I have got up at truly deplorable hours in the morning to confront Vancouver’s Jack Webster on television because I have been told that is the place to get exposure for ideas.

The People’s Republic of China has not yet reached the military might of the Soviet Empire. It requires a little more time and a little more infusion of Western aid, loans, technology and the hard currency of our tourists.

Only a free West can help the prisoners of today’s left- and right-wing dictatorships.

There are, of course, all sorts of other unpleasant regimes outside the walls as well – the military dictators of Latin America and the apartheid regime of South Africa.

Among the barbarians as well is the People's Republic of China with a gulag all of its own - far, far more sophisticated than the Russians.

But to be frank and I think probably to the relief of many of you, I am withdrawing from the speaking circuit. It has caught up with me.

The Chinese understand that slave labour, which they thrive on, is not productive or useful to the economy if it is only extracted by torture.

One always feels that not only should each speaking occasion require a new speech but also for everybody's sake including my own, a new past.

We listened to the slogans of the barbarians - and this is the core of the problem - we decided that what the Marxists were saying had a point.

Indeed, we Jews were at the leading edge of communist totalitarianism, one of the most murderous movements of the 20th century.