Getting to Know You

"Despise the enemy strategically." 'wrote Mao Tse-tung in his handbook for revolutionaries, "but take him seriously tactically." Last week, drawing a bead on his enemy in the Kremlin. Mao did both.

He made his tactical point by accepting Moscow's call for bilateral negotiations over the Sino-Soviet rift and inviting Nikita Khrushchev to Peking. "The Communist movement has reached a critical juncture. The time has come when differences have to be settled." declared the Red Chinese, proposing that Russia's Premier stop off in Peking on the way to Cambodia, where a state visit by Khrushchev has been discussed for some time. Alternatively, suggested Mao. a Red Chinese delegation could go to Moscow to discuss the squabble.

But the haughty, patronizing tone of the message, offering to meet the Soviets only "on the basis of full equality," and repeating the old demands for a one-way compromise, would make it tough for Russia to accept. Even in the event of a meeting, said one Hong Kong expert, "we can expect little but a verbal agreement which will soon break down."

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