Book Reviews : To Peking—and Beyond: A Report on the New Asia. By HARRISON E. SALISBURY. (New York: Quadrangle Books, 1973. Pp. viii, 308. $7.95.)

• Author: Shao-Chuan Leng
• DOI: 10.1177/106591297502800114
• Published date: 01 March 1975
• Date: 01 March 1975
• Subject Matter: Articles

200

enterprise

is

devoted

to

devising

a

picture

of

the

state

as

an

agency

which

will

protect

everyone’s

rights

against

violation

without

itself

violating

anyone’s

rights.

I

think

we

want

more

from

political

association

than

a

protective

agency

which

violates

no

one’s

rights.

I

am,

then,

one

of

those

readers

who

Nozick

grants

will,

in

spite

of

his

arguments,

&dquo;continue

to

find

the

minimal

state

frail

and

insub-

stantial.&dquo;

But

then,

I

would

not

start,

as

Nozick

does,

with

the

question

of

how

a

number

of

separate

individuals,

each

enclosed

within

a

line

which

&dquo;circumscribes

an

area

in

moral

space&dquo;

around

him,

can

maintain

the

security

of

his

personal

borders

against

encroachment.

Rather,

I

would

start

with

the

question

of

how

coperation

for

mutual

benefit

is

possible

among

persons

with

at

least

some

common

needs

and

interests;

and

with

this

difference in

starting

point

goes

a

host

of

other

differences

as

to

what

is

constitutive

of

political

life,

including

a

rejection

of

the

assumption,

which

is

fundamental

to

Nozick’s

position

and

which

he

unquestion-

ingly

accepts,

that

the

essence

of

the

state

is

force.

In

any

case,

the

reader

will

form

his

or

her

own

judgment.

Because

this is

a

book

to

be

read:

a

sophisticated,

provocative,

witty,

complex,

and

important

work

in

political

philosophy.

The

University

of

Texas

at

El Paso

KAREN

JOHNSON

To

Peking—and

Beyond:

A

Report

on

the

New

Asia.

By

HARRISON

E.

SALISBURY.

(New

York:

Quadrangle

Books,

1973.

Pp.

viii,

308.

$7.95.)

Since

the

opening

of

the

People’s

Republic

of

China

to

American

visitors,

a

number

of

U.S.

journalists,

including

James

Reston

and

Seymour

Topping

of

the

New

York

Times,

have

written

raving

reports

on

China.

Now

Harrison

Salisbury,

Associate

Editor

of

the

Times,

presents

an

equally

favorable

account

of

his

first-

hand

observation

of

China

during

May-June

1972.

To

be

sure,

To

Peking-and

Beyond

covers

more

than

China.

It

records

Salis-

bury’s

meetings

with

Prince

Sihanouk

and

other

Asian

leaders.

The

author

was,

in

fact,

among

the

first

non-Communist

Americans

to

visit

North

Korea

in

twenty-

four

years

and had

a

candid

exchange

with

Premier

Kim

Il

Sung,

touching

upon

issues

ranging

from

the

unification

of

Korea

to

Pyongyang’s

anti-American

policy.

The

bulk

of

the

book,

however,

is

devoted

to

Salisbury’s

travels

in

China,

inter-

views

with

Premier

Chou

En-lai

and

Madam

Sun

Yat-sen,

visits

to

schools,

fac-

tories,

hospitals,

and

communes,

and

chats

with

people

in

many

walks

of

life.

Among

the

highlights

of

the

volume

are

the

&dquo;bull

session&dquo;

at

Tsinghua

University

and

the

discussion

of

China’s

population

and

the

rate

of

its

growth.

The

author

feels

particularly

at

home

in

analyzing

the

complexities

of

Sino-Soviet

relations

on

the

basis

of

his

personal

experiences

in

both

countries.

While

refraining

from

pre-

dicting

war,

he

correctly

points

out

that

the

depth

and

breadth

of

the

Sino-Soviet

antagonism

(including

racial

feelings)

are

such

that

a

rapprochement

between

the

two

giants

is

unlikely

in

the

foreseeable

future.

A

prominent

theme

that

runs

throughout

the

book

is

the

new

spirit

of

the

people

in

China.

It

is

the

author’s

impression

that

the

Cultural

Revolution

and