Toward Uprightness

In the flood of pent-up Chinese criticism loosed by the recent relaxation of Government censorship, one newspaper and its editor have been outstanding. The newspaper is China's leading independent, Chungking's Ta Rung Pao. Its brilliant, self-educated editor is slight, bespectacled Wang Yun-sheng. Recent excerpts from his hard-hitting editorials:

P: On official dishonesty: "Blackhearted officials are desperately extorting money and are desperately doing harm to the people. Putting them to death does not abolish their guilt. . . . Salaries of officials should be sufficient to keep them honest."

P: On Chinese bureaucracy: "If a number of lowergrade officials have cultivated foul habits in their attitude to the higher grades ... flattery becomes prevalent, truth vanishes . . . corruption nourishes."

P: On China's overcrowded universities, where "rich young ladies and gentlemen may spend half a million dollars" (circa U.S. $1,500) to have substitutes take entrance examinations for them: "Who is responsible for this mess? In our opinion the Government should be held responsible for it. Corruption exists everywhere."

Warned a professor-contributor to Ta Rung Pao: "The soul of a nation is uprightness. Without uprightness man is without a soul. In the past young men were full of uprightness which has now gradually disappeared. This is the greatest loss and danger, and the greatest problem."

Vigorous steps forward toward uprightness were taken last week by the People's Political Council (see FOREIGN NEWS).

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.