April 8, 1971

State Dept says Chinese inv to Amer table tennis team is 'encouraging development' and says US would welcome reciprocal visits by Chinese athletic teams; calls inv consistent with hopes expressed by Nixon and Rogers for greater contacts between Amer and Chinese peoples; dept officials privately say inv is conscious if ltd diplomatic initiative by Peking; one official says it is meant to indicate at least a slight relaxation of attitude toward US

AEC-apptd Atomic Safety and Licensing Bd denies Columbia Univ permission to operate small nuclear reactor on its campus; does not specifically state that reactor is unsafe, but implies it does not have enough information about potential hazards to local residents; denial is 1st of its kind; nearly 100 such reactors, and larger nuclear power stations, are in operation in US; Natl Science Foundation and AEC have given Columbia $671,000 over last 11 yrs to build the reactor and facilities; univ can appeal decision; bd members are V B Deale, H Worthington and Prof E Grueling; implications of decision and dispute over reactor discussed

increasingly pol debate over Calley trial takes new tack as Dems and Repubs clash over whether Nixon improperly intervened in case; Sen Bayh accuses Nixon of playing pol and failing to provide 'moral leadership' in case, news conf; Sen Taft, in another news conf, defends Nixon's intervention; contends such action is necessary to reassure the pub and restore morale in armed forces; from statements of 2 Sens, it is apparent case has taken on new, controversial dimension, largely as result of lr from Daniel; White House press sec says Nixon has seen and read lr; refuses to say whether Nixon intends to answer lr; other statements made by Bayh and Taft noted; Taft accuses Daniel of making 'ill-considered and emotional attack' upon Nixon; Atty Gen Mitchell raises question whether 'normal aspects' of criminal justice system should apply in circumstances of Mylai, TV int; says he has much concern about 'total picture' of Calley case; Muskie says he has talked with Daniel by telephone; says he cannot comment on case because of risk of compromising integrity of legal process; McGovern says Nixon should not have made it appear that he would exercise right of rev because of 'pub clamor'; Hughes calls on Nixon to clarify his actions; Bayh and Taft illus

HR, 354-7, approves and sends to Sen, $5-billion educ aid bill after defeating move by Emergency Com for Full Funding of Educ, lobbying group, to add $728.6-million to funds already requested by Nixon; sponsors of move link defeat to lack of time to gather support and to absenteeism before Easter recess; HR votes to add $30.1-million for impact aid; bill as passed exceeds Adm requests by $131-million and may face Nixon's veto

1st sizable group of Amers to visit Communist China since mid-'50s to be table tennis team; US Table Tennis Assn pres G B Steenhoven announces in Nagoya, Japan, that 15 parsons will visit for 7 days; Chinese, at world matches in Nagoya, have been going out of their way to be friendly with Amers; Chinese repr there, Sung Chung, says inv has been extended to promote friendship between Chinese and Amer peoples; analysts there see Chinese move 1st concrete response to series of Amer moves aimed at improving tics