Zhao Ziyang, the Chinese economic-reform leader who opposed the crackdown at Tiananmen Square in 1989, has produced a posthumous book. Tapes recorded by Zhou while under house arrest have been made into “Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Zhou Ziyang” (Simon & Schuster, $26).

An interesting point was his thoughts on trade and agriculture. It has often been noted how China privatized farming and that as a result, farmers had more to eat. Zhou repeats that story, and adds another, in a chapter called, “The Magic of Free Trade.”

Zhou recounts that in 1978, when China was still thoroughly socialist, he went on an official trip to Europe. He writes:

I arrived first in Southern France on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, a region world-renowned for economic development. The climate there was very dry and no rain falls in the summer. Under such conditions, under our past way of thinking, in order to plant crops we would ‘change the conditions defined by heaven and earth’ by creating huge irrigation projects. They did no such thing, but instead planted grapes and other crops that were suited to the dry climate. The result was the natural formation of the French wine industry. The farmers there are very wealthy.

In other words, instead of trying to grow their own food, which would have left them poor, they grew grapes for wine, and they were rich. What allowed it was a world market for French wine.

Our farmers have followed the same strategy as the French: what allows our farmers' prosperity is a world market for wheat, apples, and other crops. Now some folks say this is bad, because of all the fuel used moving food here and there on the Earth, and that it would be better if we grew our own food here. These are the thoughts of people who have more money than sense.