The Lion Purrs

Ever since China's Communists took Shanghai, Westerners who stayed behind have been subjected to a steady campaign of harassment, have been jailed, fined and beaten. This is embarrassing to the British, because they are trying desperately to prove that Britain can do business with China's Communists. Last week, there were signs that the roar of the once-proud British lion had been reduced to a humble purr.

British businessmen in Communist China, said Sir Robert Urquhart, Britain's consul general in Shanghai, in a recent speech, "were happy to record instance after instance of just and honest treatment in the conduct of day-to-day affairs." Sir Robert conceded that the Communists had made some "mistakes," but he was quick to add that these "will be readily excused."

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