Starving to Death

For advanced training in doubletalk, no classroom in the Communist world last week could match Peking's Huai Jen Hall, site of the fourth meeting of Red China's National People's Congress. Led off by Premier Chou En-lai (TIME, July 8), Peking's Marxist mandarins popped up, one by one, to assure the pseudo Parliament that the nation was in splendid shape. Then, one by one, they cited statistics demonstrating that the best-laid plans of Mao's men have gone agley.

The first clear confession was made by Vice Premier Li Hsien-nien, who reported that because of "a decline in revenue from the agricultural tax," Red China last year suffered its first budget deficit--about $750 million. Next came Vice Premier Po Ipo, with the bad news that the 1956 crop failure, not only the worst since the Reds took over but the "worst in decades" (TIME, May 13), had gummed up Mao's entire industrialization program.

In 1957, admitted Po, the value of Red China's industrial output will jump only 4.5% instead of the much-heralded 15%. Worse yet, "because China's agriculture is still lagging behind the needs of the people," exports of foodstuffs will be cut 22% this year. Since the bulk of China's capital goods is imported, and paid for with agricultural exports, this could have only one consequence. "In import plans," Po went on blandly, "major reductions have been made in the amount of general machinery and transport equipment, to provide incentive to our own machine-building industry" (a cautionary market tip for those who think trade with Red China will amount to much).

Peking's industrial retreat has been compelled by the need to ease up on the tormented peasantry. Chivied into collective farms, and harried by a series of natural disasters that ravaged 38 million acres of land inhabited by 70 million people (according to Chou En-lai's figures), China's peasants have become increasingly restive. Just how restive was made clear by Tung Pi-wu, President of the Supreme People's Court, who told the People's Congress that during the past year Red China's courts handled 1,000,000 cases of "corruption, theft, assault, public disturbances" and other crimes, most of them involving peasants.

In the past month Radio Peking has acknowledged that 15 million people are facing starvation in eastern Hopei province, and reported the firing of two vice governors and the downgrading of eight local functionaries in famine-stricken Kwangsi province for failing to transport foodstuffs to a stricken area, thus causing 550 people to die of hunger.

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