Programmed Diplomacy

THE VICE-PRESIDENCY Programmed Diplomacy He was the highest-ranking U.S. official ever to visit the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Nepal, and he behaved accordingly. Never venturing beyond protocol, he was one of the few visitors who did not even attempt a peek at the famous erotic sculpture at Hanuman Doka temple. "It's not really his sort of thing," explained a member of his party. At one point, he praised Nepal's unique village-assembly system of government and what it could mean "for the future of India." But that geographic slip aside, Vice President Spiro Agnew's tour of eleven Asian countries had proceeded with programmed flawlessness and circumspection.

Wild Boar. Halfway through his journey last week, Agnew was looking, listening and, in his effort to please, practicing what might be called Rotarian diplomacy. After a formal Nepalese dinner of guinea fowl and wild boar, he spoke in glowing exaggeration about the significance of the traditional namaste greeting. The act of placing hands together in prayerlike position, observed Agnew, "may well do more to ease the tension of the world today than all the diplomatic discussions." In talks with King Mahendra, Agnew said that President Nixon "understands" Nepal's friendship with China, but cautioned that the prospects for increased U.S. aid "are not bright."

The next day the Vice President stressed self-help to Afghanistan's Premier Nur Ahmed Etemadi, whose country has received $1 billion in economic aid from neighboring Russia, $410 million from the U.S. As the Vice President's Cadillac entered Kabul, the streets were lined with solemn Afghans, many looking like Genghis Khan's horsemen. Agnew's most rousing reception, however, came from about 800 college students, who threw mud at his car and waved banners reading "Stop killing people in Viet Nam." When Etemadi apologized, Agnew confided to his host: "I'm used to this."

Nervous Thais. The greatest challenge of Agnew's tour came earlier in the week, when he visited Thailand. The Thais are nervous about the U.S. Senate's recent limitation of presidential power to send combat forces to their country. Furthermore, American critics have labeled Thai troops serving in Viet Nam--reportedly at a cost of $1 billion --as overpaid mercenaries. Thailand officials wonder if, when the U.S. pulls out of Viet Nam, neighboring Laos will fall to the Communists. Agnew reassured his hosts about Laos, emphasizing U.S.Thai solidarity by reverting to his familiar role of the Administration's heavy. "Some people back home," he declared, "are so anxious to make friends of our enemies that they even seem ready to make enemies of our friends."

It was in Bangkok that Agnew--probably at the President's direction--sought to clarify the Nixon Doctrine for post-Viet Nam Asia. Once again, the Vice President emphasized selfhelp, but promised that the U.S. would remain a Pacific power and would protect its allies against "aggression from the outside, while the Asians take care of local insurrections."

At week's end, with the Vice President showing signs of fatigue and Judy Agnew valiantly fighting intestinal sickness, Air Force Two winged to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In a land where the U.S. offers neither military nor economic aid, the Vice President had time for half a round at the Royal Selangor

Golf Club with a group of government officials. Agnew's drive off the first tee carried 180 yds., but after nine holes he confessed: "I think I embarrassed America today."

Off Again. Both Malaysia and Singapore, Agnew's next stops, are worried about their security after the British close their Singapore naval base in 1971. Agnew indicated that the U.S. would help bolster their regional defenses with American material assistance. Addressing a group of 400 Americans living in Singapore, he urged them to write friends and relatives back home explaining "what's actually going on in Asia and what the American presence means. I can say that," he added, "because I didn't understand it myself until I made this trip."

Then Air Force Two was off again, this time bound for Bali. There, the Vice President will rest before his final touchdown this week in Australia and New Zealand.

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