getting into," but on the basis of a month I'm very happy. Sure, the place is very different
but I wanted a change of pace. What the hell, I'm 50. It won't hurt anything," said Bush
with a whining note of self-pity. [fn 5] The self-pity was a deception this time, since, as
we will see, Bush had plenty to do in Beijing. The US Liason Office was located in a
walled compound in an area occupied by other foreign missions in a Beijing suburb. A
guard from the People's Liberation Army was posted outside at all times. Bush told
Oberdorfer that he started the day with the news on the Voice of America, followed by a
yoghurt breakfast, then staff meetings and attempts at China-watching deciphering of the
editorials of Ren Min Ribao (The People's Daily). At 11:40, Bush and Barbara received
their Chinese lesson from their Mandarin teacher, Mrs. Tang. Then came a multicourse
lunch. Wednesday and Saturday afternoons were time off, as well as Sundays. Bush tried
to attract attention by riding a bicycle to diplomatic engagements. "Everybody was
astonished, particularly because it was so different from the dignified manner of David
Bruce," said one diplomat. "I think the Chinese probably thought they were doing it for
effect." George was having back trouble, and found an osteopath to treat his back at a
public bathhouse. Bush's attention-getting ploys had some effect on the Beijing of Mao
Tse-tung, or at least on the foreigners. "Bush is an instant success around here, " said a
Canadian newsman. "The real test will come, though, when the novelty wears off and his
enthusiasm runs down."
NSSM 200
When Bush had been in Beijing for about a month, Henry Kissinger arrived for one of his
periodic visits to discuss current business with the Beijing leadership. Kissinger arrived
with his usual army of retainers and Secret Service guards. During this visit, Bush went
with Kissinger to see Vice-Premier Deng Xiao-ping and Foreign Minister Qiao. This was
one of four reported visits by Kissinger that would punctuate Bush's stay.
Bush's tenure in Beijing must be understood in the context of the Malthusian and frankly
genocidal policies of the Kissinger White House. These are aptly summed up for
reference in the recently declassified National Security Study Memorandum 200,
"Implications of Worldwide Population Growth for US Security and Overseas Interests,"
dated December 10, 1974. [fn 6] NSSM 200, a joint effort by Kissinger and his deputy
General Brent Scowcroft, provided a hit list of 13 developing countries for which the
NSC posited a "special US political and strategic interest" in population reduction or
limitation. The list included India, Bengladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, Mexico, Indonesia,
Brazil, the Philippines, Thailand, Egypt, Turkey, Ethiopia, and Colombia. Demographic
growth in these and other third world nations was to be halted and if possible reversed for
the brutal reason that population growth represented increased strategic, and military
power for the countries in question.
Population growth, argues NSSM 200, will also increase pressure for the economic and
industrial development of these countries, an eventuality which the study sees as a threat
to the United States. In addition, bigger populations in the third world are alleged to lead
to higher prices and greater scarcity of strategic raw materials. As Kissinger summed up:
"Development of a worldwide political and popular committment to population