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JANUARY 1989
THE GORAISPONIIDNT
VOLUME2 NUMBER3
CONTENTS China's now famous slogan, the Four Moder-
COVER
nisations
.............13
THE NEW YEAR GALA: It was the traditional event. Ushering in the New Year, the Club stayed awake all night with a gala dinner and dance that rolled into breakfast next morning (See alsoPages 15-17).
MEETTHE PRESS
Sutherland House, which was home for the FCC
for
14 years
wrecker's
from 1968, has fallen under the
hammer
..,,............,..13
MEDIA
HAN SUYIN: "I do admire anybody who tries to get out of mediocrity, who takes risks, who does things," best-selling author Han Suyin told an FCC luncheon gathering. The people she has thus admired include Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Tse-tung. Now she is writingthebiography of a
"very great man" who, she says, actually Chou Enlai ..........,...,.......1 changed her life
-
UNRESTINTIBET: "Noneof us, allthe westerners in Lhasa, could have imagined what we saw," say three westerners who witnessed the Chinese soldiers gun down unarmed, peaceful demonstrators in the Tibetan capital on Dethe 40th anniversary of the Unicember l0
versal Declaration of Human Rights. The three,
including the Dutch woman, Christa Meindersma, who was hit by a bullet, were at the FCC, a week after the incident, to tell it all to the
AN FCC LANDMARK COMES DOWN:
world
GROWING FAST: The Chinese-language newsmagazin e, Yaz hou Zhoukan, whichhas attained 55,000 circulation within its first year, is gearing up for a much faster growth in its second year with the Taiwan market about to be tapped. Its sister publication, the l3-year-old Asiaweek,
has, meanwhile, become Asia's leading English-language newsmagazine .................. I 9
ART A SEASON FOR THE SENSES : Hong Kong, a cultural desert not too long ago, is now on the
world map of cultural events. And this month marks the opening of its lTth annual Arts Festi-
val...............
........21
DEPARTMENTS Letters
............10
The Zoo
NEWS THE UNTOLD STORY: "Today, I can say it," Anna Chennault told an FCC luncheon meeting; andwentontoexplainhow shehelped
the Chinese leader, Deng Xiaoping, coin
Editor P Viswa Nathan Editorial Superv¡sion Publications Sub-committee: Paul Bayfield (Chaiman) Ken Ball James
Fofiester
Ed¡torial OfIice
THE FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS'
CLUB
I
Comm¡ltee - Paul Bayfield, Keith Miller, Ken Ball, Robin Moye¡,F.C.C. Shokking. Club Manager: HeinzGrabner, Club Stewsrd: Julia Suen. The Conespondent is published monlhly forand on behalfofThe Foreign Corespondents'Club, by:
PrintlineLtd, Kong Fax:5-845355ó
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ViswaNathe,
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Opinions expressed by wrilers are not necessarily those ofthe Foreign Corespondents' club
4 THE CoRRESPONDENT JANUARY
ton
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1989
JANUARY 1989 THE CORRESPONDENT 5
LETTERS
700
Tt-lE
MEETTHEPRESS
BY ARTI-{UR HACK
Remembered yesterdays
cluding the Russia¡rs. May I remind you that
ALL I9AIÞ WA5 ttwELco¡"rE -ro
time of Lon Nol, the Russians recognised Lon Nol. So that was something that Sihanouk felt very good about today - everybody is yielding to reality and is on his side realising that nobody else really can settle the matter. at the
THE YEAR
GOOD
to
receive the bumper
U
Tþd Thomas edition of The Correspondent, even if the customs man at Bandar Seri Begawan did
WORMI/
0
look a
trace perturbed as he glanced at the photographs of all
But, then, there
o
contests on the
( {\) u¡
Carnbodiâ, Sihanoukand the men
I
Street.
Mike, shown around by a justifiably
The craft of fTction
proud Donald Wise, grunted, stared at the ceiling, and, pressed for an opinion, remarked: "great place for a fight". A Cambridge Boxing Blue and a former British army champion, with his own fighting woes in the ring and against the Japanese (and others), Mikehad mixed much with joumalists and appreciated space being reserved for
I have for some time
been meaning to write
andtellyouhow muchl enjoyed The Correspondent in its splendid new form. Beyond question the best press club publication in the world, it is a joy and a comfort to us at a distance. I had to write when I read Ted Thomas's colourful piece on the old Club on Conduit Road. Imustconfessthatlwas a littlehurt at
the exchange of views.
Nowadays, with the Club resounding to the sound of yodelling (and the Lambeth Walk), men need no longer be men in the pugilistic sense, but it is timely of Ted, an ex-scrapperhimself, to remind members of those uncomplicated and less sophisticated
his describing my Mandarin as "execrable", so bad I didn't know what I was saying. I have, however, now realised that Ted, with the immense subtlety for which he is celebrated was writing the opposite of what he meant. The Club itself? Just the main point: First, many did take their fiancees there
days.
Mike Jones
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ond ol fully comprehensive ¡nsuronce, which ìs optionol Bul, unlike some, there ore no oddilionol, hidden exfos of ony kind. No helty chorge when you collecl or leove your cor ol lhe oirporl, for exomple P¡Gk
.l
6 THE CORRESPONDENT JANUARY
I
989
wanted to build flats. Third, the Club did not then move to the
Yu To Sang Building, but to
Li Po Chun
Chambers.
I
must also reassure those readers not subtle enough to realise that Tþd's column entitledWhere Are they Now should have been n' t N ow
.
Specifics: Rawle Knox is r¿ol in
the
graveyard, butvery muchalive nearHungerford, Berkshire. Keyes Beech does not live in Hawaii, but in Bethesda, near Washington, D.C. Frank Robertson is not retired in London, but near Melboume, Vctoria. Forrest Edwards is rzot retired in Hawaii, but in San Francisco. James Wilde has Æot disappeared, but is working for Tirn e in Nairobi. Could Ted now give us a Do It Yourself column, starting with How to Tum Over a Junk and Get A New Moto¡ from the InsuranceCompany? Anyway, I look forward to overturning a and takchampagne glass or two with him ing lessons in the craft of fiction. RobertS. Elegant
up vour co. ôt Hoolhrow or
li's oll included in lhe seruice Contlnenlol olso hove bronches in London, Monchesler, Dover, Brussels, Fronklun ond Luxemhouro ond ô lolol of more ùon 3,000 vehiclei
WHY NOT CALL, TEIEX OR SEND FOR OUR BROCHURE NOW. STONECIOSE, NORlON ROAO
D,
long battle, ejected by the landlord who
Gctwlck
c¡iml¡¡t¡¡vÀnil tRytG
o
-
and their wives. Moira and I actually became enegaged there and have a piece of the fireplace to prove it. Second, the Club did not move because of lack of income, but because we were, after a
entttled W h e r e T h e y Ai
W€SfDRAYTON, MIDDtrSFX UB7 8]U PHONE læ95) 422144 rAX. f08951
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G
are other
problems. For
instance, the fact that a so-called partition of Cambodia has again been mooted by certain people. And, of course, nobody will have anything to do with that. Sihanonk seems to think that where China, the United States, France and Singapore are concemed, there is no problem at all. He especially mentioned Singapore, the United States and China as being nations which have really come to see matters exactly as he sees them. And he does realise that there is a problem because of
ì
those flushed, boozy female faces. Was that the LambethWalk of my youth they were performing? Ted's reference to gladiatorial lawn of the Club at Conduit Road (Remembered Yesterdays) helps to explain the enigmatic remark made by that great characte¡ Brigadier Mike Calvert (Mad Mike) of Chindit fame, when I escorted him to the "new" FCC shortly after it opened in Ice House
OF THE
Ted Thomas replies:
Sixty per cent accuracy is usually
good enough for any story originating in the FCC. I hope the living dead will bear with me if and when I report on their untimely demise. Bob's low blow about the purely inadvertent capsizing ofourjointly-owned junk and the resulting lossof theengineis deeply wounding and invites riposte. Watch this space.
who propelled history forward
rhe 800,000
dian nationality
Han Suyin, bestsellingauthorof fictionand books on China, including a monumental work on Mao Tse-tung and his impact on China, was the guest speaker at an FCC luncheon on December 12. She covered a wide range of topics - from her recent visit to Vietnam and subsequent meeting with Prince Norodom Sihanouk to the great men and women she has met and admired. Excerpts:
to
1,000,000 new Cambodians who are Vietnamese and who have all been given Camboand
who are now settled there. That is a problem. But Sihanouk calls it a false problem. He seems to think that the main issue is the withdrawal of the Vietnamese troops. 'We
So this is the gist of what we talked about. also talked about other things you may
want to ask about.
going to see him was that I had just been to Vetnam where I had had three hours with Nguen
his galloping tours around Cambodia 15 times, I had a fair idea that he just loved to
Co Thach, the foreign minister, three hours
play this kind of
with the Intemational Relations Institute, two hours with the Marxist-Leninist Institute,
because his country, Iet's face it, had very many handicaps. He seems to have got away
five hours with theWriters'Association of
with it.
I feel that the press in many countries of the world have handled the Cambodian issue extremelywell. Ihavementioned ittoSihanonk. I recollect that on that day, the 30th of Novembe¡ there was an especially good article by Olivier 1Ì)dd in Iz Figaro. And I'm sure that in Hong Kong too you are very interested because it does concem Southeast Asia. AndSoutheastAsia is going to bea phenomenally important part of the development of the Pacific area and of Hong Kong. Therefore, from that point of view I thought you'd like to know that I have seen
Hanoi, and three hours with the Writers' Association of Hue. So, I thought I'd also see Sihanouk. I'll just tell you my personal im-
We talked about many things. Especially his relationship with China and his relation-
Sihanouk. Now if you have any questions, I'd be glad
ship with Vietnam.
to answer.
pression of Sihanouk. To begin with he has lost six kilos, so he
I've come
SAW (Prince Norodom) Sihanouk on the 30th of November at his home about a hundred kilometres from Paris and I had five hours with him. The ¡eason for
looks very handsome. He looked far better
I'd seen recently of years younger. Success becomes him. He has been successful. Successful in that, despite the fact that for so many years he was misunderstood and thought a kind of volatile playboy. What people did not understand about him, but which I always felt, was that he had to play the kind of game that he did play in order to achieve his ends. And now the consensus in France is that that fellow always knew what he's doing because he kept everybody guessing about what he's trying to than the photographs that
him - l0
do.
That, of course, is a very good gimmick. I itis called upmanship in English. He's
think
wonderful in upmanship. Having known him since 1956 and having accompanied him in
game and he had to do
I
it
said, "Monseigneur,
to see you because I've just been
He said, "Oui Madam, je le sa¡s." Ofcourselhadwrinen to him andtold him. I wouldn't go to Vietnam without telling him. I told him that they asked me to go to Pnompenhandl saidto them, "Not without
to Vietnam-"
Monseigneur." Then
I said to him, "Of
course you and I will be together in Pnompenh in 1991." He said, "Perhaps 1992." So, I have a date to go to Pnompenh in 1992with Sihanouk. I do hope that it will be
QUESTION: I read your book onTibet afew years ago with great interest. Have you revised your opinion now that the annexøtion of Tibet by Peking is a good thíng and is welcomed by most Tibetans? HAN SUYIN: I think that writing things as you see them does not need any revision. I leave the revision to other people who know better afterwards.
realised.
I think that all I can say is that he is hopeful and yet not hopeful. There aremanyreasons for him to have more hope. But mainly he is now being backed by everybody in-
QUESTION: Could I ask íf Prince Síhanouk gave you any idea about his feelings about the way inwhich the Americans and the nese have imposed Pol Pot upon him?
Chi-
JANUARY 1989 THE CORRESPONDENT 7
MEET THE PRESS
MEETTHEPRESS HAN SUYIN: I don't think the word Pol Pot is right. Do you mean the Khmer Rouge or
scholarship and said, "I have no money".
Pol Pot?
ANSWER: KhmerRouge. HAN SUYIN: Well, the Khmer Rouge are not all Pol Pot. From what Sihanouk tells me,
there are three or four different kinds of among the Khmer Rouge. Nobody
views
talks really
neverhave been able to study. They were a bit amazed when the wife of the Kuomintang military attache in London arrived to ask for a
in
Sihanouk's presence about Pol Pot. I don't know why we have all figured out
that there's only this one guy, Pol Pot. I've never met Pol Pot myself. I met Ieng Sary and his wife, in 1978, at the time when I wanted to go to Cambodia and see Sihanouk who was at that time a prisoner there. They said, "Yes, you are welcome to Cambodia, but you can't see Sihanouk." So I said, in that case, I do not
go to Cambodia. Because I don't think I can sacrifice a private friendship simply for news. Now, Sihanouk feels that you must talk not only about the Khmer Rouge, you must also talk about the Vietnamese. He looks upon both as a kind ofbalance.
Without the Khmer Rouge, and until Sihanouk is strong enough to be able to fight, there will be problems in Cambodia and there are problems already in Battambang. In Battambang, according to Sihanouk, there are
They said, Ihave to pass exams. So I passed my exams and then they gave me a scholarship. Andit isfrom that time onthatlcould finish my medical studies in England. And then when I had finished, I found that be-
being Chinese I'm naturally thrifty (ir to apply these days; the Chiseem to spend overmuch in China, this is
cause
doesn't seem nese
all I'm going to tell you about tomorrow's lecture), and I have, having also taken ajob on top of studying, saved 52 pounds. I returned
it to the British Council. They were again amazed. They said nobody has ever retumed any money at all. I said, "Well, I think you may need it." So I gave them the 52 pounds. I feel a great debt of gratitude to the British Council for having been so kind as to get me out of a rather sticky mess in 1945 when
my Chinese husband, military attache
to
Chiang Kai-shek's China, went back to fight the "Red Bandits" as he pur it. I rold him, 'I'm not going with you because it's wrong; you shouldn't do that; and, you're going to lose. Well, he was a brave man; he went and he was killed. And I was left with a child and no money and that was why the British Coun-
cilgave mesomemoney.
problems for the following reasons.
Battambang is one of the provinces which was colonised by the Vietnamese in which many Vietnamese farmers came in and were immediately given Cambodian nationality and a militia was formed. Later on, the Vietnamese withdrew their armies from there. This has produced a panic among the Vietnamese farmers and they too began to withdraw. As a result, the Khmer Rouge are coming in. They also have backing in tlre countryside. We are only thinking of them in terms ofthe cities, but in the countryside they do have support.
So, Sihanouk had to cope with that and the better we understand Sihanouk and how he has to play the matter, the earlier the whole
thing will be settled without another bloodbath. And there is only one way to avoid it; that is, implement the four points he put up. far you have only confined your discussion on Indo-China and about your bookonTibet. Can you tell us your QUESTION:
So
impression of China during your last visit?
QUESTION: Are you working
on anything
rightnow? Anybook?
HAN SUYIN:
Oh yes, I am. I don't know whether you can call it work. Because a book is like a child, it just grows in you. It's partly what you want to do but also itjust happens to hit you, you just get pregnant that's all. And you can't do very much contraception about a book, I found out, at least not where I'm concerned. Yes, I'm trying to write a biograpby of a very great man, a man who influencedmy whole life, who actually changed my life, Premier Chou En-lai.
QUESTION:
Chou En-laiwas a great man.
Reading your books, you have admired throughout your lift, many great Chiang Kai-shek, Mao Tse-tung, Sihanouk, Chou En-lai. Somebody once said, "Great leaders also make great wars." Do you think great men are really such a good thing or do you think they also can be very destructive?
I think a great man is both constructive and destructive. If you think about Genghis Khan, well he was very destructive, but his name lingers and so does Julius Caesar's, Napoleon's. I do admire anybodywho tries to get out of mediocrity; HAN SUYIN:
HAN SUYIN: I'm not going to tell you my
present-day impression of China because we'11 behere until six o'clock next moming, and because I am going to lecture on the matter
forthe British Council. Now let me say a word about the British
Council.
Without
the
I
would
8 THE CORRESPONDENT JANUARY
I
989
wbo takes risks, who does things. sometimes they do terrible things and sometimes they do wonderful things and sometimes they do
both.
I
admired Chiang Kai-shek in 1938 for having become the head of the common front against Japan. Of course, I admired him. Everybody admired him. The communists also admired him. It took some doing. I ad-
to.be written. There are many others. In Europe, not so many. There is Mrs Thatcher, of
HAN SUYIN: Yes, to begin with I think the
you can give us some brief comments on
steam has gone
these publications?
cowse (laughter).
changed.
Anybody laugh? I shouldn't laugh. I think that she's fantastic.
even
QUESTION: Just one last thing, don't you
Sihanouk told you how was he intending to prevent the Khmer Rouge from doíng again what they did between '75 and '79, the evil and terrible things?
HAN SUYIN: It's
there
is real demilitarisation. And the second one a civilian commission. And he hopes that his own army, thanks to help of friends, will be able to cope with the situation should it arise. [n that instance let me remind you that the
to find so much spurious material myth and legend rather than exact fact. Fortunately there was a very good symposium on Chou En-lai at Nankai University in October, where documents from the central committee archives came out and we were
United States has changed its mind very much. Sihanouk was very pleased with this. He received Ambassador Vernon Walters who said to him, 'We apologise, we hadn't understood you'.
able to rectify
a
little bit different, isn't
it? Mother Teresa is one kind
of person and Mrs Thatcher is another kind. But I do admire Mrs Thatcher's presence of mind on television. She's awonderfulTVpersonality and she is very good. I've only got one thing against Mrs Thatcher and the next time I go to London I'll try to speak to her about it. That is, she's cutting scientific funds for universities in England. I think this is the wrong time to cut funds for science. That's about the only thing I have against her, at the moment. I may have other things against her later.
QUESTION: May I
ask you
was ambassador for France to UNESCO, and
fought all her life. She fought in the Algerianwar. Icallthata greatwoman. And I know many. Unfortunately, I don't know why they don't come out as much, perhaps, as great men. They're not so much talked about. I would say that there are an enormous number of women who are great, who are doing many wonderful things, and I'm very
Prince
for he felt
a
lot of what westem sinolo-
gists had written about Chou En-lai which is wrong, absolutely wrong, according to the
archives
of
the Communist Party of China. so you
They did not have these archives,
cannot blame them for having written the wrong things. The Europeans and the Americans who were there were very pleased that at last the material was coming out, even though it was only in dribblets. And I'm very fortunate that it has come before I wrote my book, otherwise I would be asked whether I would have to revise it.
that
being understood was the first great step towards being able to get the money and
the weapons that a force under him would need.
QUF,STION: There are many books on Chou En-lai in Chinese and in English, perhaps
WITH CHINA? Buy the China Media Book
women?
she has
if
That pleased Sihanouk,
-
TRADING
QUESTION: Have you met any great
Arab and mother Jewish, therefore she's is a lawyer. She
are very few. And they are all extracts. Where history in China is concerned we really have to be more serious. I'm saying this to my Chinese friends. I found that my greatest difficulty in going through the material was
on
officers to read Hitler's Mein Kampf andl was told, as one of the wives of his officers, to read my Mein Kampf, but I didn't want to and I was beaten for it. That's all I know.
Jewish, as you know. She
Well that is why Sihanouk is so insistent two commissions. One a military commission to see that
HAN SUYIN: On Chou En-lai? No; there
class as Mother Teresa?
HAN SUYIN: I don't know. I have never studied Hitler. All I remember was that Chiang Kai-shek at one time wanted all his
controversial, unsaintly person. But she was great and she understood her own people. She had such a grip. I met Eleanor Roosevelt who I thought also was great. And I have met many women whom I would call great but who are not so well known. The latest is Giselle Halim. You may notknow her. She is a Jewish girl from Morocco. Her father was
don't think the Khmer Rouge,
if they were fairly strong, would attempt quite the same thing. But it is a question of
you put her in the same
QUESTION: Would
HAN SUYIN: I have met many. Indira Gandhi was one of them. That is another
has
power.
mired Mao Tse-tung, and I continue to admire Mao Tse-tung. Again I'm not going to change one word of what I wrote. If it was wrong, it was wrong. It doesn't matter. I don't matter. What matters is that we have great men. Therehave beengreatmen. And we have to remember them. That does not mean to admire everything that they did. But let us admire at least what they did well. I think it was Shakespeare who said, 'The evil of men lives on after them, the good is often interred with their bones.' But let us rememberthe good also. They are the people who propel history forward. Not all of them can be saints and certainly they are not saints. But let us at leasthavethecourage andthe greatness to admire great men.
think that the people who wrote in favour of Hitlerasa great man, who escapedmediocrity, who had force of will and so on, were partly responsible for what he did?
I
out of it. Everything
To do business with China you need an understânding of the media in the People's Republic. For the first time ever a complete and up-to-date listing of all newspapers, magazines, television and radio stations is available, giving all relevant information such as name, title, æþhone and fax numbers. Advertising and listings rates are included and a wealth of information on the media scene in this rapidly expanding economy. Complete the coupon for a copy of the China Media Book.
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Yes. Please rush
I enclose my
cheque for 75 Pounds Særling (or US equivalent) per copy.
Name
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glad.
I'm not capable of viriting a biography of Indi¡a Gandhi, I understand that one is going
Pounds Sterling
Signed
JANUARY 1989 THE CORRESPONDENT 9
MEET THE PRESS
Llnrest in Tibet: The eye witness account
t
ect. The¡e was a doctor from teaching there andhe needed
,li l;l
"
h
\r,v
tl t',
"T
r'!
,.
a L'
1
i&
eyes
of
those young people
who
were
marching with thatflag was acombination of
incredible fear; and yet enormous determination. They knew what they were doing, they knew why they were doing it and they knew what was going to happen to
them. In that they knew something we did not know. None of us, all the westemers in Lhasa at that time, could have imagined what we saw - that is, these people would simply be gunneddown. We are holding this press conference because we
feel we owe those demonstrators
something. We have a responsibility to tell you and to tell the world what we saw. QUESTION: Where were you standing when youwere shot? How didyou getshot? Were they shooting at observers or were you with the crowd?
MEINDERSMA: We were inthe streetleadingup to the BarkhorSquare.
SCHWARTZ: It's the street that would normally mark the beginning of the Barkhor. And the demonstrators had come down
the street and moved
out
into Jokhang
the square in front of the temple. There were many other foreigners as well in that street where we were standing. There were also foreigners in the square looking on from various angles, some of them far away, some of them
QUESTION: Were you
politics?
Telling it all totheworld. Fromleft to right, Schwartz,MeindersmaandGittings:
monstrating?
say that.
At
the moment the procession fearin their eyes. You saw that they were trembling with fear but very determined on doing something. It was completely like a peace march, they were doing nothing. Everybody who saw them passing by started to cry and got completely came by, you saw the
MEINDERSMA: I was not demonstrating.
QUESTION: Were you with the demonstrators? MEINDERSMA: No, I was in the market afea and I saw them passing by. At the time I was
emotional, but not involved, just looking. And I was looking as frightened as all the Ti-
shot, I think the distance between me and the demonstrators might have been 30 metres. I was in the street, they were on the square.
betan people around me.
QUESTION: How many demonstrators were there?
QUESTION: Did the Chinese shoot at everybody in the area?
MEINDERSMA: Well, what I could see from the street was that they were shooting at everybody in that street. There were about 10 Chinese soldiers covering the stíeet. They were shooting at all the people indiscriminately in the street and they were marching, running into the street as they were shooting. QUESTION: Did anybody die?
MEINDERSMA: Yes, there were people killed. It's very difficult to give an exact number of the people killed. The Tibetan people estimate around seven people were killed, but not all the bodies had been identified or had been seen. QUESTION: What were you doing at that moment?
MEINDERSMA: The area where everything took place is the central market area of Lhasa. I was there shopping and walking around. QUESTION: Would you soy you were an interested bystander? Did it look as if you were interested inwhatwas going on?
close.
IO
de
THE CORRESPONDENT JANUARY 1989
Well, it's very difhcult to
went out of Tibet. I came back, I guided a tourist group through Tibet in Septembei. I came back in October as a tourist and to study the Tibetan language. I was a student in Tibet and I was asked by an American professor in anthropology, who is doing some research on Tibetan medicine, to translate and work for him fo¡ a month. So I worked and translated for him for a month. And after that, three weeks had passed until the event happened.
QUESTION: The Chinese authorities are saying that Jou were interfering ininternal
P/roro: SunnyLee,South China ll4or ning Post
I would just like to say why we're holding this press conference. On December 10, the three of us here and many other foreigners who were in Lhasa at that time, saw a group of unarmed, peaceful demonstrators, carrying a flag, marching through the streets of Lhasa and into the Barkhor area. We saw them being shot at without any provocation and, as far as we are concemed, for no reason. The looks in the
Switzerland translator. So
I worked for him for four months. Then I
Christa Meindersma, the Dutch woman who was hit by a bullet when Chinese soldiers opened fire at Tibetan human rights demonstrators in Lhasa on December 10, arrived in Hong Kong a week after the incident with two others who witnessed the unrest British freelancejoumalistDanny Gittings and a sociology professor at the University of Newfoundland, Ron Schwartz. At a press conference held at the FCC on December lJ to, as they put it, "tell the world what we saw" they gave their account of the unrest and subsequent events. Excerpts: SCHWARTZ:
a
MEINDERSMA: One group which I saw was around 25 or 30. I think most were monks and nuns. There was another group, which I did not actually see, going the other way around the circular street, estimated to be I 5 to 20 people.
QUESTION: There have been reports that in the day or two prior to Íhe event, there were rumours îhat some kind of protest march might happen and also rumours that the Chinese authorities had issued some kind of warning to the effect that anybody who did participate in the demonstt'ation would he shot. Can you tell us whether there were rumours inadvance that this demonstration would occur, or rumours thaf the Chinese authorities had issued some kind of warning? MEINDERSMA: There were rumours a few weeks before, that there had been patrols of soldiers around Lhasa. On Saturday, December 10, we found out from Tibetan people that it was the Intemational Day of Human Rights. The Tibetan people had neighbourhood committee meetings on the day before the demonstration. In the meetings it was said to the Tibetan people that if they would go out to the Barkhor square that day, they would risk a fine of 100 yuan or, if they demonstrated, they would risk being shot.
QUESTION: I'd like to know if you had actu- QUESTION: Were there any warning shots ally seen the lamakilledanddoyoubelieve fired into the air? that more lhan one lama was killed? MEINDERSMA: No warning was given. No GITTINGS: I saw the dead body of the lama attempt was made to scare or to arrest people within half-an-hour of the demonst¡ation or to tell us we had to stop, or that we were not ending. I was standing by a pool of blood to look orwhatever. immediately in front of the Jokhang temple. A number of Tibetans came up to me and QUESTION: We heard repot'ts that lhe person ushered me across the town through some who was shol was lhe man who was carrying side streets, to a small temple in the north of t he nati onal fl a g of Ti he t. Would y o u say t hat Lhasa. There I sawthe deadbodyofamonk. police deliberotely singled him out? He'd been shot at close range in the left side ofhis head.
in
monks when they shot?
MEINDERSMA: I saw, before I was shot, that the troops moved up in two directions from the police station. They moved up in the direction of the street where we were. They also moved in the direction of the Jokhang temple in front of which the monks were. When they started shooting the monks, they must have been in the range of one to two metres. The distance between me and the soldiers who shot me must have been less than 10 metres.
QUESTION: Were you requested by the police to get out of the place during the shootMEINDERSMA: No; no waming was made on that day, no waming was made the day before. We were walking around the Barkhor that day for a few hours since around eight or nine o'clock. We had been all over the place, people could have wamed us, they could have told us. Nobody evertold me to getout of the place; nobody ever told me that there mightbe adanger,that there was an orderto shoot people; and, nobody gave any waming. or made any attempt to get us out of there before the shooting.
QUESTION: Do you hare any ronne(|¡on with the Dalai Lama's exile governmenl?
MEINDERSMA: I have no connection with the Dalai Lama's exile govemment. I have met the Dalai Lama.
QUESTION: How did you react to the claim hy the Chinese that you were not acting as a tourist should?
the Tibetan flag was marching in front of the group guiding the group of people. He was deliberately shot through the forehead at close range. This
MEINDERSMA: After the riots of October 1987, the Chinese introduced a law that tourists are not allowed to follow, to crowd around or to watch actual disturbances. But I wonder how a person can be in the market area, see the demonstrators go by and not
was an aimed shot, yes.
watch.
the chest and
QUESTION: How close were the troops to îhe
MEINDERSMA: No, I was not interfering in the intemal politics of the country.
MEINDERSMA: Yes,
The one carrying
I'm
sure they did.
QUESTION: Why did they confiscate your
QUESTION: How bad is your arm?
passporf?
MEINDERSMA: I've just come from the hospital and I'd been examined by a military doctor and he said, 'another six inches, you would have beendead.' Hesaid,Ihave been very, very lucky. There is tissue and muscle damage. butthebonehas notbeen touched, the veins have not been touched, the nerves have not been touched, the lungs have not beentouched. Butthere is still the dangerof getting intemal infection. This danger can be there for the next three weeks and without proper treatment there might be permanent damage to the movement of my arm.
MEINDERSMA: Well, the reason was not veryclearto me either. The shootingwason
a Saturday. The following Monday
they
came into my room and said they came to do a passportcheck. So, Ihanded them mypassport. They looked in it and they said they were going to keep it. My embassy, which had telephoned, was on the line then and
asked them what to do? They said that should ask forthe reason. So I asked forthe reason and I was told there's a mistake in my passport. But the¡e's no mistake in my passport.
QUESTION: Could you explain why you were inTibet in the
QUESTION: Did they confiscate other passports?
first place?
MEINDERSMA: I came to Tibet in March little while in Tibet, I was asked by the Panchan Lama's corporation, which is called Tibet Development Fund, to do atranslatingjobforaprojectfor the Swiss Red C¡oss. This is a teaching projthis year. After being a
SCHWARTZ: My passport was
taken.
Danny's (Gittings) passport was taken. Perhaps a half a dozen other foreigners had their passports taken. The reasons we were given were that they were looking for inegularities
JANUARY I989 THE CORRESPONDENT I
1
MEETTHE PRESS
NEWS
been inTibet tofurther the cause ofhuman rights in addition to studying formally?
MEINDERSMA: No,
MEINDERSMA: This book is written in very
simple Tibetan and Tibetan people
have advised meif want to start readingTibetan, this is the best book to statt with. This book is not a forbidden book to bring in. I used it as a study book. was full of notes in English between the lines of Tibetan. I have brought it in completely legally. My bag had been searched whenl passed theborder. Nothing had been said about having this book.
I
I wouldn't describe
myself as a human rights activist, but
as
It
soon as you come to Tibet you find out tbat there are a lot of human rights violations in Tibet. I do speak theTibetan language and I do have contacts with Tibetan people.
QUESTION: Were you offered any apology from the Chineseauthorities or anyformof compensationfor the injuries you suffered?
MEINDERSMA: No, any apology
or
QUESTION: What is the atmosphere inLhasa ríght now? How do the Tibetan people feel?
I
was never offered anexplanation oracompen-
SCHWARTZ: After the disturbance, there were continual patrols of police and soldiers throughout that day and the following night. We heard from people who had come by to see us in our hotel room of what, for lack of a better word, I would call false alarms. That is to say, there would suddenly be crowds of Tibetans running in fear and then soldiers would come stomping along with their weapons held out. But as fa¡ as we knew there were no further incidents of shooting, but an enormous amount of tension and a kind of police clampdown on the entire city.
sation by the Chinese government. When they came in the end to bring back my passport, they asked me if I had any demands. And wrote down four demands first, I demanded my possessions which they
I
took without my knowledge; second, compensation; third, an official explanation and apology, a copy of which to be sent to the Dutch embassy in Beijing as 1o how I came to be shot, why I was walking around the Barkhor as a typical tourist without being warned that the police might open fire.
QUESTION: Why is it that these young monks are prepared to risk their lives to make a statement like this? What gives them such hrave determination?
QUESTION: You said you'ye got contacts withTibetans. Did youlearn anything from any of your contacts beþrehand that the demonstrationwould be held at that time?
MEINDERSMA: These young monks MEINDERSMA: We leamed from the Tibetan people that it was the International Day of
Human Rights and we concluded mainly from the large number of Chinese soldiers around that area that there might be a distur-
QUESTION: Do the Chínese regard iÍ
as
somehow suspicious that you speakTibetan at all, among another languages, and also when you were in a position where you're translating for people, have you a right to be there on a touristyisa?
MEINDERSMA: Of course, I started to be there on a
tourist visa and they were actually
conclusively what she was wearing because Iremembered that she hadbeenshot wearing her down parka, I remember seeing the bullet holes in the down parka. So I said this to the police intenogator that, in fact, we still had the down parka. At that point he jumped up and there was a
not trying to bring anything back; they are against the violation of their basic rights, their basic freedoms. Theylive infear continuously forthings theysay, - They can be put in orforthings they think. prison; they can be tortured. And I think that we have come to a point where not only the monks but also the Tibetan people have realised that there are no real improvements in this situation and the many things the Chinese govemment is putting on paper are lies. So, there is a sense of incredible solidarity, of incredible urgency and, I feel, the Tibetan people now feel that they are on the edge of being completely wiped out by the Chinese and they have to do something to show the world and they are prepared to die for it.
asking, begging, me to help them out because they had no translator. They did not give me a workpermit. Solwasworkingon a tourist visa with the knowledge of the Public Security Office. The Chinese don't like foreigners who speak Tibetan, who have a very clear interest QUESTION: Is there any awareness among in the Tibetan culture, in the Tibetan language Tibetans of the recent development Íhat the and who make an effort to try to leam the lan Dalai Lama is ready to enter into tatks with
guage.
QUESTION: It is reported that you
the Chinese?
brought t"r*o"*rtn:
There is an awareness of
Iand and My Peoplc written by the fact that China and represenratives of the the Dalai Lama which is banned in china, Dalai Lama are talking about having talks. why did you do so? The Chinese published this in the daily newsthe book, My
I
2 THE coRRESPoNDENT JANUARy
SCHWARTZ: Christa was never actually interrogated by the police. I was interrogated, Danny Gittings v/as inteffogated and a number of other foreigners were interrogated. It was very interesting. On the whole, the police were very polite. I can speak from my own personal experience. They wanted to know how long I had been in Tibet, they wanted to know in detail what I had seen on the day of the demonstration . It took a very long time and it was very detailed. However, there was one very surprising incident which occurred in the middle of my interrogation. The man who was interrogating me asked very specifically what Christa has been wearing on the day ofthe demonstrat¡on. She has been wearing westem clothes, that is bluejeans and adownparka. And I kept insisting on this. He kept getting madder, madder and madder. At one point he said to me, "You are lying, she was not wearing western clothes." It then occurred to me that, in fact, I could demonstrate
are
for instance, the regime before '59. They are
1989
Deng Xiaoping and the
Four Modernisation slogan
The untold story of General Claire Chennault who founded the ANNA CHAN CHENNAULT, widow
QUESTIONs Canyou describe the police interrogatíon?
mostly between 20 and25 years old. They are fighting against what they have experienced until now. They have never experienced, say
trying to fight
bance. That's as far as we knew.
to this is one of desperate hope. The Tibetan people's experience with the Chinese is that many things get said, many things get put on paper, but it turns out to be lies, there is nearly no practice. So, they have this sort of desperation. paper. The reaction
flurry
of activity.
People
lrvent out
of the
room, people came into the room and they said, "Can you show us the down parka?" The next day when we were called down to the police station to collect our passports, they said, "please bring the down parka with you". I brought the down parka with the bullet holes, with the blood stains, showed it to
Flying Tigerfighter group which supported the Chinese Nationalists against the Japanese, was the guest speaker at an FCC luncheon on December6, 1988.
An influential
woman in her own right,
Anna Chennault acted in recent years
as an
emissary between China and Taiwan as well as trade emissary between the US and China. Speaking of her impressions of President Reagan, thepresident-elect George Bush, the Washington scene and her meetings with the Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, Anna Chennault said she helped Deng coin China's now
famous slogan,
the Four Modemisation.
Recalling her meeting with Deng in January 1981, when she went to Beijing to aûange the agenda for President Reagan's visit, Anna Chennault said:
Another FCC landmark falls under the wreckerts hammer
Anna Chennault (centre)with FCC Board members -- the second vice president, Irene O'Shea, and the treasurer, Fred Schokking. Photo: Hushvanøs "Today, I can say it now. But, probably, at that time, I was not able to say it. "Deng Xiaoping talked about westemisation, and I said to him: 'China should not talk
could not adapt the western way of doing
about westemisation. After all, ourculture, the Chinese culture, the background certainly
things.' I said,'you should talk about modernisation'. And, I am so glad that he, although as an elderly statesman, was pretty smart to take advice from a woman. And that's how the Four Modemisation was bom."
Hong Kong's property boom has brought yet another landmark in the FCC's history under
ramshackle FCC" at Sutherland House. It was, said Young, " an ever-blessed sanctuary
the wrecker's hammer.
from war, and
Before it moved to the Dairy Farm's old ice house and converted it into the present splendid club house with one of the most famous bars in the world, the FCC was based in Sutherland House. There it occupied the l4th and l5th floors, connected by a spiral staircase, and with a magnificient view of the harbouq seen only from the men's toilet. The Club operated there
for
14 yearsfrom 1968.
Addressing
club luncheon last Ocand author Gavin Young spoke of what he called " the old a
tober, joumalist
I was particularly attached, sometimes too literally, to its narrow spiral staircase. It reminded me rather of being on board a ship; a ship which sometimes in a very rocky sea, you had to cling on to because it tended, at such times, to sway. Occasionally, one would have been passing the time with
Dick Hughes, Donald Wise, and Michael Keats, with Barry 'Buzzer' Came of Newsweek. It's typhoon time! Seven nights a week!"
The building where all this occurred is now being demolished to make way for a new hotel, the Ritz Carlton.
Belou': A.view of the Central district seen from the balcony of the Club at Sutherland House. Le/t: The building covered up for dem olition. photo', BobDavìs
the police, they were very nice again, they looked at the down parka, and went off, it was looked at by a number ofpeople, they then retumed it to us, and they said we could go. We actually have it with us, right now.
QUESTION: If wo
uld y ou hav
not
e stay
e
for medical treatment, d in Tihe t ?
MEINDERSMA: I've come out to speak and to testifli on what is happening in Tibet. I mean I'm speaking not only on behalf of myself, The Chinese seem to make a big case outof me because I am aforeigner. But they don't seem to be concemed at all about shooting all thoseTibetans who have no chance to
get out andtalk.
JANUARY 1989 THE CORRESPONDENT 13
HACKER,S I.-{
ISTORICAL
MAP OF HONG KONG
KAM TIN DL'RING THE AAOT{GOL W^R,10 YEAR OLD Sur.¡G pRtNcEss, sui¿G Tst¡G,cHt, ruT
I{ERS€LF VNO€R T}.IE PROTECTION-O# ONE OF TI{E TA}.¡G FA,Y\ILY, WHO WAS DTSTRTCT OFFTCÊR, OF KUNQ, HE HID HER, IN KA'û TIN WHERE SHE ,\ ARRIED H¡S SOl.¡ TZU,/Y\1N6. HER FATHER KAOTSUNG LAf E R SECA'ûE EA^PEROi.
yg¡¡.
Do you know why Hebe Haven is called Hebe Haven or how Repulse Bay got its name? Do you know that Hong Kong's first Governor once travelled 1,600 miles on a secret mission disguised as an Arab horse dealer? You will find this and much more in Arthur Hacker's Cartographical Extravaganza of Hong Kong. Making up this fine print are a hundred amusing drawings in elegant curlicule style, illustrating the history, myths and flora and fauna of Hong Kong.
Arthur Hacker, 48 Ming Wai Garden, 45 Repulse Bay Road, Hong Kong.
This print is a perfect wall decoration for your home or office and a "must" for anyone who has lived in, knows and enjoys Hong Kong.
Name
Beautifully printed in a limited edition of 500 numbered copies signed by the artist, it is available unframed for HK$300 post free from:
Cheques payable to Arthur Hacker.
l
ORDER FORM Date
Delivery Address:
h
l
The print which measures 41.5" x 30" comes in a strong cardboard tube with protective plastic ends for safe posting.
"A natural Christmas present for former Hong
Telephone
Kong residents now overseas."
No. of copies HK$300 each Send this form with your cheque to Arthur Hacker, 48 Ming Wai Garden, 45 Repulse Bay Road, Hong Kong.
Kevin Sinclai¿ Soutñ China Morning Post, "Treasure chest of Hacker's findings." Asian Boating Monthly.
Please
Signature
send
JANUARY 1989 THE CORRESPONDENT 15
CLUB
NEWS
16 THE CORRESPONDENT JANUARY 1989
JANUARY I 989 THE CORRESPONDENT 17
MED
L)ã.fr'ññffiËH nAal ñEËËEE SF{ANGHAI BRANCH
CIf
business
Täi"iüi
been unable to
guage news magazine, Yazhou Zhoukan,fhe
read how the
first Monday of
'teeming millions' live and
last month was,
Yauzhou Zhoukan, which tr anslates
. +Ë
*+ e.
+ Ê;i
lffi â1
2.
ÆaË*T.E
lmport of various textile raw material, accessories and production equ ipments.
zine covering everything from politics and business to the arts, sports, social affairs,
Chinese-lan-
year.
& tÉfrh ?,eIF.*+
By ClaudiaNalven
Time Inc's groundbreaking
at the Hilton Hotel in Central, Hong Kong, to toast a very successful first
I . lñ . fJÊ .fr\:lBtruffi , -Ë-Ë ãtÊmf'*WtÉ ÉtlH*'lfsæÉÈÉt tr n #Íã,
ING
milestone. Many start-ups do not survive that long. So, for
Eagles Nest
Export of silk, silk fabrics, silk ready-made articles, other textile fiber raw material and products.
SH
people and new books. Said George in his inaugural editorial statement: "Without a general-interest magazine of their own, Asia's regional readers have hitheto
rightfully, a day to celebrate. More than 850 well-wishers plus staff of Asiaweek Ltd., which launched the publication, packed into the
ë+
LI
Launched ayear ago, the Chinese-language sister publication of Asiaweefr, has found its niche among Chinese readers in SoutheastAsia and is by all accounts going places.
zlne ls an rmportant
.L
B
lazhou Zhoukan - growing fast
CH!NIA NATIONAL SILK IfuTPORT & ËXPORT CORPORATION
Scçpe
IA\PU
liter-
ally into Asia Newsweek, is the sister publication of Asiaweek, which entered its 14th year of publication last month. The magazine is not a ChineseJanguage version of its sibling, says Bruce A. Bamet, president and chief executive offrcer for Trme lnc Asia. "It fills a definite gap in
and its financial backers. While the majority ownership has shifted from the "professional staffl' to the Reader's DigestAssociation Inc in 1981 and, then, to Time Inc in
1985, Asiaweek has
a market leader with average weekly circulation at 68,809 (ABC audir, 88 Jan-Jun) exceeding that of
become
love, paint and
worship, struggle and
the
longestabli shed
die."
This attempt, as George put it,
Far Eastern
Economic
"to give Asia a
Review.
The
voice it has lacked
Jul-Dec
too long" has pai
off
dit
handsomel
bothforthe promot ers
of the concept
the
first
sìaweek, issue and 13 years
later.
88 au-
is expected to ex-
ceed
Meanwhile,
72,000. Asiaweek
the marketplace; it is
the first objective
world newsmagazine
for Chinese people wherever they are."
3.
4. ^'Êã:å;fi#rE *å4
:
5. rulljÎ',ÈÉ+^-ÍF,
Processing business on imported materials or with materials supplied by customers.
4. Consultation service for foreign trade.
5. Domestic sales. trEff lJEa\al t;€iëH tr,iùa\ "J t;b+Ur*-Bå+û;/È
-E;É : 2157t0 ËI+ : 33059 CTSSBCN
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THE FORERUNNER: Like Yazhou Zhoukan, lts forerunner Asiaweek too was a new concept when its first issue \rr'as launched at a reception in The Mandarin in December 1975. Themovers
of
the idea, founding
editor-in-chief T.J.S. George and present
CHINA NATIONAT- SILK IMPORT & EXPORT CORPORATION SHANGHAI BRANCH
17 Zhong Shan Dong Yi Lu. Shalngtrai, China
f e\.215770 Telex:33059 CISSB CN CableAdd:CHISICORP Fax.291757
editor-in-chief Michael O'Neill - both former staffen of the
Far Eastern Economic Review
-
saw
that despite Asia's growing importance, there was no general lnterest newsmaga-
No anniversary celebration is cornplete without the traditional cake. And at theAsiaweek-Yazhou Zhoukan anniversary partyaleadingHongKongsingerandwinneroftheAsia-Pacificsingingcontestfor the Hong Kong region, Rity Chan Fiu-Chon, was there to cut the cake. With her are (from left to ríght): President andchief executive officerofAsiaweekLimited Bruce A. Barnet,managingeditorof YazhouZhoukan Thomas Hon Wing Polin, managing editor of Asíaweek S. Wayne Morrision, publisher of Yazhou Zhoukan Ricky S.P. l|l.a, Asiaweek's editor-in-chief, Michael O'Neill and publisher Robert B. Klaverkamp.
JANUARY 1989 THE CORRESPONDENT
1
9
M E D IA\PU B LI S H I N G scored another success last month - all the 25 advertisement pages in the Dec 23-30 issue have been taken up by IBM for its "we're
are 80-90 per cent different," explains Polin. Barnet adds that
in the results business" promotion campaign. Such ¿n å1oc booking was said to be a first for IBM in Asia andfor Asiaweek.
also singled out in
Yazhou Zhoukdn was
speech by
a
Sin-
gapore's prime minis-
CONTENTED: Basking in enviable successes now,
the glory of such
the founders of
ter, Lee Kuan Yew.
know that profitability is fat' down the road. But they are contented that the magazine has lived up to their expecta-
SUCCESSFUL
tions for the first year.
year old, Polin
Yazhou Zhoukan
It
has gained
a
bonafide circulation of 55,000, based heavily on subscriptions. Readers in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore make up the bulk of its audience, thoughYazhouZhoukan is also distributed in North America, Western Europe and Australia. Plans are in the works to put Taiwan on the circulation map shottly. Thomas Hon Wing Polin, the magazine's managing editor, believes its objective approach to reportage is the key element in its success so far. "We tried to be a reportorial, as opposed to a commentative, magazine. That allows us to be objective while reporting in a fairly rigorous manner. We also emphasise research, verifying all facts. This is unique in Chinese media." One example of the publication's unbiased approach to reportage is that, unlike most Chinese-language magazines, it has not taken a pro-kuomintang or pro-communist stand on the Taiwan issue. Nor has it been the target of Singapore's tough treatment of foreign publications. Yazhou Zhoukon enjoys continued distribution There wi¡h Asiaweek's year-long banjust ended in November.
"The Singapore govemment from the outset saw the two magazines as two separate entities. They are not related; their contents
FORMAT: Although the magazine is
only
a
says
the idea is a lot older. was an idea that had been germinating for around l0 years in
"It
the back of
heads,"
our
says Polin,
who has been with Asiaweek since 1977.
The publishers,
he
adds, consider the
for-
mat and approach suc-
cessful, and he foresees no need for any major change in the
future. Goals for year two are to strengthen editorially and get into new markets. Bamet adds that some educa-
tion of advertisers is also required; the publication sold 500 pages
in its first year. "How this magazine com-
If HE baggy face is the same, with the
Publisher Robert B. Klaverkamp, the driving force behind Asiaweek's advertising sales team since early '80s, knows how towin support forthe magazine, as he demonstrated when MichaelMatthews, Regent International Hotels' vice president for marketing and world-wide sales, arrived at the
anniversary party.
got to be There has never been a regional Chineseunderstood. What wehavedoneiscreatea language publication, so we don't fit into new medium as opposed to a new magazine regional or intemational standards."
pares with othernews magazines has
that have squinted through the camera viewfinder at same rheumy eyes
some of the most horrific scenes ever to appear on the televisìon screens of the world.
You enter the bar of the Red Baron Restaurant, located appropriately enough on the Wycombe airfield, where young Battle of
P':j::ïfi3'i;",'ffTliliT;::'::Ti::Ji',:: and Hunicanes and sõaring aloft to ãå with the Luftwaffe.
Combat cameraman turns to
He was, it
neral and memorial service later. Anybody who has been around the FCC will have fond memories of Udo as a drinker of epic proportions, a bon vivant and one of
the best-respected companions you could
- aUte CUiSine
battle If ¡
Udo
Nesch, (picture) the veteran film camer¿unan and director has taken well to the life of innkeeper and sees nothing contradictory in the fact that the Red Baron of legend, World-War I air ace Baron von Richthoven, was
fighting on the other side.
Old FCC chums
0AI0I| Tllt
nt¡l yo/,R SPICIAIS I
Get ã year planner or a Chinese painting calendar free for orders more than 5200, or a desktoP calendar for orders more than 5300.
20 THE CORRESPONDENT JANUARY
1989
Reloil Oulleh tG28 Bosemenl PeôrnsuloCenÍe,lsmshoßurtosr Kowloon lel 3 óðm3 HonQ koñg lel 5 2708m No ó3 2 f Admrolv Shopprno Arcode Adm 'olVCente No l3l ì F Peñrnsulo Ce^Le lîmsholsur tosl kowlooñ lel I óô9ó37 2 F wrnoOnoepolmentSrore 2lì DesvoeuxRood sheùngwon Ho¡o(ono lel 5 447795
are particularly wel-
come, and Udo asks that regards and good wishes be passed on to Bill Areson, Barry Byrne, Saul Lockhart, Hugh Van Es, Derek
He is hunched over the bar brooding about yesterday's Bacchanalia whenhe and
dog whohas lost his littlebrandybarreland spent the whole nightlookingforit. The restaurant itself, with two bars, is a cosy wood-panelled establishment offering good plain food at sensible prices. His wife
English countryside has not been accomplished without agooddeal of heart-searchsome teething problems, but Udo and Christine have steadily overcome the early difficulties and built for themselves and their regulars a cosy, well-appointed hostelry that offers a home from home for travellers and a friendly local for the community in the countryside around Wycombe.
jovial good humour.
TOPPAN üOORE (EK) LTD. HTM
liîi,Jhru:t,,,:":::i#."åï:"1ï*,,i: ing and
Indeed, Udo has always felt fully at ease as a German among his country's former enemies and taken his place with equanimity and
an assorted group of old chums, pilots, aircr€ws ârrd neighbours put paid to a couple of cases of the new Beaujolais and are now paying the price. His expressionresembles nothing more than that of a great St Bernard
was clear, devastated by the
of his friend Neil Davis and distraught when CBS declined to fund a trip to the fudeath
Christine cheerfully fills the triple role of chef, front-of-the-shop manager and Udo's minder. Udo spent much of the Vietnam war up at the sharpend filming the action forCBCand "trying to avoid getting his ass shot off '. But his combat experience is not by any means limited to that unhappy episode. It was in Lebanon that he finally came face to face with the fact that he was mortal and made the decision to hang up his camera bag.
Williams, Peter Miles and Jim Sweeney. with British Airways expected to step up its frequency to Europe next year, an old boys reunion at the Red Baron in England is Perhaps
nol entirely out ol the question. But, before that, regular FCC barflies can expectto see the lugubrious features of Udo Nesch at his familiar spot just to the right of Bert Okuley's elbow at the southeast comer of the main bar.
JANUARY 1989 THE CORRESPONDENT
2I
A R T \by
s
PEOPLE
vernon Ram
o
.n
P
P
E
FT
HEV
AN Unusually happy family reunion took
A season for the senses A DECADE-and-a-half ago, Hong Kong was universally thought to be a cultural desert. That situation has now changed dramatically. Some of the credit for this goes
to thoughtful joumalists who for years kept prodding the powers-that-be to devote some of their resources to improve the quality of the cultural scene in Hong Kong.
The Foreign Correspondents'
Club, which has been host to luncheon meetings
and guest performances by many of the visiting artists during these years, has a shared interest in the festival alongside the
audiences a rare taste of mediaeval and Renaissance music performed in a way
they were originally intended. The celebrated Spanish flamenco guitarist Paco Pena
will
spice up the exotic
music of the Andes and South America
being presented by Inti-Illimani from Chile.
From Korea arrive the pulsatingthrob
of the Samul Nori Drummers. Theatre fans can count on some exceptional fare topped by Janan's Ninagawa Company in its presentation of Medeahailed as the most
thrilling pro-
Hong Kong Afis Festival
duction
Society, the
classic Greek
Hong Kong Tourist As-
tragedy
in
a
any
language.
Dublin's Abbey Theatre,
soclatlon and British
the oldest na-
Airways, the
tional theatre
event's
in the English-
pnme spon-
speaking world, will
sors. Later this month, Hong Kong annual
Arts Festival. The top draw card at this event will be the legendary Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Andre
TWO leading
Musical highlights will include piano recitals by Alicia de Larrocha and Liszt expert, Leslie Howard (City Hall Concert Hall, February l4). Those partial to the intimacy and virtu-
Don't ForgetTo Tune inTomorrow. A special highlight of the festival will be a series featuring the best of today's visual theatre: The Mysterious Mr Knight,by the
Workshop, and its original production,
osity of chamber music have a veritable feast in store: the Borodin Thio combines the talent of three distinguished Soviet emigrés currently residing in the United StatesandCanada. Thenthere is the opulent offering from the rising new Carmina Quartet which won awards in many international competitions. From Down Under arrives the much acclaimed Australia Ensemble chamber music ambassadors of
Belgian company, Theatre de la Mandragore, will recreate the silent movies of
Australia during the Bicentennial year.
guest artist. And the Hong Kong Dance
Among the other musical goodies must be listed the Wallace Collection noted for the brilliant virtuosity
of
l2
outstanding British brass players. The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet is an unusual group that brings together four prize-winning guitarists.
Vocal music enthusiasts will be thrilled tohearGroupe Yocal de France, the l2-
member Capella Ensemble that will give two performances under the baton of its music director, Guy Reibel.
The Dufay Collective will offer local
22 THE CoRRESPONDENT JANUARY
unique form of cinema theatre.
Chinese Opera fans can count on a sumptuous package: six shows by the Hebel Clapper Opera Tioupe. The Hong Kong Ballet presents two significant works by celebrated intema-
she said he was not yet
ready 10 move around or receive visitors as he would like to. "He is still convalescing and slowly regaining his health." Eddie is scheduled to go back to Taipei for a check -up later this month or early Feb-
production,
Previn through six concefs.
a
About Eddie,
ruary.
The Playboy of the WesternWorld. For the first time, the festival will feature an avant garde experimental theatre group from Thiwan, the Lan Ling Theatre
the '20s in
could open his presents."
stage its cele-
brated
launches the
lTth
of
stars of Hong
Kong'public re-
lations scene are now rising in the southem hemisphere.
David Mitchell, who made his mark in Hong kong by establishing two of the most successful PR agencies in the '70s and later left the territory to become intemational director of development and public affairs for the Switzerland-based World Wildlife Fund, is now running his own consultancy in Australia. And teaming up with him in the new venture is Barry Haselden, the former head of communications for the Hutchison Whampoa gfoup. Reports filtering up from Down Under say that the Mitchell-Haselden team, known as David S. Mitchell & Associates, had a major hand in the unseating of New South
tional choreographers with the Russian ballerina, Galina Samsova, as the special
Company will present Territories of the Zi Tryíng HisWife,a Dead
modem art and design. Hong Kong Land, which showcased the commissioned works of Sir Sidney Nolan at the '87 Arts Festival, will mount for this year's festival an exhibition of works by
Dame Elisabeth Frink, ARetrospective.
1989
IN YDUR I,^/ORKING HABITS AT THE OFFICE..
PEOPLE Wales' Labor government. It was the strat-
Mitchell lived in Hong Kong for more than a decade, afterhaving workedas ajournalist in London, Paris and Australia for AFP, the BBC andthe Melbourne Age. It was during his AFP days in Paris in the early '60s, working with two other
FCC
the southern hemisphere.
classic East-meets-West romance. After graduating from the Taiwan University, Josephine came to Hong Kong to work for a year before travelling to the US to
pursue her studies further. One night, a friend's fathe¡ who happened to have studied medicine in Vienna, hosted a party that
members,
David Davies and Murray Sayle,
that
Mitchell met his wife, Renate. In later years in Hong Kong, he estab-
brought the two together. However, this was 1963, when
lished Grant Public Relations which became one ofthebest PR agencies in theterritory. And it was through Grant Public Relations that some of Hong Kong's present-day PR
marrying
and corporate stalwarts,
like Martin
Spurrier, Godfrey Scotchbrook and Peter Bostock, found their way into Asia. Mitchell left Grant Public Relations to establish Burson -Marsteller (Asia) Ltd. which under his leadership became the largest public relations network in the Asia-Pacific region.
Leaving Burson -Marsteller
in
1978,
Mitchell joined World Wildlife Fund
to
work in Switzerland for the following seven years. There he developed the strategy for the Wildlife Fund 1o get recognition in China, which later led to the launch of the international Save the Panda campaign. Haselden, lived in Hong Kong nearly two decades, the last five of them with Hutchison Whampoa in the days of Bill Wyllie. Previously, he was general manager of Fortune Advertising and later executive director of Chase-Compton, now part of the Saatchi and
Mitchell (right) and Haselden - rising in
held on December 7 included many of their friends who had wished them well on the samedaybackin 1963. The story of their marriage reads like a
egy which they wrote for the lawyers of NSW and the campaign they mounted that helped bring Labor down after l2 years in power.
Mitchell's present comrade-in-arms,
-Zhuang choreographed by Chiang dance-theatre Ching. For connoisseurs of the visual arts, the Bauhaus Exhibition will look into the influence exerted by the Bauhaus School on
^JuÂ,)'
THA'I'LL EE A
\,üONDERFUL LH¡.NGE
place in Hong Kong during this Christmas when the sons, daughter-inlaw and grandson of Eddie and Betty Tseng came from the UnitedStates andEngland tojoin their parents at their family home on Conduit Road,
Mid-Levels. Eddie, winning his battle against a nasty brand of cancer and recovering from pneumonia which he contracted after the sixth chemotherapy treatment, had returned to Hong Kong early December. Number One son, Vincent, came from Connecticut while Number Two son, Jerry, and his wife, Gwyneth, came from England together with Vncent's son, l0-year-old Aron, who is studying in the UK. "We had a quiet Christmas at home, but a lovely one," Betty later said. "My daughterin-law did all the cooking and we sat around the Christmas tree until midnight when Aron
!
s S
food -and -beverage department of the Penin-
tion of Director-Advertising Service.
sula
Mckenzie, Beijing-born and fluent in both Mandarin and Cantonese, has been a member of the FCC for the past three years. Moving to Asiaweek from Olympia Typwriters in 1980, she started as traffic coordinator and then began to move up the ladder.
As
one who has been handling almost
everything connected with advertising from pagination of AsiaweeÈ and its sister publication Yazhou Zhoukan to liaising with advertising agencies and overseas represenMackenzie has witnessed the tatives - group's business expansion and magazine the two publications'emergence as Asia's leading newsmagazines. Asiawe
e
k, Macken-
ziepoints out with anairofpride,has grown a lot and YazhouZhouk¡lr has provedtobe an
AS Asiaweek celebrated its 13th anniversary lást month, it promoted its advertising traffrc
manager Heinz Grabner and his wife Josephine ontheir 25th wedding anniversary last month. Guests at the celebration party
the new posi-
Chinese
foreigner was
rough for Grabner, who then worked in the
Mackenzie
MORE THAN 100 friends and relatives raised their glasses in honour of FCC to
a
not easily accepted. So, the first year of courting was
Saatchi group.
manager, Helen Mackenzie,
a
love
Hotel. "He told me, for him, yes, it was at first sight. But not for me," says Jo-
sephine,
a
former teacher of Chinese history
and literature, now an administrator at St. Margaret Girls College in Kowloon. "First of all, my mother wanted me to concentrate on furtherstudies, and secondl
never had any idea to have any foreign friends. He told me his feelings, but I did not dare to tell him mine. Even if we went to a
l-3 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong Tel:5-265293 lÆ Kowloon Centre, 29 Ashley Road, Tsimshatsui, Kowloon
Tel:3-684021
JANUARY I9S9 THE CORRESPONDENT 23
PEOPLE movie, I would only go inside five minutes aftel everyone went into the theatre, and I would insistthat we leave fiveminuteseaﾃ考ieq so we wouldn't run into anyone I knew." What finally opened Josephine's mind to her future husband was the respect and sensitivity he showed toward his own mother. That he loved his mother so much, she says, revealed a kind heart. Having won Josephine's heart, Grabner's next hurdle was winning his luture mother-in-law's - and her relations. This is where his experience in the service industry proved invaluable. Explains Josephine: "At the time, he was working for the Repulse Bay Hotel, part of the Peninsula Group. When my mother came to dinner, he prepared a Chinese meal and he served it to show that he really respected her very much. Then he prepared a tl'ay and poured tea - the whole evening, he served my mother in a very old-fashioned Chinese way." Later, when he was invited to dinner to meet her aunts and lady cousins, he also served all the ladies, which impressed them so muchthey declared: "Nevermind if he's a foreigner; he's such a gentleman." Taking care of her father was easy. He had been overseas at the time. and her mother had the wedding announcement printed with Grabner's Chinese name on it; he did not find out the truth until he reached Hong Kong, but took to Heinz immediately. The high point in their malriage was the birth of their son Heinrich, who is now l4 and attending the German Swiss Interna-
tional School. "He was a miracle,"
Left: Heinz and Josephine
with their son,
Heinrich
.
The Grabners with some members of the Club staff (top), with Peter Brindisi, David Belland Peter Seidlitz(above) and with Bert Okuley (top right). Ri ght,sec'ondfi'om top,Nicole Perry, Michael Perry and Peter Rischl.
says
Josephine, explaining that shehad been told she could
not have children without major
surgery.
The low point? Like any couple, they fight, admits Josephine, but they always make up quickly. One thing that has contributed to a happy maniage, she says, is that
they both wotk at very demanding jobs . She does admit that there had to be some cross-cultural adjustments, but even these were not as wide as one might think. Two trips back to the Austrian countryside pointed out more similarities than differences between the cultures. For example, there the man is still the master of the family. After church on Sunday, the men would go to a bar or pub while the women waited outside. "We went inside once and everyone tumed to look at me. It was just like old China." Even the two languages had their similarities, with the polite German si e for "you" not that far from the Chinese polite gok ho. Most of their married life has been lived in Hong Kong, though they did retum to Europe twice, when Heinz considered par-
ticipating in his family's restaurant business in Austria. Howeveﾂ｡ each time, they found themselvesback in Hong Kong.
24 THE CORRESPONDENT JANUARY
1989
When the band began to play the music of Heinz's
youthful days, many of Heinz's contemporaries and elders took to the floor to dance with Josephine. Among them: Fred Schokking (far left),Donald Wise(left) and Derek Davies (abovﾂｿ). Their performance brought an unusual look on Arthur Hacker's face (right) while Jim Biddulph found it too nostalgic and burried his face in his wife Rita's shoulder. And Schokking seems to have received some honest comment lateron (right, third fron top) from Margaret Bryan which Irene O'Shea (centre) found a bit too much.
THD CORRDSPONIIENT
CROSSV/ORD
A BOTTLE OF CHIVAS REGAL
NO'l
WHEELS OF EXCELLENCE
Compiled by Brian Neil @ 1988
{
At
CLUES ACROSS:
CLUESDOWN:
1. A
warehouse source acceptable
2.
(2,4,4)
('7)
8.
Fools rush in where
3.
should be
ther's a letter from the Hebrew (4)
9.
Mine gets somewhat
confused on certain dates (8) 10. Glued to a point where the sediment occurs (6) 11. Aye! Sun rises to make one unconfortable (6)
12.
A later
episode will
reveal the material content
(3) 14. Some catacombs simply go to one's head (5) 16. A sextant, a compass,
etc, can be a blessing in disguise (5) 18. Buxom oarswoman obviously quite a big bird! (3) 20. An Italian dish con-
tains one for the gallery (6)
RULES
22. This pet rat had the ability to talk fast (6)
Entries mustbe sent to:
THE CORRESPONDENT CROSSWORD,
Printline Ltd, 601 FuHouse, TIceHouseStreet, Central, Hong Kong. 2. Entries must reach the office not later than January 28.
24. A couple arriving in reverse, we hear, slowly
The moor where the whole lot lost direction Part of the town Edward wanted was already in someone else's possession (5) 4. Ether, for example, is one (6) 5. Neve? (4,2) 6. Hangs around the toilets and gains the right to lose shirt (7) 7. Splurge several dollars to get eggs (5) 13. Foregoes something to satisfy one's needs (3) 15. Heard in the home of Apoidea? (7) 17. Former note, appealing to perform (7) 18. This MG got a new torque and subsequently became a flier (6) 19. Lamb chop leaves the church and gains selfconfidence (6) 21, Some coin of France, seen in a ball game (2,3) 23. Ate in mixed company and contracted disease (5)
awakening (6,2) 25. Has no understanding of part of speech (4) 26. Running instructions for F.D. (2,2,6)
Entries must carry the name, address and the club membership number of the contestant.
Crossword No. 10 correct solution
(SBIECO) we design and manufacture cycles like no one else does. Our "Forever, Phoenix" and "Feida" brands are state-of-the-art products. We also manufacture quality "Red Star" chains, "Diamond" wheels, "K" and "Sim Hwa" spokes and "Sea Gull" spares. SBIECO is alargestate-ownedcorporation which
includes the well-known China National
Light lndustrial Products l/E Corp's, Shanghai Branch, which is governed and protected by the laws of the People's Republic of China. SBIECO was set up in January 1987, to expand
the
market, to develop technical and trade cooperation, and to handle the design, manufacture, export and import of bicycles.
SBIECO has established excellent relations with
clientsall overthe world. SBIECO enjoysagood reputation in the domestic market and overseas for top class service and reasonable prices. SBIECO's motto is "The Customer Comes First". SBIECO welcomes visits to its manufacturing facilities from those interested, be they from China or overseas.
SBIEGO's business covers: Export of bicycles, spare parts, technology and equipment. lmport of raw materials.
Organising and overseeing the operating of enterprises in the fields of export, import, marketing,
production, manufacturing,
assembling,
compensation trade, joint ventures and cooperative production.
Control of import of equipment and instruments used in the manufacture of bicycles.
4. The first correct solution drawn from the entries received will be awarded a bottle of Chivas Regal.
* Consultation
5. The solution andwinner'snamewillbe published in T he C orre sponde
the Shanghai Bicycle l/E Company Limited
services, technology transfer and
exhibitions.
nt thefollowing month.
For editorial and publishing services, contact:
SHANGHAIBICYCLE
PRINTLINE LTD
41F,817 Dong Da Ming Road,
t/Eco., LTD.
Central, Hong Kong. Phone:
5-237848, Fax:5-8453556
Shanghai, China Telephone : 4 1 47 80, 4627 59, 46287 0 Telex: 30149 SBTEC CN. Fax: 86-21 -20881 4
Publishers of
601 Fu House. 7 Ice House Street,
THE GORRISPOITIIDNT There was no winner.
26 THE CORRESPONDENT JANUARY
1989
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