European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 17, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse Sunday september 17, 1978 the stars and stripes Page 15 James Reston there s other news besides Mideast Summit the Middle East Summit meeting at Camp David has been dominating the for eign news out of Washington but under Neath the Summit other important things were happening in world affairs. For example the relations Between the United states and the Peoples Republic of China Are now entering the most interest ing phase since Henry Kissinger s secret visit to peking during the Nixon administration. As a result of very quiet and unreported negotiations the United states has recently agreed in principle to put a new chinese communication satellite in space to improve peking contacts internally and with the rest of the world. There have been some other unnoticed agreements Between Washington and peking. A Mission from communist China will come Here next month to arrange for the first contingent of chinese students to study in the United states. The peking government has informed Washington that it plans to Send at least 10, 000 Young men and women to study in the United states and other Western countries by 1985, and that it is not asking for scholarships or financial Aid but intends to pay All their expenses. Meanwhile what is More obvious but no less significant peking is now showing great interest in . Equity financing. A William f. Buckley there s a True detente on humor american academicians being a tireless lot they have recently undertaken a study of soviet humor All of which led to a recent session of the Kennan Institute for advanced russian studies. It was an instructive evening As a Reading of the transcript reveals even though it does not Tell us much we could not readily Intuit namely that Man is born to laugh that laughter is the supreme tonic indeed Aristole singled out Man s capacity to laugh As distinctive. And we learn of course that jokes that Are funny in some cultures Are utterly mystifying in others. A generation ago after 15 years of Hitler and a world War a ran Dom Sample of germans were presented Charles Addams classical cartoon depict ing a skier whose tracks showed him some How to have slipped past a tree with one ski on either Side of the trunk. The germans diligently proffered naturalistic explanations about How such a thing might be con trived by trick movements of one sort or another. Thus literally would russians receive Many american jokes and vice versa. But. There is a True As distinguished from a synthetic detente in respect to humor that is at once highly topical and yet trans Cul Tural. In America the scholars seem to agrees sex is the basis of most jokes. Sex jokes in the soviet Union exist but not abundantly As jokes at the expense of the soviet sys tem and soviet officials. The it joke which was probably invented a week after Lenin took Power is what is the difference Between capitalism and socialism to which the answer is capitalism is the exploitation of Man by Man and socialism is the professor Ste phen Cohen gave As the next most Stan Dard joke is it possible to build socialism in one country say in Holland of course but what have you got against hol land on my first trip to the soviet Union i was most solemnly warned at a state depart ment briefing that jokes at the expense of Lenin were not under any circumstance to be attempted that in soviet circles such jokes would be the equivalent of jokes about a Baptist convention. That year was moreover the 100th anniversary of the birth of Lenin and the Celebration of that monster s Brief but decisive leverage on world history was at the saturation level after reaching the figure 100, i gave up counting publications featuring the face of Lenin at a single Large newsstand in mos cow. In Poland there was a Book of Pic Tures i do not exaggerate of the Home of the dentist in wroclaw who had once treated Lenin s Teeth. Even so i heard question schoolmaster to student what was the most important historical development in 1875? answer Lenin was five years old " the Kennan people even dug up a joke that combined Lenin and sex and that takes a lot of ingenuity and a Little patience. Here it is As recited by soviet log is Abraham Brumberg As its contribution to the Hundredth anniversary of Lenin s birth the polish government or dered its most prestigious director to pro Duce a film called Lenin in when the film opens at a special show ing for the soviet politburo the startled audience sees no other than the accursed Judas Trotsky lying naked in bed and Mak ing love to of All people Lenin s wife Krupskaya. Brezhnev flies into a towering rage. Who is that Man he exclaims. Why that s Trotsky says a polish party official. And the woman says Brezhnev that s Krupskaya the polish official explains. And where is Lenin Brezhnev de mands quite beside himself. Of comes the reply Lenin is in Poland " endlessly useful is the Central Story of what happens when you make the wrong political affiliation. Just before the last purge trial three men met in a jail cell explaining How they had come to be arrested. The first says i was arrested because i was against the second says i was arrested because i was for Bzukha the third says i m that one replayed a dozen years later in Czechoslovakia substituting Slinky and yet again in another dozen years featuring Dubcek. Why not use the soviet capacity for humor or. Brumberg asks in an article in the new Leader. When soviet historians produce a sycophantic piece of rubbish about Leonid Brezhnev Why do american experts on Russia feel compelled bravely to Point out its errors does a piece of absurd propaganda deserve Earnest consideration must we dredge up statistics to disprove soviet statistics must palpably fictitious claims invariably be dignified with tedious scholarly rebuttals Bob Hope for head of voice of America. C Washington Star Syndicate Jor . Commercial companies Many More than is generally realized have Al ready sent missions to China and have been invited to make proposals mainly in the Field of natural resource development heavy Industry construction mining and particularly Oil exploration. It May be important to be Clear about what this Means and what it does not mean. What president Carter is trying to do As i understand it and it is a very difficult and risky exercise is to negotiate and do business with peking As Well As Moscow just As he is trying at Camp David to reconcile the differences Between president Sadat of Egypt and prime minis Ter begin of Israel. He is not trying to play the China card against Moscow or the Moscow card against peking but what is More difficult trying to play All cards for some kind of Compromise that will avoid War Between China and the soviet Union and Between is Rael and the Arab states. So far he has not made much Progress but at least he has brought Sadat and be Gin together at Camp David to confront their differences and he has persuaded the chinese to talk about practical Commer Cial relations and in the process to con Vince the soviets that they must make some concessions for a strategic arms agreement. At this Point in All these tangles everything is in doubt but nothing has been lost. China is doing business with the United states increasingly without any agree ment on the future of Taiwan. The soviet Union is marking off its Legal demands against american correspondents and businessmen and president Brezhnev is meeting with sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and agreeing to release jewish dissidents in the soviet Union in the interest of better .-soviet relations. The reaction of the . Congress to All this May be critical. There has i think been a vague feeling on capital Hill that the political struggles were going too fast. That and fighting the president on the Energy Bill and on the Middle East and on defense appropriations maybe the con Gress was being too critical and hurting the country to the detriment of the president and the rest of the world. Accordingly there is a change develop ing Here in Washington now a feeling in both parties among the liberals in the democratic party who Are disappointed in Carter and even among the conservative republicans who watch the popularity polls and think Carter is in serious trouble. There is an instinct Here in Washington now that maybe they ought to give him a Chance to work his Way with the soviets and the chinese the israelis and the arabs. For example there has been no open violent opposition to his insistence on secrecy at Camp David even among the frustrated reporters outside the Gates. Instead there is a realization that anybody having to try to reconcile All these violent contentions needs some time and sympathy. It May be significant that Secretary of state Vance has not been at Camp David All the time dealing with the Middle East problem. For the rest of the world does not stand still while Carter begin and Sadat Are arguing Over the future of the West Bank the Gaza strip the Sinai Jerusa Lem and the palestinians. There Are critical problems about the control of strategic weapons with the Sovi ets about the future of the chinese the japanese the taiwanese and Many other nations and about the problems of Europe and the threat of revolution in Africa and civil War in latin America. Under the Summit the state depart ment is trying to Deal with All these things to do business with All the contending Par ties. It is a complicated and Devilish Busi Ness and nobody is Likely to be satisfied with the results but Washington is at least holding the ring with the chinese the Sovi ets and in the Middle East so far and this is not an unimportant achievement. C new York times
