Chinese Leader Is Big Attraction at Magic Kingdom

Chinese President Li Xiannian toured Disneyland Sunday and later at a banquet in Beverly Hills reiterated his government’s determination to reunite Taiwan with mainland China, pledging that no troops would be sent to the island if Taiwanese authorities cooperate.

Mickey and Minnie Mouse were at the Disneyland entrance Sunday morning to greet Li, who then mounted a red, black and gold antique-replica car for a ride down Main Street, surrounded by American and Chinese security officers.

For hundreds of Disneyland visitors who lined the streets and walkways of the amusement park--often cheering and applauding--the visit of the Chinese president and his entourage of about 60 government officials, ambassadors and reporters was something more than an E-ticket attraction.

Grasped Li’s Shoulder

“It’s history in the making,” said Sharon Rogers, a 32-year-old nurse from Los Angeles. “I would love to tell him how welcome he is in America. This way, both his country and our country can work together for peace in the world.”

Tears began creeping down Rogers’ cheeks when, after nearly three hours of trying, she reached out and grasped Li by the shoulder as he emerged from the Jungle Cruise.

“Welcome, sir!” she exclaimed as Secret Service agents began leading her away. To the flock of reporters surrounding the dignitary, she turned back and beamed, “I touched him! I touched him!”

Later as he addressed the audience at the Beverly Hills banquet in his honor, Li called for acceptance of the “one country, two systems,” doctrine--which would permit Taiwan to retain a capitalist system while acknowledging Peking’s sovereignty--and pledged that neither system “will swallow the other.”

He offered guarantees:

“The mainland,” he said, “will send neither people nor troops to Taiwan, and the interests of the Taiwan authorities and those of the parties concerned will be effectively safeguarded.”

And he suggested that such reunification is inevitable:

“In the history of over 2,200 years since the first emperor of the Qin dynasty unified China, the unification of the country has always been the main trend of historical development.”

It was Li’s first direct reference to Taiwan since his arrival in the United States, and his words, translated paragraph by paragraph, brought repeated applause from the audience of 1,200 ethnic Chinese and Chinese-Americans gathered at the International Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton.

‘Small World’ Cruise

Li also was the center of attention earlier at Disneyland. Irene Travis of Allentown, Pa., begged onlookers to step aside as Li cruised by aboard a “Small World” boat. “I only have one frame left in my camera. Please, can you let me get a picture? OK, now which one is he?”

“It makes the day kind of special when you have a dignitary of that kind,” said John DeVincenzi, 64, of San Jose. “I think with the new association we’re having with Communist China, it’s interesting and important to have a president come over here.”

Li shook hands with Mickey Mouse--christened Mi Loushu during the cartoon character’s visit to China earlier this year--and signed Disneyland’s official guest book to the accompaniment of a 14-piece band before being whisked off to a private screening of “American Journeys,” a 360-degree CircleVision motion picture with panoramic views of American history and culture.

Later in the day, Li’s wife, Lin Jiamei, and other members of the entourage viewed a similar film on “The Wonders of China,” flown in from Disney’s Epcot Center in Florida for the visit.

Frank Wells, president and chief operating officer of Walt Disney Productions, said he and President Li discussed “in the most general terms” the possibility of expanding Disney operations into China.

“In China, we don’t have such a thing for the moment,” Li Huming, a press officer with the Chinese foreign ministry’s information department, explained to an Associated Press reporter. “We are interested in such an entertainment place.”

For the Chinese First Lady, the highlight of the visit was the conclusion of the “Small World” ride, when animated children representing all parts of the world join for a rousing chorus celebrating global unity, said Melissa Tyler, Disneyland’s 1985 ambassador to the world, who accompanied the president’s wife.

‘Great Wall’ Revamped

“The interpreter was explaining the message of It’s a Small World, and I think she enjoyed that,” Tyler said. The attraction features a Chinese panda bear and Chinese acrobats, and its rendition of the Great Wall of China was revamped during the past few weeks in anticipation of the visit, she said.

Though Li proclaimed, in Chinese, “Very good!” as he left the Small World attraction, he appeared to prefer the Jungle Cruise ride, particularly when an animated elephant nearly sprayed the tour boat with water, said Tyler.

“He really got a chuckle out of that. A big grin and a big laugh. I think that was his most favorite part of all,” she said. “Of course, our elephants at Disneyland are very well-trained not to squirt presidents.”

The 76-year-old Li left the park to rest after a little more than two hours while the rest of the entourage stayed on for a scampi lunch at Disneyland’s exclusive Club 33 and a 1:30 p.m. viewing of the China film, which one member of the Chinese press said “made everybody feel at home.”

Bob Gault, Disneyland’s manager of theme park operations, said late in the morning that Li had “enjoyed it so much he wants to keep going” but that he was “extremely tired.”

Handshakes and embraces were exchanged near the park’s main entrance as the rest of the entourage climbed into black limousines for departure at mid-afternoon. Arthur W. Hummel Jr., U.S. ambassador to China, said of the visit: “Everyone was amused and thrilled, Chinese guests and Americans alike.”

Don Mulford, California’s chief of protocol and Gov. George Deukmejian’s designated representative during Li’s visit, proclaimed the trip “first rate . . . excellent.”

“The people all along the way, they’ve been cheering, they’ve been applauding,” he said. “There’s a very, very great spirit of friendship here today, and it’s been thrilling.”

Returned to Suite

After the Disneyland visit, Li returned to his suite at the Century Plaza Hotel before the evening banquet at the Beverly Hilton. The banquet, sponsored by the Committee to Welcome President Li Xiannian, was organized as a rally of those in favor of reunification, and that had been the theme of most speakers appearing before Li.

“We are here,” said David Lee, president of the Southern California chapter of the National Assn. of Chinese Americans and a sponsor of the banquet, “as a result of President Li’s personal request to President Reagan to set aside this evening to share with overseas Chinese and Chinese Americans.”

“What you see here tonight,” said Collin Lai, cochairman of the Chinatown Public Safety Association, “is the leadership of Chinatown--the silent leadership of Chinatown besides the CCBA . . . .”

He was referring to the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, which had organized aprotest demonstration during Li’s Saturday night address to the World Affairs Council at the Century Plaza. There was no such demonstration at the Beverly Hilton.

Laurance Liu, president of the Los Angeles-Guangzhou Sister City Assn. and an organizer of the banquet, called the dinner “a sign of change” in prevalent attitudes toward China.

“Since 1972, with the friendly relations established between the two countries, the American people, as well as people here in America with Chinese heritage, began to understand China and its people much better than what it used to be,” Liu said. “Through these friendly exchanges in the past years, people realize that the open door policy of China has actually created a better atmosphere for world peace, whether it’s between the two countries, or among the Chinese--the mainland and Taiwan.”

The banquet constituted a show of strength by supporters of Peking among the Southland’s Chinese communities. Some of those attending, however, were motivated primarily by ethnic pride.

“The people who are holding this banquet kind of remind me of the Italian-Americans who come out to welcome the Italian prime minister when he is in town,” said California Secretary of State March Fong Eu, a third-generation Chinese-American, who said she would be attending the banquet.

Eu said that for herself, China “doesn’t have any emotional significance,” but that “some people get all shook up when they touch the land where their ancestors were born.”

Future Consulate

David Lee said he believed that Li’s visit to Los Angeles would strengthen China’s commitment to opening a consulate here. China has said it wants to open a Los Angeles consulate, possibly next year.

Li, who met with President Reagan in Washington last week, is scheduled to fly to Hawaii today for a visit before returning to China.

The No. 2 member of the Chinese delegation, Vice Premier Li Peng, 56, arrived in the Los Angeles area Sunday afternoon, flying into an airport at the Douglas Aircraft Co. Division of McDonnell Douglas Corp. in Long Beach after a U.S. tour that took him first to Northern California. McDonnell Douglas Corp. is one of the U.S. firms most heavily involved in trade and joint ventures with China.

The vice premier visited an aircraft assembly plant and got a quick “flight” in a simulator.

“He is a very important official in the government because of his position as vice premier and his oversight of the areas of transportation and power,” commented David Eastman, McDonnell Douglas media relations manager.

A biography of Li Peng circulated to Americans welcoming the Chinese delegation says he is the adopted son of Politburo member Deng Yingchao and her late husband, Premier Zhou Enlai, and “is being touted both in China and abroad as a likely successor to Premier Zhao Ziyang.”