who successfully opened up his country. He was a savvy broker who shrewdly put Chinese labor and American dollars together. The passion that drove China to become a political slaughterhouse during Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution is the same passion that propelled the country to become an economic powerhouse during Deng's open-door reform. It is this passion that has saved China from extinction but renders the nation so vulnerable and unpredictable. ETHAN HUANG Gaithersburg, Maryland
SPECIAL WHITE HOUSE "GUESTS"
During his tenure in office, the President is provided the White House, a national treasure, as a place of residence paid for by us taxpayers. If President Clinton and the Democratic Party are getting large sums of money in exchange for overnight visits to the presidential residence [NATION, March 3], I'd like to receive my fair share of the funds, since I have helped pay for the largesse at the White House. DUANE C. JOHNSON Medina, New York
My wife and I often stay at bed-and-breakfast establishments, where the husband, wife and sometimes the children pitch in to help. I hope Bill, Hillary and Chelsea will accommodate us when we have raised the several thousand dollars necessary to stay in the Lincoln Bedroom. Private enterprise--ain't it grand! BENNY C. WALLACE Tucson, Arizona
Now that the election is over, politicians inside the Beltway are performing their usual postelection charade about campaign-finance reform. What has really given them courage is a recent Supreme Court ruling that campaign contributions are a form of "free speech." Just think what one can do with a ruling like that! One can fall back on free speech when all other avenues of reform avoidance fail. I thought speech came out of a person's mouth or was included in a person's writings. To say giving a large sum of money to a campaign in order to influence legislation is free speech is to corrupt the meaning of that phrase. G. RICHARD THOMAS Naples, Florida
AIRPORT 1997
Barbara Ehrenreich's commentary on the indignities of airport security [ESSAY, March 3] was pure genius. It tackled the flaws of the system head on. It is very frustrating to wait in long lines and answer useless questions. How many people are going to say yes when asked, Are you carrying a bomb? This doesn't stop anyone. Instead of wasting our time, why don't the airlines send our bags through more quickly and update their X-ray machines so they will detect plastic devices like explosives? Even though it may cost a bundle, it will help catch terrorists. KARI GORSKI West Allis, Wisconsin
Ehrenreich is way off base in her criticism of airport security. Baggage checks and questions may be inconvenient, but being blown out of the sky by some fruitcake with a bagful of explosives or being hijacked by a nut with a lethal weapon is far more inconvenient. The Bill of Rights does not prohibit actions for the common good. EDWIN S. WILLIAMS Overland Park, Kansas
IF THE SHOE FITS...