Thomson's view of China

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33857, 31 May 1975, Page 22

Thomson's view of China

(N.Z.P.A. Staff Correspondent) HONG KONG. The Canadian-born British newspaper magnate. Lord Thomson of Fleet, believes that China is on the way to becoming the most powerful nation in the world. "It's rather scaring", he told the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Hong Kong after spending 11 days on holiday, with his daughter and granddaughter, in the South China city of Canton and its nearby hot springs. “I’m not a Communist, I'm a capitalist — Khruschev always introduced me as a capitalist — but, at this stage of their development, 1 think the Chinese have got the right ideas”. Lord Thomson admitted that the Chinese lived "a rather spartan existence", but he said everyone was fed and clothed adequately. I “And they’re having a wonderful experience”, he added “It’s only a few years since chaos predominated • China. Today, there are no beggars and there are uu i prostitutes — I didn’t go looking for them, but they told me there were none I there”. Lord Thomson, who will

soon be 81, told a packed gathering of journalists, diplomats and business and professional men: “Don’t make any mistake about it They are building the most powerful nation in the world. They are a dedicated people — theirs is a dedicated effort”. Lord Thomson, who visited China first three years ago, said that he had found there the lack of secretiveness he had seen in Russia. T always felt that the Russians were holding something back”, he said. The owner of "The Times" and the "Sunday Times" said that the Chinese were completely honest. “You could leave your money around in your bedroom without fear of losing it", he said. Speaking of his three-hour meeting with the Chinese Prime Minister (Chou En-

i'Lai.) Lord Thomson said: "I ■ got to like him very much. 1 and apparently the liking i was mutual". t To a Canadian correspondtent who asked him how l.e ’ felt about the advent of 1: communism in South-East [Asia, Lord Thomson replied: 1 "I don’t like communism, • i but, as you see, it works in tjChina. F At least, 1 think it's working there. I think the ordi- - nary person in China is bet:l ter off than in most of the ■ other newer nations”. ! Asked if he was worried '■about the safety of his in- •[ vestments in Thailand — ?l where he owns English-lan-hguage newspapers — Lord J Thomson replied: “Not yet. J We’ve had a good run for lour money there, the Thais r| are not naturally Communists, and I don’t think they -lare going to be. Whether it

.can last or not. I don’t jknow”. Speaking about the British Press, Lord Thomson said that the national newspaper field was in almost a disastrous condition. Most Fleet Street papers were losing . money, and some of them would have to amalgamate, "or maybe terminate". "The future of the British Press depends a lot on how the unions accept plans for modernisation. I think they will, but it depends on what price they have to pay". Lord Thomson recalled that "The Times" had lost $1.25m last year and would lose the same, or more this year. He said Chou had told him: "You deserve great praise for carrying on 'Hie [Times’.’’ I thought that was a high compliment, indeed, coming from one of the Chinese leaders.