West Chester University - Serpentine Yearbook (West Chester, PA)

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INTERNATIONAL Chinese Vice Premier Teng Hsiao-p ' ing. n.S. Xiitionai Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski at China ' s Great Wall. Vietnamese soldiers with 130 mm. gun fire at Chinese positions. United States President Jimmy Carter. China ing the inevitable, was hailed by most but criticized by those who felt that the U.S. was turning its back on a long-time ally, Taiwan. The recogni- tion of the Peoples Republic not only opened the door to trade and diplomacy but also gave the Rus- sians another problem to think about. The beginning of formal diplomatic relations with China was not the only thing in the news from the Far East. China, the so called Paper Tiger , came to life in late February and March with its inva- sion of Vietnam. The invasion was in retaliation for Hanoi ' s rout of the pro-Peking regime in Cambodia, its expul- sion of ethnic Chinese, and a series of Sino- Vietnam bor- der clashes. The fighting continued for close to a month, with the Red Army penetrating up to 25 miles at some points. By the end of March, however, its message made clear, China withdrew. For over twenty-five years the United States had refused to recognize the government of the People ' s Republic of China. However, when Richard Nixon reopened the door to the mainland, the nation as well as the world knew that the tables were turning. On December 22, 1978 President Jimmy Carter, in his first real foreign policy victory, announced that formal relations with the Com- munists would begin the first of the year. This announcement, affirm-

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NEWS REVIEW Our lives at West Chester are filled with papers, tests, friends, and general campus activities. Many of us go through days or even weeks without reading a news- paper or magazine or even watching TV. But as we all know, it is impossible to shut out the world around us and ever so often details of certain events or atrocities are filtered to us through classes, profs, or friends. In this section, we will attempt to put these events in perspective so that when we look hack we will not only remember what our campus was like but also what the outside world was like.

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Iran In Chaos Worldwide instability was in- creased by the overthrow of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi in Iran. For 37 years, the Shah ruled his country, taking it from backwardness to the beginnings of modernization complete with TV sets and cars. In the last two years, however, there had been riots, strikes, and protests calling for human rights and freedoms to go along with modernization. The Shah, unable to calm the demonstrators and put an end to paralyzing strikes, was forced into exile by supporters of Muslim leader Ayatollah Khomeini. Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlave Students chanting support for Khomeini. Khomeini, the man behind the revolution, stands for an Islamic republic. After returning from a 15-year exile in France imposed by the Shah, he appointed Nehdi Bazargan as prime minister of the new government. Iran ' s ability to cope and rebuild will depend on Khomeini ' s and Bazargen ' s ability to reconcile all of the major factions of this divided nation.