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Soviets Seen Winning in Battle with Communist China for Arab Favor

August 15, 1969
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Communist China’s policy of seeking to embarrass United States-Soviet efforts to dampen the Middle East crisis is running into difficulties in the Arab world, the Christian Scientist Science Monitor reported today. The Monitor reported that Huang Hua, the Chinese Communist ambassador to Egypt, returned to Peking last month and has not been replaced, leaving Sergei Vinogradov, the Soviet ambassador in Cairo, “unchallenged as the most powerful diplomat in the Middle East.”

The newspaper reported that Syria’s “brief springtime flirtation” with Communist China has been dropped in favor “of the more prosaic but durable Syrian-Soviet romance.” The report said there appeared to have been no follow-up of the visit last May by Syria’s army chief of staff to Peking. In addition, while references to Communist Chinese activities has disappeared from Syrian newspapers and broadcasts, “they are crammed with news of visiting Soviet delegations, Soviet aid and even ideological discussions between Syrian and Soviet leaders.”

But some results have developed from Communist China’s strong support for the Arab guerrillas and its criticism of the Soviet Union for its “coolness” toward the commandoes. Soviet publications have been giving “lukewarm praise” to the guerrillas in place of their earlier criticism, the Monitor said.

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