Invited Cheng Chu-yuan 【鄭竹園] to lunch. For many years a student of mainland economic developments, he has just published a comprehensive study of the subject. I asked him if Mao Tse-tung 【毛澤東] believed in the statistics issued by Peiping, Cheng replied: “Very likely.” In the winter of 1958, Mao, thinking that the problem of food production had been solved after a harvest of 375,000,000 tons, cabled for a 3-3 system of agriculture, by which one third of the cultivated land would lie fallow, one third set to grass or afforestation, and only one third cultivated. The trouble is: Mao, even on his tours across the country, is managed by his entourage. He sees only what they wish him to see. Cheng also thinks that the Reds could not retreat further in agriculture.
Dictated part of the speech for Trinity College in Hartford, on “The Latest Chapter in Chinese History.” I try to view communism in the perspective of China’s history.