MAISKY MOBBED

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 24032, 1 August 1941, Page 9

MAISKY MOBBED

RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR ENTHUSIASM IN LONDON CHINESE DINNER SCENES LONDON, July 10 A cheering crowd mobbed .M. Maisky. | the Russian Ambassador, and Mine, ! Maisky in London's West End last ; night, writes Paul Brewster in the Daily Mail. They were leaving a Chinese restaurant in Soho, where a dinner in laid of the Chinese campaign had been given. And they found the street blocked. For half an hour the crowd had waited. Men and women in evening dress. | who had attended this "bowl of rice" dinner, jostled with people in working I clothes. The smiling, bearded face of M. Maisky appeared at the door. Reside him stood .Mine. .Maisky, smartly dressed in a floral summer frock and purple straw hat with purple veil. "Maisky! Maisky!" yelled the crowd, and those at the front rushed toward them. Dozens of hands shook those of the Ambassador and his wife. Excited people patted them on the back. Eventually, police fought a way to their car, and tlie two drove away through a lane of waving hands. Famous Diplomats Present The dinner was to mark the appointment ol Dr. Wellington .Koo as Ambassador to Britain, and tho beginning of China's filth year of war against .Japanese aggression. Famous diplomatic figures found themselves called on to eat "chop suev" with chopsticks, in the glare of arc lamps and before a battery of film cameras.

M. Maisky put up tho best perform- | a nee. A fter a short instruction from ; his neighbour. Dr. Koo, he ate the batn- | boo shoots and rice with his chopsticks j with a dignified elegance, j Lord Cecil—who presided—gave in | and used a spoon and fork, and so did | Lady \ iolet Bonham-Carter. daughter jot the late Lord Oxford and Asquith. Many Chinese men and women, in national dress, attended the dinner. In ! response to insistent shouts, M. Maisky I reluctantly made a speech. Turning-point of War I "T am afraid I am going to disap- ! point you to-night." he said, "but j trom the bottom of my heart I want i to express my gratitude to all of von j for the friendly feeling toward my counI try which has animated your insistent I desire. "1 think this is not the time yet | nor the occasion—to talk to you at | length, even at this gr ft at hour which | has arisen. J am sure that the great I battle now taking place in the Fast is | the turning-point of this war. and on the outcome of this battle dtpend< not <lllly the future of mv own country, but the future of the whole world."' A roar of applause came after this, and there were cries of "Viva Russet!" Lord Cecil spoke of China's "riagniceiit struggle." Now. he said, there had been set up a great quadrilateral of liberty, comprising China. Russia, America and the British Empire. Dr. Koo said that, paradoxical as it might sound, it. was true that the Chinese Army to-day was larger, better equipped, and more efficient in dealing with the enemy. That was one of the reasons for the striking failure of the so-called spring offensive launched by tin* Japanese Army after months ol" preparation. j