Facing a New Scourge, China Rehabilitates an Old Opium Warrior
By Rone Tempest

BEIJINGIt was a time when British and American drug
dealers invaded the land, amassing huge stocks of opium in the
prosperous southern port of Canton.
A brilliant, progressive Confucian administrator, on orders of
the Qing dynasty emperor, launched one of the world's first antidrug
campaigns. In perhaps the biggest drug bust ever, the Canton
commissioner, Lin Zexu, destroyed 3 million pounds of raw opium
confiscated from foreign drug barons.
This sparked the infamous Opium War, in which China was
defeated and forced to hand Hong Kong over to Britain in 1841.
Mr. Lin, who is also known as Lin Tsehsu, was disgraced
because of his role in China's humiliation and banished to a remote
western part of this nation.
It has taken more than 150 years for his historic rehabilitation.
Call it "The Revenge of Commissioner Lin." It is why, when Hong
Kong reverts from Britain to China on July 1, one of the men with the
most reason to celebrate will be a retired diplomat, Ling Qing, who is
74.
Mr. Ling, who as China's chief representative to the
UnitedNations in 1985 proudly presented the repatriation agreement
the SinoBritish Joint Declaration on the Question of Hong Kong to
the world is the greatgreatgrandson of Comrnissioner Lin.
Mr. Ling said in an interview that he viewed the return of
Hong Kong both as a vindication of his famous ancestor and as a
chance to launch another crusade against drugs in China, this time
targeting the mounting use of heroin by Chinese youth.
The Chinese authorities say that drug use in China, particularly
in areas bordering the poppygrowing territories of Southeast and
Central Asia, has expanded rapidly in recent years.
In honor of his ancestor, whom he describes as " a world
pioneer in the antidrug movement," Mr. Ling created the Lin Zexu
Foundation in 1995. The first goal of the foundation, which has
received more than $1.2 million in donations from overseas Chinese, is
to restore the tiny house where Mr. Lin was born in Fuzhou, in Fujian
Province.
But the main purpose is to conduct a national antidrug
carnpaign.
"Drug trafficking and smuggling has become a serious problem
in China," Mr. Ling said. "China used to be mainly a transit area for
drugs. Now there are many young people who are also victims
of drugs. I think the situation is perhaps as serious as those days when
Lin Zexu was commissioner. We wanted to use the foundation to point
out the seriousness of the problem.''
The police and local authorities also have picked up on the
theme. In March, authorities in Guangzhouthe modern name of
Cantonmarked the 156th anniversary of Mr. Lin's raid there by
burning 368 pounds of heroin, opium morphine and other drugs
confiscated since the beginriing of the year.
Although he was once vilified by the Communist leaders of
China as an "agent of feudalism,'' Mr. Lin's reputation has undergone a
revival of sorts recently, particularly as the return of Hong Kong nears.
Now he is portrayed
as a progressive administrator, one of the first to advocate looking
outside China for ideas.
He also is seen as a pioneer in fighting rampant drug addiction
in the late Qing dynasty.
He is one of the main heroes in the epic film on the Opium
War that will be shown across China beginning July 1. Mr. Lin is also
one of the good guys in a new video game titled "Opium War" one
of a number of strongly patriotic games approved for use in the
country's proliferating video parlors.
But Mr. Lingwho changed his name from Lin to protect his
family during his days as a Communist guerrilla in the war against
Japanalso remembers when his famous ancestor was a liability.
Although he once served as translator for Mao in the guerrilla
base of Yan'an in remote Shanxi Province and as a liaison officer to
U.S. forces fighting the Japanese in World War II, Mr. Ling and his
family were persecuted during the 196676 Cultural Revolution
because of their "bad class background" dating to Mr. Lin.
"Now, everyone claims he was a national hero," Mr. Ling
recalled with a tinge of bitterness.
"But during the Cultural Revolution, Mr. Lin was discredited
because they considered him a feudal of ficial loyal to the emperor."
Mr. Ling himself was harassed by Red Guards. An older
brother was jailed as a class enemy ,and died in prison.
The imminent return of Hong Kong has changed all that.
Commissioner Lin has been elevated to national hero. His glory is
reflected on his descendants. "Now I've become a star," said a smiling
Mr. Ling, who still speaks English in the American idiom he learned as
liaison to U.S. officersmembers of the socalled Dixie Missionin
Yan'an.