East vs. West no longer
the basis of Swiss ministry
By ROLAND HI NTFORD
(C) 1973, The London Observer
BERNE — The Swiss have
reorganized their ministry7 of
foreign affairs in a significant
way: A division based on East
and West in the ideological sense
has been replaced by one founded
on north and south. All Europe
has now been gathered under one
head, together with North
America.
This means that in Swiss eyes,
the principal frontier is not so
much one between Communist
and nonCommunist countries, as
between the industrialized and
the under-developed worlds.
Since Switzerland is a neutral
country in the real sense of the
word, this change is of rather
more than local interest. It may
in all fairness be said that in
foreign affairs, the Swiss are
innocent of political judgments.
Their actions are dispassionate
and pragmatic. The
reorganization of the ministry
they call their Political Depart
ment suggests a genuine and
profound change in the European
climate.
The obvious deduction is that
detente between East and West is
no longer taken to be simply a
form of rhetoric. It contains
sufficient reality to affect the
conduct of a small country that is
compelled to balance among the
crosscurrents of the world.
Within the Political Depart
ment. therefore. Europe has been
reunified. This does not mean
that the Swiss, stern Alpine
realists. have succumbed
overnight to gullibility. But much
has changed. The extension of the
European Common Market with
the entry of Britain, Denmark
and Ireland has eroded barriers
within Western Europe, while the
rapprochement of the United
States and the Soviet Union has
rusted away the edges of the Iron
Curtain.
Consequently, the internal
working of the Political
Department began to be fraught
with complexity. Old divisions of
work were hard to sustain.
Responsibility was not easy to
define. Within Europe, for
example, it was difficult to decide
whether Finland was the
business of the Eastern or
Western divisions. The same was
true of the Middle East.
Indeed, from the Swiss point of
view, the main commercial and
diplomatic problems now lay
geographically to the south. As a
result, the Political Depart
ment’s reorganization may be
said to have been unavoidable.
What the Department seems to
be implying by its change is that
the inhabitants of the northern,
temperate zone have a certain
community of interest as com
pared with the rest of the world.
It is not only the difference be
tween the industrialized coun
tries and the underdeveloped, but
between Asia and Europe. Japan,
significantly enough, belongs to
the division that also deals with
the Third World. Historically,
there is something to justify this
viewpoint.
However, the Swiss are not
trying to replace one con
frontation with another. The
reorganization of the Political
Department is simply a
recognition of changes taking
place in the world.
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China, Soviet agree
on direct air travel
By ROBERT G. KAISER
(C) 1973. The Washington Post
Moscow—The Soviet Union and China have agreed to establish
regular service between Moscow and Peking by long-range jetliner.
Tass. the Soviet news agency, announced July 16 that the two
governments have signed a protocol providing for flights by the
airlines of both, which will begin simultaneously at an unstated future
date. The Soviets and Chinese will use the Soviet-made Ilyushin-62
jetliner, a four-engine plane similar to the British VC-10.
Diplomatic observers here said the new pact reflected an ap
parent willingness by both Moscow and Peking to improve state-te
state relations where possible. This does not affect their vituperative
ideological dispute. As if to prove that point, Tass carried a harsh
attack on Chinese press coverage of the first round of the European
Security Conference just minutes before announcing the new air
traffic agreement with China.
At present, Chinese planes don’t fly out of Asia. Western diplomats
expect this situation to change radically in the near future.
Soviet airliners have been flying from Moscow to Peking since the
early 1950s. but Chinese planes have only flown as far as Irkutsk, the
largest city in Central Siberia. In the past these routes have been
serv iced by a relatively slow jet-prop plane, the Soviet Ilyushin-18.
Presumably, the Ilyushin-62 will be able to fly non-stop between
Moscow and Peking, a trip of more than 3,000 miles. If so it will put
Peking within relatively easy reach—perhaps 15 hours’ flying time—
of Western Europe, a substantial improvement on current schedules.
/V MOUNTAIN
HOUSE .
and
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BERG'S Nordic Sport Shop
Your Complete Backpacking &
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11th & Mill
343-0013