Page 4-Saturday, February 10, 1979-The Michigan Daily
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420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Eighty-Nine Years of Editorial Freedom
The truth behind Teng's
drive to modernize China
Vol. LXXXIX, No. 110
News Phone: 764-0552
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
U.S. and Nicara
HE CARTER administration has
finally decided to sever its
military ties with the repressive
regime in Nicaragua led by President
Anastasio Somoza Debayle after the
South American leader had rejected a
three-nation effort to mediate the
country's civil strife. This decision,
reached after months of U.S. efforts to
arrange an internationally supervised
plebiscite, has been long overdue and,
for a change, reflects the ad-
ministration's human rights policy.
President Carter has often
proclaimed that the government would
reduce its ties to those countries which
violate basic human rights. But he has
continually reneged on that vow in cer-
tain countries by placing the strategic
interests of the United States ahead of
the cause of human rights. However,
by cutting off military aid to
Nicaragua - a country which was
singled out as one of the worst offen-
ders of the United Nations Human
Rights declaration in a report to
President Carter in 1977 - the ad-
ministration has followed through on
its promise.
The administration had warned that
such a move was probable if General
Somoza would not cooperate with a
mediation effort approved by the
Organization of American States. But
Somoza's National Liberal Party
recently rejected the proposal which}
had also been accepted by a coalition
of Somoza opponents known as the
Broad Opposition Front.
The U.S. also decided, however, that
no outright break in diplomatic
relations with Nicaragua would be
imminent and that the U.S- am-
bassador, Mauricio Solaun, could
remain there with a significantly
reduced embassy staff.
The administration also announced
it would continue supplying the $30
million worth of economic aid projects
to help the nation's poor, but that no
new ecomic assistance would be con-
sidered, "under present circumstan-
ces."
We believe this decision to maintain
diplomatic and economic ties with
Nicaragua is basically sound because
it allows the United States to keep
some type of leverage on Somoza's
government. While it is true that past
U.S. efforts to mediate the conflict
there have been mostly unsuccessful,
the cut in military ties may force
Somoza to realize that President Car-
ter is serious when he talks about our
future relationships with nations who
violate human rights. Carter is telling
Somoza the U.S. won't tolerate any
more violations such as summary
executions, torture, arbitrary deten-
tion, and indiscriminate bombing of
unarmed civilians which reportedly
occur in Nicaragua.
Maybe now Somoza will agree to an
internationally supervised plebiscite
so the Nicaraguan people can decide
whether he should leave office.
But if this pressure tactic by the Car-
ter administration fails to produce any
concrete changes in Somoza's stance
within a few months, then we believe it
will be necessary to cut all ties with
Nicaragua, since our opportunities to
affect changes there will have been
lost.
When Teng Hsiao-ping visited'
the U.S., the media went all-out to
paint a rosy picture of this hat-
chet-man who is' viciously at-
tacking the Chinese revolution
and restoring capitalism. They
said that out of a long dark period
of glorifying peasants and shun-
ning industrialization, Teng is
finally dragging China into the
modern world. They said that
China's overtures to the U.S.
mean a "new order" in which the
two countries will benefit one
another as equals and promote
world peace. Quite a tranquil
view of a visit made to land China
in the U.S. war bloc as it girds for
world war against the Soviet im-
perialists!
Of course there's nothing new
about newspapers attacking the
revolutionary advances of the
world's people. Every day they
slander liberation movements in
countries around the globe that
the capitalists have carved up
and held in an enforced state of
backwardness. For the past year
they've been telling us that the
Iranian revolution is a fanatic
movement to keep women
shrouded in veils! And now that
the Chinese revolution is being
outlawed by Teng & Co., they tell
us that the Chinese have finally
come to their senses: with Mao
dead, they want to move their
economy forward by giving it a
"capitalist twist"!
Ifthat isn't standing things on
their heads, what is? Socialist
China was the most advanced
nation in the world. It was no ac-
cident that millions of people
everywhere were deeply inspired
by revolutionary China under the
leadership of Mao Tse-tung.
There, a quarter of humanity
rose up, a mighty force, shat-
tered the chains of slavery and
ripped the claws of the foreign
overlords from their backs.
But they went further-they
pushed on toward the complete
transformation of all relations of
society, the elimination of ex-
ploitation and oppression toward
a society where labor serves the
common good and there are no
privileged few. And it was
precisely because of this con-
tinuing revolution that the
Chinese people made economic
miracles unprecedented in world
history. China was a country
where peasants smelted steel on
their own communes and where
shipyard workers learned to
build huge freighters that all the
"experts" said were impossible.
"Glorifying peasants and
shunning industrialization"? Is
that what China meant to the
world's people? China was a
country where the masses were
in the driver's seat, running
production and all of society in
their own interests, striding
toward the future with their
heads held high.
Did Teng Hsiao-ping's visit to
the U.S. promote world peace?
That is what our rulers hoped the
whole country would think when
he arrived in Washington two
weeks ago. They thought we'd all
been bamboozled and would
warmly welcome him. But they
were wrong. In fact, a group of
500 demonstrators organized by
the Revolutionary Communist
Party, U.S.A. took to the streets
and created an "international in-
cident" by exposing the reasons
behind Teng's visit. They mar-
ched right up to the White House
and battled hundreds of cops with
clubs and fists. While Carter and
Teng nibbled nervously on their
hors d'oeuvres inside, they heard
500 revolutionaries outside yell
"Death to Teng Hsiao-ping! Long
live Revolution! "
The Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade
ming and modernizing all the
relations of society. They demon-
strated Mao's line that the only
way to really develop the
economy is to liberate it from
capitalist relations. Teng says
forget about that-capitalism is
the only way. Forget about the
workers themselves making
technical innovations, them-
selves struggling to develop
production, themselves tran-
sforming society to meet the all-
round needs of the people. Just
put a few experts at the top. They
develop techniques to bring profit
and drive the workers like mules.
This is what Teng calls "moder-
nization," and it's what the Shah
of Iran calls "modernization,"
too. But they can't modernize
"When
he
came
to the U.S.,
Teng drooled over factories like the
Ford Assembly plant in Atlanta.
Why? Because that's how he thinks
production
shoul
d be organized.
to the Chinese
What
a traitor
People!"
-,Mideast summit crucial
These 500 were very clear on
the meaning of recent events in
China and Teng's visit, and
clarified them to thousands both
here and worldwide. The new
rulers of China are not simply
engaged in a pragmatic push to
bring in some Western industry
through a few compromises with
capitalism. They are, in fact,
carrying out a full-scale counter-
revolution. They are restoring
capitalism in China, andto help'
them do that they are hitching it
up to the U.S. war chariot for
their coming world war against
the Soviet imperialists.
Shortly after Mao died in 1976,
capitalist-roaders saw their
chance and seized power. Since
that time Hua Kuo-feng, Teng
Hsiao-ping and the. rest of them
have been busily dismantling the
working-class rule that the
Chinese people fought to build.
They've commanded the masses
to shut their mouths and forget
about wiping out class divisions
and all oppression, and just cast
your eyes down and work like
dumb oxen for "modernization"
But what do they mean by
"modernization"? When he came
to the U.S., Teng drooled over
factories like the Ford assembly
plant in Atlanta. Why? Because
that's how he thinks production
should be organized. What a
traitor to the Chinese people!
Under socialism, production kept
leaping forward because the
Chinese people kept transfor-
anything. By "modernization,"
they mean capitalism and back-
wardness.
Some people say that China is
just getting a "twist of
capitalism" and won't have to
scrap its former ideals. This is
wrong. The strides China made
toward eliminating inequality,
toward classless society-com-
munism-were brought about by
relentless revolution against the
capitalist laws of profit and
bourgeois right. Since the new
rulers of China are busily
restoring capitalism, they must
attack the accomplishments of
the revolution and put the laws of
profit in command. They have
done this from the day they
seized power. They are especially
attacking the Cultural Revolution
of the 6's which led'to education
and culture serving the masses of
people, rather than the big shots,
managers, and technical exper-
ts-as they do in capitalist coun-
tries like the U.S. and the
U.S.S.R.
Nor is it realistic to hope that in
their dealings with China our own
rulers will suddenly forget about
their profits and start "helping
poorer nations." When have the
U.S. imperialists ever helped,
poorer nations? It's them and
their imperialism that made
countries like Chinahand Iran
poor to begin with. The capitalist
thrive on keeping nations poor,
their survival depends on it. Like
capital itself, they must expand
Gail Ryan
or die. So they chase around the
world in the name of "moder
nization," warping economies to
lrip superprofits off the labor of
the people. They use some of thg
profits to groom loyal dictators
like the Shah of Iran and then
they line them all up in a bloc i
to be in a stronger position for th;
coming war with their im
perialist rivals-the rulers of the
Soviet Union, who are equally
driven to redivide the world.
Teng Hsiao-ping came
crawling to Washington to bring
China into the U.S. bloc and to
show that he-like the Shah
whom he praised so much-will
be a faithful servant to the U.S.
rulers. Teg came to say that
when the rich march us off to di
for their profits, China and its
people will be at their disposal,
too.
But the world's people haven't
forgotten about revolution,
They'll keep making it until they
wipe out the system of im-
perialismthat is the cause of war
and all other misery. Do you
think that the Chinese people hve
forgotten about revolution? They
didn't make it for 50 years in or-
der to be preyed upon once again
by imperialists. Their goal was
~and still is the goal that Mao
came to symbolize-communist
revolution. This goal is still alive
precisely because imperialism is
not yet dead. Right now, it's the
goal that millions of people
struggling for liberation around
the world are fighting for. And
it's the goal that was being
defended by 500 revolutionaries
in Washington when they waved
copies of Mas Tse-tung's "Red
Book" right up in Carter and
Teng's faces.
China and the U.S. "courting
one another as equals in the in-
terest of world peace"-is this
the "new order" emerging in the
world? No, it's only a reactionary
fantasy. Already people in this
and every country have come
forward to pick up the banner
that Mao held up and that Ten
Hsiao-ping has flung down. When
the imperialists try to march us
off to world war, we'll organize to
turn those guns around on them
We'll turn the world right-side up
and build socialism. And when
we've done that in every nation
on earth, we'll together enter the
era of communism. This is the
'new order' that is really on the
horizon.
0g
This space is reserved
every Tuesday and Saturday
for responsible spokespeople
to air the views of com-
munity organizations. If you:
or your group is interested in
having your views printed,:
stop by the Daily or call 764-:
0552.
Y
Y1
ORE THAN two full months af-
ter landmark agreements were
supposedly to be finalized between
Egypt and Israel, representatives
from the two countries may well end
up once again in a Camp David sum-
mit, officials announced recently.
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat
has already accepted the Amei ican in-
vitation, and the Israeli cabinet is also
expected to approve of the
negotiations, which would be held
among Egyptian Foreign Minister
Mustafa Khalil, Israeli Foreign
Minister Moshe Dayan, and U.S.
Secretary of-State Cyrus Vance.
Hopefully, the negotiators have
learned something from the first Camp
David summit, held in September. The
original agreement, which at the time
seemed like a possible breakthrough,
has been seriously damaged in the past
several months by the inflexibility of
both sides. Egypt and Israel are still
without the "lasting peace" many had
hoped for.
While the original Camp David
provided an historic meeting between
the leaders of these nations, it was not
enough. Any future Mideast summit
must be concluded with even more
concrete results. Failure to reach a
more substantial agreement could end
in an even wider separation between
the two countries.
Most important, both nations must
be willing to bend. It's time for the
same stubbornness which has blocked
a peace treaty for over 30 years to be
set aside.
Another summit and another failure
could lead to irreparable damage for
this war-torn area, and we hope all
parties involved realize, that a suc-
cessful summit is essential to achieve
a "lasting peace."
Health Service Handbook
Two kindsc
>f
medicine
. QUESTION: Until I read your
cold clinic thing on coughs I
never really understood the dif-
ferences between cough
medicine and expectorants.
Now I see why it often makes
sense to take either one or the
other, and not both. Maybe you
should talk about this in the
Health Service Handbook.
ANSWER: Great idea. In
case others don't know, what
you are referring to are the
materials available on our
Health Service cold Clinic shelf
in the main waiting area in the
Medical Clinic (through the
yellow door!) These materials,
which include our "Catchy Cold
Clinic Booklet," and 4 one-page
hand-outs on "Congestion,"
"General Discomfort and
Aches," "Sore Throats," and
"Coughs," give good infor-
mation on self-care of colds and
other viruses, and on when and
how to choose over-the-counter
(non-prescription drugs.
The first thing that should be
mentioned about coughs is that
they serve useful functions,
such as removing excess mucus
(phlegm) from your chest, or
there is a case of chronic bron-
chitis. For this reason, cough
medicines whose purpose is to
suppress a cough (these are
called antitussives) should be
used when a cough is causing
nauses, excessive irritation,
and sleep or work disturbance.
The most effective antitussives
are those that contain codeine,
for the codeine acts on the part
of the brain that controls the
cough reflex. At the Health Ser-
vice antitussives with codeine
require a prescription from a
physician.
The other kind of cough
medicines are called expec-
torants. The purpose of these is
to stimulate the flow of
secretions' in the bronchial
tubes, thereby aiding in the
removal of phlegm. (It should
be noted that there is no sound
scientific evidence that they ac-
tually work!) One common ex-
pectorant you are probably
familiar with is Robitussin.
It is usually recommended
that you take either an expec-
torant or an antitussive, depen-
ding on the desired effect.
Taking them together might
be counter-productive - that is,
you have loosened up the
mucous secretions with the ex-
cough needed to remove them.
The inhalation of steam (by
the use of a Vaporizer, putting
your face over a pan of boiling
water, of taking a hot shower),
and drinking lots of hot fluids
are other ways (and considered
even just as effective by most
p hysicians).
QUESTION: With all this
research coming out about all
the things that can hurt the un-
born baby, I worry about taking
the medicine prescribed for me
at Health Service. I am
pregnant.
ANSWER: Your - concern
about the potential hazards to
the developing embryo and
fetus is well-founded. An entire
scientific field, called
Teratology, studies this subject
in depth.
Teratologists have found that
some drugs, even though safe
for the mother, may cause
damage to the embryo or fetus,
and that the damage depends on
a number of factors, such as
dose and frequency of ingestion
of the drug and how many
weeks or months the woman
has been pregnant. These drugs
are often prescription drugs,
but some, including alcohol,
may be bought over-the-counter
store.
The Pharmacy at Health Ser-
vce has kept up to date with the
research on the teratogenicity
of pharmaceuticals, and has
made this information
available to each physician in
the Formulary or the handbook
on drugs. Your physician will be
able to advise you and other
women on the known or suspec-
ted harm of different drugs, and
the substitutions, such as other
drugs or other kinds of trerat-
ment tl(at are available. If a
woman lets her physican know
she is pregnant, or thinks she
might be, the physician, in con-
sultation with the woman's ob-
stetrician, will take this into
consideration when writing any
prescriptions. In your case, it is
not too late to call your
physician to determine the ad-
visability of your taking the
medicine already prescribed
and received.
Health related questions
should be directed to: The
Health Educator, .U-M
Health Service, Division of
Office of Student Services,
207 Fletcher Ave., Ann Ar-
b>nr MI4RO9
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