CHINA: Cheers in Peking,Trauma in Taiwan

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Hedging their bets, the Nationalists last week were also assessing two other options. One is to begin immediate direct negotiations with the Communists on a political settlement. As long as Chiang, now 84, still rules in Taipei, that is probably out of the question. Considerably less remote is the possibility that the Nationalists might also some day seek Moscow's aid and protection; the regime has already begun to look for new trade ties in Eastern Europe. However, Chiang has long distrusted the Russians, and the Nationalists are not eager to become entangled in the alliance that they believe Moscow is trying to foster between the Soviet Union, Japan and India. Taiwan could indeed reflect well on the advice given last week by Singapore's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Rahim Ishak. He warned that, in the new multipolar world, the smaller nations should be more wary than ever of being "caught in the cold embrace of the giants."