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- PA rh el" ¥ Ra en IE DA, - d- 5 f a ¥ LO a Sd SA 3 i 2 ty = 7 - - ros Ty oe J i. ty ge rs a a editorial poge A Dangerous Road History of sorts was made last week in Washing- ton with visit of Deng Ziaoping, vice-premier of the People's Republic of China, marking the first time a leader of such high authority from China had visited the United States. While the normalization of relations between China and the United States is long overdue, and Western governments and businessmen are rubb- ing their hands happily at the marketing potential in the most populous nation on earth, they should at the same time recognize some inherent dangers that could pose a threat to world stability and peace. The major roadblock in the normalization of Sino-US relations has been Taiwan, and last week Mr. Deng declared that China 'cannot commit herself not to resort to use of force" in resolving the long standing dispute between Taiwan and the government on mainland China. An outbreak of hostilities between Taiwan and China could escalaté into a major war in southeast Asia that ultimately could draw all the super- powers into a disastrous situation. While it is obvious that China is now desparate to establish normal relations with the United States and other Western countries, one must look care- fully at the motives for doing so, and what the possible consequences could be. Essentially, China needs technology. cally, China needs military technology. The prospect of China going on a spending spree to equip its million-man army is a chilling one, especially when there is no guarantee that the weapons would not be used for anything other than defensive purposes. Along with technology and military hardware, China today is desperate for allies. The split between China and the Soviet Union is deep, and there have been numerous clashes in disputed border areas. Fearful of the Soviet Union to the north and weést, and the Soviet ally Viet Nam to the south, China has nowhere to turn for friends except the Western powers. In seeking these closer ties, China at the same time is seeking to isolate the Soviet Union, and that is a dangerous path to follow. The present Specifi- 4 i Coven: GENERAL'S Foot GuarDs TO ACCEPT WOMEN RECRUITS = Yews Item ' - ~ 7 WASHED 17 LAST MIGHT AND CAN'T DOA THING WITH IT * relations between the West and the Soviet Union are strained and chilly. At this time the Western powers should be working to improve these re- lations, especially if such crucial issues as nuclear arms limitations and troop reductions in Europe are to be achieved. Unfortunately, it seems that the move on the part of the Americans towards closer ties with China is at the same time an attempt to pressure the Soviets, and just what their reaction will be to this end-play remains to be seen. It may very well result in stepped up efforts on the part of the Soviets to expand their sphere of influence in Africa and the Middle East, something they have been doing with success in the last five years. If the Soviets perceive that a Sino-US rapprochement poses a -danger to their strategic interests, their behavior may become reckless and a further threat to stability and peace. Likewise if the Soviets perceive that the balance of power in the world is being stacked against them by the Americans and the Chinese, they may attempt to neutralize this shift by pre-emptive military action. While any move by two countries such as the United States and China to improve their relations is welcome in today's international community, the - real threat to peace in the world today is the hostility between China and the Soviet Union. One can only hope that international diplomats, including those from Canada, recognize the danger in a continuation of the status quo, and in doing this, begin to concentrate their efforts on heading off hostilities between the two Communist super- powers. to have a steer tied up in the garage, that's measurements and weights. In the days bill POUND OUT METRICS After about 10 days of solid blizzards and bad driving, low temperatures and a lower temperament, my social, intellectual and emotional life hovering around zero (Faren- heit), I wondered what to write about this week. Came home from work, picked up the mail, and there was a fat package from something called AMC, Ottawa. I turned it over a couple of times, wondering whether the initials meant Ancient Military Cur- mudgeons, from some veterans' outfit, or All Men Cowards, from some rabid women's lib crowd. Not to worry. Democracy is still rearing its bruised and battered head here and there in this our native land. The package was from Anti-Metric Canada, its single and avowed purpose the stamping out of the metrication of our fair white country. It contained: an honorary membership dq car; a bumper sticker which shouts, "Pound Out Metric"; a newsletter with a number of 2 spelling and grammar errors; a personal letter from the president; a petition to send to my M.P.; a full page of anti-metric propaganda; and a quiz or survey loaded with questions along the line of, "When did PR TP rR RS BS RYe ors Fy . J 10s 'smiley you stop beating your wife?" Sample question. "Do you realize that under the metric system that (sic) the farmers will loose (sic) money and the dairy cartel win? Answer yes-no. How can you answer a question like that? With a yes or no? Personally, I think it's high time the farmers were pried loose from some of their money, and the whole thing is putting the cartel before the cow. Another sample: 'Do. you believe that people come before computers?" Well, yes or no. We were here before the computers, but when it comes to arguing with one over a boo-boo on your chargex, it's obvious that they come before us. And I have a secret hunch that they'll be here long after the human race has disappeared, chattering and giggling away among themselves about how they so finally, and so easily, got rid of us. Just one more sample. "Do you want the Canadian public to pay $2.00 a gallon for gas?" Answer: depends on whether you think a gallon of gas is more important than a pound of beef. If the Ay-rabs can get $2 a gallon for it, and you don't have any, that's what you'll pay. If the beef farmers can get $3 a pound for sirloin, and you don't happen A SPOR TAI RARSED rns, 30 8 what you'll pay. Elementary. These questions are being sent to M.P.'s. Migod, I hereby resign my honorary membership in the Anti Metric Canada organization. I am much more sympathetic with their aims than their means. (But I wonder where they were when I was carrying on a lonely, single-handed, but valiant fight against metrication a year or so ago?) I detest metrication and all it stands for: conformity, unification, anonymity, and confusion for everyone over thirty years of age. Ask any shopping housewife what she thinks of it? She will probably, if she has thought about it, reply that it's a lovely opportunity for the food barons to rip everybody off, except those equipped with a pocket calculator and endless time on their hands. A gram here and a millilitre there adds up to millions, over a year. And now let's hear from industry. According to it, changing to the metric system was going to make Canada much more competitive in the world market, We are about as competitive as Greenland, and our single customer, the U.S., has not gone metric, though it is toying with the madness. When I want to know how cold it is, I tune in to an American TV weather report, get it in Farenheit, subtract another ten degrees for the difference in latitude, and say to my wife, "Holy Moses, woman, no wonder the pipes froze. It was 12 below last night." And she knows I don't mean Centigrade. Math and science teachers to the con- trary, the world got along very well when every nation had its own terms of currency, when the sun never set on the British Empire, the British pound had a solid ring to it, anywhere in the world. They didn't give a diddle about changing it to annas, or yen, or marks. . Same with the American dollar, for a century or so. It was worth a dollar, not whatever the Swiss and Germans and Japanese decided it was worth. There was a quaintness and a difference and an individuality about currencies and measures and weights, that is being lost in these days of international conformity. If a British horse stood 40 hands high and weighed 14 or 44 stone, in a British novel, that was good enough for me. He was either a big horse or a little horse. I didn't have to get out my calculator. If Bassanio wanted to borrow three 3,000 , ducats from Shylock, I knew that was no $78.50, and was satisfied. I know I have no more chance of reversing the metric thing than I had of another of my lost causes: that pale pink maple leaf on a dirty grey background that is Canada's national flag. / But I wish the AMC luck. And I'm going to use my bumper sticker, if only to annoy my neighbour, a math teacher, who has been flaunting a "Think Metric" sticker for several years. My sticker is bigger, white printing on red, with a big hammer pounding down on the slogan, "POUND OUT METRIC". The organization also has a stubborn little war-cry I rather like. "We won't move our feet an inch." The Argyle Syndicate Ltd. | \