World: A VISIT TO CANTON

(2 of 2)

The army has put a stop to open fighting in Canton's streets, but the struggle continues in the city's outskirts. Gunfire can be heard constantly; occasionally it is punctuated by the sound of artillery. I also heard several loud explosions that sounded like plastic bomb blasts. Army troops, in their drab, formless, olive-green uniforms with red collars and red stars on their caps, are everywhere. Every hour or so, trucks come tearing down the streets, klaxons blaring, full of soldiers with weapons ready to deal with some disturbance.

The army has also taken over the propaganda war against the anti-Maoists. Troops paste up posters; trucks patrol the streets, loudspeakers blaring Maoist slogans interspersed with reedy renditions of The East Is Red. From other trucks, troopers toss pamphlets and food packages to the crowds. While there seems plenty of fruit in Canton, meat and vegetables are scarce, despite the richness of the surrounding country, indicating a breakdown in China's system of food distribution. Outside the city, troops with fixed bayonets guard every bridge and railroad switching point.

I was told that army troops were needed to throw Red Guards out of some buildings. The Red Guards have set up loudspeakers in some of the buildings they control, and so have rival Maoist groups. They indulge in loud verbal battles, with hysterically screaming girls pouring out torrents of abuse at each other and at "U.S. imperialist aggressors." As we inched through the masses at one point, a beautiful Chinese travel-service girl told me with a delightful smile: "Chairman Mao has taught us that we must crush the American aggressors. We must kill, crush, destroy all imperialist monsters." I asked her if she really believed that all foreigners were monsters. With melting gentleness, she replied: "Chairman Mao tells us so."