Delegates in Wonderland

Next to Russia's Iron Curtain, Red China's bamboo fence is the most impenetrable political barrier in the modern world. Recently, Communist Dictator Mao Tse-tung offered to let 14 Indian observers peek behind the fence (India had allowed a Red Chinese "good will" mission to visit New Delhi last year). Prime Minister Nehru, who is fascinated by the New China, gladly sent the mission, but carefully staffed it with cool-headed observers whose impressions he could trust, as he no longer trusts his credulous ambassador, K. M. Panikkar, now recalled home. As chief delegate he chose his closest confidante and most recent envoy to Washington: his sister, Mme. Pandit.

Last week, after a carefully conducted Cook's tour of Mao's Wonderland, the 14 Indians reported to Nehru. For public consumption, Mme. Pandit said a few kind words: "We were greatly impressed by the fine creative effort of the New China." But in private conversations with U.S. newsmen, the 14 delegates painted a more realistic picture. Their findings:

P: The Chinese people are sick & tired of war. The hopeful observers came to believe that the government would welcome some kind of face-saving truce proposal (unspecified) by a neutral such as India.

P: Red China has made substantial material progress, but only by using armies of slave laborers. One huge dam visited by Mme. Pandit was being built by 2,000,000 peasant conscripts.

P: Cultural regimentation has emaciated the ancient charm of Chinese life. Capitalist silks and floral robes have been replaced by the proletarian look: narrow blue pants and drab, high-necked tunics for men & women alike.

Most oppressive to the Indians was the constant pounding of Communist propaganda, most of it directed against the U.S. "Hate-America" campaigns have assumed ludicrous proportions: Peking's newspapers devote a quarter of their space to the charge that the U.S. is using germ warfare tactics in Korea. Communist exhibits of "U.S. insect bombs" are so cunningly devised, said the Indians, that "one has to think twice" before grasping their phoniness. "I wouldn't say any of us were convinced," said University Delegate N.S. Bendre. "[But] the Chinese who see the exhibits don't think twice."

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