Chou Enlai took me at once to our car and we drove the short distance to the Chairman’s house. It is a modest building; the rear looks across a small lake, opposite the Forbidden City. We met in his study. It was a warm, comfortable room; if it had been any smaller one might have called it a den. There were deep armchairs, and the atmosphere was lived-in and engaging. I noticed some Western encyclopaedias and shelves laden with innumerable boxes and scrolls. Mao rose to meet me and showed me to the chair beside him. He was a much bigger man that most of his countrymen. He was handicapped a little by rheumatism in his feet, for which he apologised, but there was no doubting his mental vigor and unfailing good humour. I recall a massive smiling countenance and an air of scholarly refinement, as if, for all the courtesy and attention he paid his guests, his mind was still burdened with deeper things. The conversation lasted nearly an hour and was marked by great animation. Our talks ranged over history, current affairs, the Asian region, literature and contemporary personalities. He was very much abreast of affairs, aware of what was going on in the Western world and ready to express opinions about personalities and issues. He obviously enjoyed an exchange of views. He may have found some stimulus in hearing the opinions of a stranger from a different country, however erroneous my views may have been. He lacked Zhou’s grasp of detail and incomparable knowledge of particular events and personalities, but his wisdom and sense of history were deep and unmistakable. In discussing our political philosophies I ventured that his party advocated revolution and mine evolution. He said ‘Ah, Darwinism!’. I agreed and he asked, ‘Is Port Darwin named after Darwin?’ I thought so. He then asked ‘Did Darwin visit Australia?’ I thought not. He could not have planned nor I expected such an exchange. On returning home I checked that Charles Darwin had visited Sydney and gone as far inland as Bathurst in 1836 in the course of his voyage around the world in HMS Beagle and that Darwin was named by the captain of the Beagle on its visit there in 1839. I sent a self-criticism to Mao.
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Gough Whitlam in The Whitlam Government 1972-1975, 1985, Penguin Books Australia