Os Cangaceiros
14th September 2013, 05:48
I had never heard of this incident before, but I read this in a historical publication and thought it was funny for some reason:
This view of 1954, however, might have been coloured by a demeaning, later visit in 1958 where the Chinese leader Mao Zedong belittled the Russian from the airport onward, putting him up in a hotel with no air conditioning and flatly refusing Soviet proposals for joint defense initiatives. Mao's personal physician, Li Zhisui, described the Chinese commander as behaving like an emperor, while "treating Khruschev like a barbarian come to pay tribute."
The next morning came the ultimate indignity for the Russian when Mao forced him into a swimming pool at his luxury compound, Zhongnanhai, knowing full well that the Soviety premier had never properly learnt to swim. As Khruschev bobbed uncertainly in the shallows, Mao called for flotation aids-described mockingly as a child's 'water wings' by US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger-allowing him to join the CPC chairman in the deep end.
"He's a prize-winning swimmer, and I'm a miner," recalled Khruschev in his memoirs. "Between us, I basically flop around when I swim; I'm not very good at it. But he swims around, showing off, all the while expounding his political views...it was Mao's way of putting himself in an advantageous position."
Water wings! Haha, classic!
This view of 1954, however, might have been coloured by a demeaning, later visit in 1958 where the Chinese leader Mao Zedong belittled the Russian from the airport onward, putting him up in a hotel with no air conditioning and flatly refusing Soviet proposals for joint defense initiatives. Mao's personal physician, Li Zhisui, described the Chinese commander as behaving like an emperor, while "treating Khruschev like a barbarian come to pay tribute."
The next morning came the ultimate indignity for the Russian when Mao forced him into a swimming pool at his luxury compound, Zhongnanhai, knowing full well that the Soviety premier had never properly learnt to swim. As Khruschev bobbed uncertainly in the shallows, Mao called for flotation aids-described mockingly as a child's 'water wings' by US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger-allowing him to join the CPC chairman in the deep end.
"He's a prize-winning swimmer, and I'm a miner," recalled Khruschev in his memoirs. "Between us, I basically flop around when I swim; I'm not very good at it. But he swims around, showing off, all the while expounding his political views...it was Mao's way of putting himself in an advantageous position."
Water wings! Haha, classic!