The of
ال مبتكران
he Oh blease Cherné d'Affaires
7 May, 1970.
32
enter apa
Despatele
The 1/5
In my lotton of 23 April, I mentioned that Ma Chia-chua had said that he would welcome an invitation.
My wife and I accordingly invited him to dinner at our house on 5 May. He brought Oniang Ma-chu kith him and there were no other guoso,
I asked bin for 7.30 as I recalled that Chinese like to eat carly and leave early. Hic Bentley drew up at 7.20 and ho loft shortly before midnight.
The evening got off to a good start with drinks in the garden. ho missed flowoss as ho had no garden at their Mission and was delighted to Tina Vistara Sinanaig end spent a long time admizing comellias on which he scomod knowledgeable. During the evening he used the minimum of jargon and only produced one thought of Mao - mather embarrassingly ho forgot it half-way but Chiong quickly come to his rescue. Nothing he said was strikingly novel but you might be
Lo said
interested in one or two itemO. I set them out chronolc- gically to give you the general atmosphere.
Biography
它。
Ma said that he was born noem Tientsin. His parents had moved to Peking but were both now dead and he had no hone there. His carly life hed boon involved in resistance to theo japanose and the only education he had received was at the handa of the peasantry (ino pol haing). He had two sons and & daughter all in their 20s. Che son vas working in a factory and the others were both being no-cducated in the countrysido. I asked again eftor his wife's health and was told that she was fine but all the vives wano in China because of tho Cultural Revolution. This seamed a fair hint où the seriousness of her illness" The only other foreign post ho mentioned was Rangoon, In a mother confusod sentence he said that he might well retumm so Poking before his wife come back to London but that he was not expecting this to happen Coon.
Embassy Life and the Culturel Pevolution
3. In the course of the evening they both gave the impression of being heartily sick of the lingering effects of the Cultural Revolution1. They both admitted to missing their wives. Chiang said that he was newly married. They wore pathetically forthcoming with my childron. Cho dullaces of their lives was striking; their only rolexations woze table tennis, walks in Regents Park and television. They said Shoy only watched nowo old travel (fony ching) films, Ma alco said that because of the Cultural Revolution he had received
J. E. Denson, Esq., 0.3.2.,
!
PAKING.
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