Evening star., 1961-04-16
BY BERNARD GWERTZMAN
Star Staff Writer


Star Staff Writer
A severe food shortage is causing
the worst economic crisis in Com
munist China's 11-year history.
Mao Tse-tung'S regime has ad-
mitted publicly that its policy OF
"leaping forward" in heavy indus
try has taken such toll on agri-
culture that the economic ma
chinery of the nation needs repair.
The crisis became Gear in jan
uary when the Communist Party
leadership announced that because
of the food shortage "the whole
nation in 1861 must concentrate
on strengthening the agricultural
front. Targets for heavy industry
in 1861 should be adjusted while
investments in agriculture be
increased"
This means industrial produc-
tion must be slowed down to allow
needed capital and technology to
be pumped into the impoverished
agricultural sector of the economy.
To stave off famine. the Com
munists have spent 5000 million
abroad in the last three months
on wheat and other food products.
This has cut deeply into their
limited supply of foreign currency.
usually earmarked for purchases
of industrial goods.
Reduces Payments
The food shortage also has re-
duced Red China's ability to pay
for imports from the Soviet Union.
China ordinarily meets its obli-
cations by supplying grain and
meat in barter for industrial ma
terialS.
A joint Sino-Soviet communi-
que last week, however, announced
the Soviet Union, lin an act of
friendship" was allowing the
Chinese to spread this years ship
ments over the next five years.
Hughes H. Spurlock, the Agri-
culture Departments Red China
expert, says: What Communist
China faces is, at best, develop
ing situation in which the regime
is extremely hard-pressed and the
situation will get worse before
getting better"
There will be less food per capita
this year than in any recent year.
he predicts, due to the inability of
Chinese agriculture to keep pace
with the country'S population.
Mr.. Spurlock says grain produc-
tion-85 per cent of the nations
diets no greater today than it
was in 1857. This means the same
amount of food must feed a popu-
lation larger by about As million.
Two consecutive bad harvests
Q959, 1861 largely have been
responsible for the food shortage.
This June's harvest may bring an
Improvement, but State Depart
ment observers say the Chinese
government already is preparing
the population for the worst.
Nature Tokes q Hond
Last December, the Communist
Party announced that 148 million
acres-more than one-half of
the country'S cultivated land-had
been scourged by natural hazards
such as drought, floods, typhoons.
hailstorms, and frost, as well as
insect and plant diseases. From
49 to 81 million acres were de-
scribed as seriously affected"
A leading Red official last week
said SO million acres were so hard
hit that mo crops were harvested
at all"
Worst of all was the drought"
he said. I'm some provinces there
was no rain for six to seven
months. Many rivers dried up,
and for 40 days it was possible to
drive a car on the bed Of the
Yellow River"
Then Central Committee said
in January the natural disasters
were the worst in the last 100
years, a statement doubted by
Agriculture Department experts.
The areas hardest hit were
those north of the 34th parallel
where almost all Of China's grain
is grown. Rice is grown south of
that line.
individual Diets
There is little information avail
able on how the shortage has
affected the individual diets of the
population, but recent Agricul-
ture Department study estimates
that the average person now con-
sumes about 1000 calories a day,
or about 300 below the recon-
rlended standard set by the Food
and Agricultural Organization for
people of the Far East.
While not diScounting the
enormous havoc done by the ele-
ments, Agriculture Department
experts believe even more damag-
ing than the weather has been
Mao Tse-tung's economic policy.
This policy has emphasized
heavy industry at the expense OF
agriculture. Its underlying philos-
ophy has been that China must
hacoyoe q r1owerflI1 industrial ma