‘Building Bridges’ : Billy Graham Starts 16-Day Tour of China

Evangelist Billy Graham arrived here Tuesday at the start of a 16-day tour he said is aimed at strengthening Sino-American ties, especially between churches of the two countries.

“I come here primarily--always, wherever I go--as an ambassador of the kingdom of heaven,” Graham told reporters on his arrival at Beijing airport.

“We are in the process since 1972 (when then-President Richard M. Nixon visited China) of building bridges between China and the United States. We hope that our visit is going to be another strand in building that bridge stronger--the understanding between our two countries, and also between the churches.”

Wife Born in China

This is Graham’s first visit to China. His wife, Ruth, a daughter of missionaries, was born in China and lived here until she was 17. She is traveling with him.

Graham said that another purpose of the trip is to “see where my wife was born and reared, and . . . to see what makes her so Chinese, because since we’ve been married I’ve been conscious of the fact that she’s part Chinese.”

Graham is scheduled to preach at churches in Beijing and Shanghai and to speak at a theological seminary in Nanjing. He and his wife will also visit her hometown of Huaiyin in Jiangsu province.

“There are several thousand churches open in China today, and we are looking forward to being in a few of them,” Graham said.

Guests of Council

The Grahams are the guests of the government-sanctioned China Christian Council, an umbrella Protestant organization headed by Episcopal Bishop Ding Guangshun, and of the Chinese People’s Assn. for Friendship with Foreign Countries, headed by a former Chinese ambassador to the United States, Zhang Wenjin.

Ding and Zhang, along with U.S. Ambassador Winston Lord, were at the airport to greet the Grahams.

Ding, in a brief interview at the airport, said there are about 8 million Christians in China, approximately half of them Protestant and half Roman Catholic.

The practice of religion in China was severely suppressed during the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution. Since then, religious life has been allowed to resume, but religious organizations are supervised by the government, and there are still some restrictions.