Diplomatic Blues in Peking

Guess who's mired in Indochina now

A People's Liberation Army band struggled through some unfamiliar Bizet and Berlioz at a 600-guest banquet for visiting French Premier Raymond Barre. China's Vice Premier, Teng Hsiao-p'ing, paid a state visit to Burma, his first trip abroad since he emerged as Peking's No. 3 man last July. Phan Hien, Viet Nam's Deputy Foreign Minister and chief diplomatic troubleshooter, was in Peking on a delicate mission. Teng Ying-ch'ao, 75, the revered widow of Premier Chou Enlai, departed on a good-will visit to Cambodia, and returned to Peking unexpectedly in time to greet Barre.

All these unaccustomed comings and goings in Peking in the past two weeks testified to China's new eagerness to shore up its worldwide diplomatic position. Main reason: the outbreak of war between Viet Nam and Cambodia in December has disrupted what until recently seemed a successful effort by the Chinese to win new friends and influence throughout Southeast Asia at the expense of the Soviets. Peking's inability to prevent the fighting between its Indochinese neighbors has been a serious foreign policy failure, and in some ways its struggle to stay friends with two smaller and mutually hostile allies mirrors Moscow's recent history on the Horn of Africa.

As tensions between the Vietnamese and the Cambodians mounted, the Chinese made the mistake of trying to head off a conflict while also maintaining their sponsorship of the oppressive regime of Premier Pol Pot in Phnom-Penh. But that could not work. Observes Don Tretiak, an American China watcher: "The Chinese should have been more careful about their Cambodian commitment. Supporting a weak but obstreperous ally is very bad politics." Now Peking fears that its deteriorating relations with Viet Nam will push Hanoi further into the embrace of Moscow. Worst of all, if the Vietnamese were to rout the Cambodians, a Kremlin-manipulated puppet regime could emerge in Phnom-Penh and tilt the balance of power in Southeast Asia in Moscow's favor.

Peking has tried to persuade Hanoi and Phnom-Penh to negotiate a ceasefire. Although each side accuses the other of aggression, the Chinese have been carefully ambiguous in apportioning blame. Teng Hsiao-p'ing's most recent remark on that subject was a masterpiece of inscrutability: "Whoever provoked the conflict will come to no good end."

But Peking's peacemaking efforts have fallen flat. Chou's widow, a Long March veteran and party heroine, was chosen to lead a high-level Chinese delegation to Cambodia because of her pervasive prestige. Her mission was to persuade Premier Pol Pot to negotiate a settlement with Hanoi, but she failed. Though received with due pomp in Phnom-Penh, she was soon whisked out to view the 12th century ruins at Angkor Wat and otherwise kept occupied. After four days she reportedly cut short her visit and went home. Though her hosts may not have been paying much attention to her, she had obviously been listening to them. Back in Peking, she told French Premier Barre that China regarded Cambodia as a victim of "Vietnamese aggression"--the first open swipe at Hanoi heard in the Chinese capital since the war broke out in December.

Trying to salvage Peking's diplomatic drive elsewhere in Southeast Asia, Vice Premier Teng took off for a six-day visit to Burma, a country vital to China's security. Dwarfed by his entourage of 70 officials, the diminutive (5 ft.) Teng told Burmese President Ne Win that "China and Burma are linked by common borders, share common rivers and mountains and have been friendly since ancient times." Indeed, Burma is a model neighbor, resisting Soviet influence at home, while carrying on delicate good-will talks with ten neighboring states, with Peking's enthusiastic approval. As Teng toured the streets of Rangoon, which were lined with children waving flags, his first trip abroad since he assumed power seemed less like a state visit than a holiday from China's continuing foreign policy woes. -

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