University of Arizona - Desert Yearbook (Tucson, AZ)

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AFGHAN MUJAHADEEN RELAX after a skirmish with Soviet airmo- bile forces. The Soviet Army lost several thousand troops on various actions against the Afghan rebels. FAMINE, RIOTING BRING WOE TO AFRICA In Africa, problems surfaced on two ends of the continent. In the South, the nation of South Africa underwent major upheavals as many of its citizens protested against apart- heid. In the North, in Ethiopia, the effects of several years of anti-government insurgency and a several-year old famine combined to give the country the appearance, as a Red Cross worker described it, of a modern African Auschwitz. SOUTH AFRICA: Despite the approval of a new govern- mental system giving power to Indians and coloreds (South Arficans of mixed race), blacks continued to rebel against the government, demanding representation for black citizens. The protests came to a head in September 1984, in the black townships on the outskirts of Johannesburg. Hundreds of rioters looted stores and firebombed white-owned busin- esses. The government sent in troops to restore calm, killing over 30 people in the first week. Several hundred eventually died. Despite the problems, the new minority members of the government promised to do everything possible to get black governmental representation. ETHIOPIA: The famine in Ethiopia had existed for sever- al years, but it wasn ' t until a British television news report was aired that world-attention was focused on the situation. Food and donations began to arrive in September, but a lack of transport made distribution difficult. To aid in distribu- tion, England and the Soviet Union sent aircraft, and the United States provided aircraft fuel. Rebel actions in the North hampered the distribution effort. Although quite a lot of aid was sent to Ethiopia, it may not have been soon enough. A relief agency official estimated that over one million Ethiopians had died in the fam- ine. LENIN ' S IMAGE HOVERS over vic- tims of the Ethiopian famine. The Ethiopian government was sharply criticized for its handling of the famine, and its distribution of aid as a weapon against insurgent regions. ANGRY SOUTH AFRICANS riot and set a township aflame during anti-apartheid rioting around Jo- hannesburg. Many blacks felt Prime Minister Botha ' s governmental re- forms were insufficient. 26 NEWS

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JAPAN, HONG KONG EXPERIENCE TURBULENT TIMES JAPANESE PROTESTORS DEMON- STRATE against increased Japanese militarism. Similar demonstrations were held to protest visits by nucle- ar armed U.S. Naval ships. HONG KONG HAS one of the high- est population densities on earth and an annual Gross National Prod- uct equal to 40 percent of all of Communist China. Two Pacific neighbors began major new political paths in 1984. In Japan, a rising sentiment for a stronger defense and the opening of better relations with South Korea blazed a new political trail for that nation. In the British colony of Hong Kong, the question of that nation ' s fate was finally answered. HONG KONG: After two years of debate between Britain and China, the people of Hong Kong were told of their fate: Hong Kong would revert to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, when Britain ' s lease on the city would expire. The Chinese were pleased to re-establish their claim, since Hong Kong ' s gross national product is equal to 40 percent of China ' s total GNP. The English were glad because they were able to get the Chinese to leave Hong Kong as a capitalist enclave until 2047. Hong Kong ' s population was not pleased, however. The announcement of the agreement caused some apprehension among Hong Kong ' s investors, and among the estimated 15 million refugees from communist China living in Hong Kong. Many of both groups planned to relocate to England or Taiwan when the change of goverment took affect. JAPAN: The government of Japan turned over two new political stones in 1984. After abandoning most military force after World War II, the Japanese gave into pressure from its Pacific allies and agreed to increase its share of Pacific alliance forces. This required a large increase in Ja- pan ' s defense funding, a move which brought protest from some Japanese. Japan also moved toward better relations with South Ko- rea in 1984. Japan and Korea had often been at odds with one another, and Japan occupied Korea from 1910 to 1945. How- ever, the September 1984 visit from South Korean President Chun Doo Hwan promised better relations. PACIFIC 25

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U.S.-SOVIET TALKS FREEZE UP Relations between the United States and the Soviet Union took a drastic downturn in 1984. The Soviets broke off arms negotiations with the U.S., and became more deeply in- volved in Central America and Afghanistan. TALKS BREAKDOWN: The U.S. and the Soviets had been trying to limit nuclear arms since the Limited Test Ban Trea- ty of 1963. Since then the two countries had been constantly negotiating, until 1984. In 1984, the two nations reached an impasse over the U.S. Cruise missile. The Reagan adminis- tration described the Cruise as a necessary addition to America ' s defensive arsenal. The Soviets announced that deployment of the medium range missile was unacceptable, and would bring an end to the negotiations. Although a visit to the U.S. by Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko in October 1984, and overtures from ' Soviet Premier Konstan- tin Chernenko in November raised hopes of negotiators, 1984 closed without a reactivation of negotiations. CENTRAL AMERICA: U.S. claims of Soviet involvement in Central America came into sharp focus in November 1984, when U.S. intelligence reports sparked fears that a freighter from the Soviet Union was taking high-perfor- mance Mig-21 fighters to Nicaragua. The cargo later turned out to be MI-24 antiguerilla helicopters, but the incident sparked fears of U.S. intervention in Nicaragua. AFGHANISTAN: Afghan rebels reported that, during the Soviet summer offensive, record-breaking casualties were inflicted on the Soviet forces. AFTER A SOVIET politburo confer- ence, Foreign Minister Andrei Gro- myko and Premier Konstantin Chernenko confer on Soviet poli- cies concerning the U.S. RUSSO-AMERICAN EMIGRES DEMONSTRATE in front of the So- viet Consulate in New York on be- s half of Andrei Sakharov, who went z on a hunger strike in mid-1984. 3FREEDOI ' ANDRdSl AFRICA AND THE SOVIET UNION 27