CHINA IN THE MORNING

The author, a journalist, tells of two months spent in Communist China where he found himself excited by the country's rapid progress, but appalled by its singleminded, faceless devotion to the huge task. Wollaston is the sort of a man who would have liked to have mingled with the Chinese people. He found this virtually impossible, quite likely more than usually so because his visit coincided with an enormous anti-British, anti-American propaganda drive based on both countries' intervention in the Middle East. Nevertheless, Wollaston is a sharp eyed observer and he manages to report on a great deal of Chinese life, even though his activities were restricted by the rigid bureaucracy. China is not the ""People's Democracy"" it claims to be, but in Wollaston's opinion there is no doubt of the support of the people for the regime and the economic progress it has brought. They can see this, and they knew nothing of democracy to begin with. Wollaston then traveled through North and South Vietnam, Slam, Laos and Cambodia. He thinks (as does Lederer) most American aid to the non-Communist countries of Southeast Asia has been wasted, imposing a sham prosperity from the top down. He is also critical of North Vietnam where he found the Communist rulers running the country for their benefit, as their predecessors did, without any real popular support.