China - Case Visit to Peking January 1978
Mao's Mausoleum I first visited China in January 1978, when Beijing was cold and shrouded in smog. The Chinese Government had chartered three Greek bulk carriers* to load grain in Vancouver the previous summer, but the port was closed by a three-month strike and the ships sat idle. Under the terms of the charterparties, the charters were responsible for demurrage (the loss caused by delay) unless the delay was caused by 'force majeur'. I had visited Edmonton and Calgary in the early winter with Stuart Walker, a representative of the owners, when the temperature was -15C to establish that there was no event at the point of origin that could be regarded as 'force majeur'. but despite many requests, the Chinese wouldn't pay. The amount at stake was about $1.5m. So I was asked to travel to Beijing and try and obtain payment. Prue with our guides at the Great Wall 'You'd better go and hire the 'Orson Wells', said my senior partner, Sidney Fowler ...