No Bull in the China Shop

When Chinese Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping visited Houston last year, Rancher John Joyce gave him a Texas-size souvenir: a 1,000-lb. champion brahma bull worth $10,000. Joyce also handed Deng a letter offering to sell more bulls, if China was shopping.

Since then Joyce has called the Texas and U.S. Departments of Agriculture and written to the Chinese consulate in Houston for instructions about what to do with the bull, but has received no replies. Last week an official of the Chinese embassy in Washington said that the "matter is still under consideration" and that he is still waiting for orders from Peking. Meanwhile, Joyce said, he is "tired of feeding the bull," which since Deng's visit has gained 400 lbs. on a $2.50-a-day diet of corn, cottonseed hulls, molasses, oats and a protein supplement.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.