East Asian Studies Scholars Must Postpone Trip to China

A group of 18 faculty members and their families from the Center for East Asian Studies will not be going to the people's Republic of China this week as they had planned.

A telegram sent from the Liason for Cultural Affairs in Washington, D.C. last week said that the month-long trip would have to be postponed.

Benjamin I. Schwartz '38, professor of History and Government and the leader of the group, said yesterday that the postponement is "quite clearly part of a larger policy" and is "not directed at the Harvard group."

Rumors

Schwartz said that there had been rumors that the meetings of the Tenth National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party would be taking place during August.

John Schrecker, a fellow at the Center, said yesterday that the group intends to visit many prominent scholars and political figures. If the Communist Party conference were in progress during the Harvard group's trip, these visits would prove impossible, Schrecker speculated.

Schwartz added that a group from Harvard will be going to Washington this week to find out how long the trip will be postponed.

Schrecker said that the announcement came as a great disappointment to the group, most of whom has never been to China.

The group is made up of specialists in Chinese history, literature, economics, and regional studies.

The itinerary includes Peking, Canton, the Yangtze Delta, and the Northwest or Yenan region, which was the guerrilla base of Mao Tse-tung during the revolution.

The members of the group have been invited as guests of the Chinese Foreign Institute of Peoples' Affairs.

December Trip Desired

Merle Goldman, deputy leader of the delegation, said yesterday that she hoped the group would be able to go for 30 days in December and January.

Many other groups, including two Japanese delegations and an Australian delegation of health officials, have also been affected by the change of plans in Peking.