Canoers Wish to Travel Down Yangtze

Canoers from the People's Republic of China and from the Harvard community may join in two summer trips down main rivers of China and the U.S. if the Chinese government gives its approval to the proposal.

The proposal calls for one voyage down the Yangtze River during the summer of 1975, and a second down the Mississippi in 1976.

Twenty-one graudate and undergraduate students, who are studying Chinese and who are also experienced canoers, are planning the trip as a "grass roots" effort to "promote genuine brotherhood and cooperation" between Chinese and American young people, the trip proposal--which was delivered to the Chinese government last week--says.

An officer at the Washington Liaison Office of the People's Republic of China responded "warmly" to the plan, Richard Golob '73-4 said.

Golob and Marc Bender '71 had a two-hour interview with Chang Chih-Hsiang, third secretary at the Liaison Office, last October which Golob said was "very encouraging."

Response Awaited

Bender said the group hopes to communicate directly with Chinese canoers after next October, when the 35-member-nation International Canoe Association will officially recognize the Chinese Canoe Association.

Golob said the proposal was written in general terms to allow flexibility. "We hope the Chinese will respond with their own plans," he added.

Golob also said several foundations--including the National Geographic Society--have guaranteed funding if the Chinese approve the plans.

Ross Terrill, instructor in Government and an expert on China, and James Thomson, curator of the Nieman Foundation and a recent visitor to China, are advising the group.

Terrill called the proposal a "good idea" because it is a "non-political project." Terrill said he could not predict when the Chinese government will respond, but said that political tensions between the twc countries might hurt the proposal's chances.

He added that the fact the American applicants are from the Harvard community "won't cut any ice" with the Chinese, and the group will just have to wait until China responds.

Thomson said the Chinese government receives many visit requests and "finds it hard" to judge which groups should be admitted. He said he was not optimistic, but that the application was worth trying.

The American and Canadian Canoe Associations have endorsed the trip. Senators Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass.), Edward M. Kennedy '54 (D-Mass.) and Mike Mansfield (D-Mont.) have expressed their support in letters to the organizers