SEA CHANGE ON CHINA

摘要

Two years ago, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld-then chairman of Gilead Sciences Inc.-visited a museum in Beijing set up to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Communist takeover of China. On the archway at the entrance, Mao Zedong was praised as China's great revolutionary. The late Deng Xiaoping was hailed as the reformer. And current President Jiang Zemin was dubbed the unifier. Inside, Rumsfeld found one exhibit to be particularly jarring. In a cavernous room devoted to Taiwan, a mural 30 feet long and 15 feet high depicted the Chinese military attacking the island with missiles, ships, submarines, and tanks. Chinese military officials told Rumsfeld and others in his group that while Beijing hopes to peacefully return Taiwan to the motherland, it must prepare its people for possible war.