"Serene Assurance"

Frederick Gruin, TIME'S Nanking correspondent, last week put his tongue in his cheek and cabled:

In a notable week of the Atomic Age, when the No. 1 Communist state has seemingly cleared the way for atomic supervision, you might find the No. 2 Communist state's opinion on the atomic bomb also noteworthy. No. 2, of course, is Communist China, which, in the words of Anna Louise Strong, has "an area almost equal to that part of the United States east of the Mississippi River." As Anna Louise left Yenan this week, after a sympathetic stint of several months, she had "the privilege of a final talk with Mao Tse-tung."

They talked of many things, mostly along the familiar party line. Then the correspondent volunteered a Solemn Thought: "I have seen in many provinces how you Chinese Communists have the only perfect defense in the world against the atomic bomb. You have a government that can live so dispersed among the people that even the entire stockpile of bombs in America couldn't wipe your government out."

Gravely Comrade Mao commented: "The atomic bomb is finished. Provocateurs all over the entire world are talking about atomic warfare, and only childish people believe it.

"Atomic energy, of course, will continue to be developed. Its great power will be handed over to the people. But as for the atomic bomb--its birth also finished its life."

Anna Louise caught her propagandist's breath. "Amazing . . . unforgettable remark," she wrote; "such a serene assurance of the bright future of mankind."

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