The Chinese Highwaymen

In the shadowy war between Laotian government forces and Communist Pathet Lao guerrillas, China has so far stayed clear of the actual fighting. Peking, however, has launched a different sort of invasion against its diminutive neighbor to the south--one that may prove to be every bit as troublesome. Last year some 3,000 Chinese road builders moved across the border of China's Yunnan province into northern Laos. By the time the monsoon rains began last spring, the Chinese had pushed a gravel-topped all-weather road 55 miles south as far as Muong Sai, a town on an important Mekong River tributary, then northeast toward North Viet Nam. Last September, as the rains ended, the coolies moved on--this time southwestward through the Beng Valley toward the Mekong River and the border of Thailand.

The presence of the Chinese highwaymen, along with two infantry battalions equipped with antiaircraft guns who came along to protect the work crews, has alarmed Laotian Premier Prince Souvanna Phouma, who has always treated his northern neighbor cautiously. Fearful of a violent reaction from Peking should he protest, the prince at first ignored the road builders, rationalizing that a fuzzy 1962 aid agreement with Peking may have authorized a route as far as Muong Sai after all. But the new spur into the Beng Valley (see map), he told TIME, was "another affair." When the government asked the Chinese to explain, Peking flatly denied that it was involved in Laos at all. Another sort of reply came recently when Souvanna Phouma's commander in chief flew over the Beng Valley road in a Royal Laotian plane--and was chased away by a burst of Chinese antiaircraft fire.

The Thais, who are nervous at the prospect of a U.S. stand-down in Southeast Asia, are as alarmed as Laos over the Chinese road work. Officials in Bangkok claim that China may be planning an armed invasion of northern Thailand, where government forces have been having recurring troubles with the Meo tribesmen since 1967. This is probably no more than a fanciful worry on the part of the Thais. A more likely explanation for the road may be that China is planning to step up aid to the Laotian rebels. During the National Day speeches in Peking last October, Laos was moved up several spots on China's list of "struggling peoples." Peking now rates it third in importance, after Albania and Viet Nam.

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