On March 7, Foreign Minister George K. C. Yeh emphatically stated that Russia world not relax in her aggression against the free world. It is possible, he said, that Russia may launch a phony peace offensive for a period during which the successors of Stalin will be busily occupied in a struggle for power among themselves. As predicted by Mr. Yeh, the Soviet peace offensive was launched towards the end of March.
The Communist peace offensive was set in motion on the night of March 28 when the Chinese Communist radio first announced the willingness of the Chinese Communists to accept a United Nations Command proposal to exchange sick and wounded war prisoners and proposed immediate resumption of the armistice talks that had been deadlocked since last year. On March 30, Chu En-lai of the puppet Peiping regime delivered a message through Radio Peiping proposing to end the Korean War by turning over all prisoners of war who do not want to go home to a neutral nation. Two days later, Soviet Foreign Minister V. M. Molotov pledged Soviet assistance in trying to bring about an armistice in Korea on the basis of Chu's proposals.
It may he recalled that the truce talks at Panmunjom have been suspended since October 8, 1952 on the last big issue of the exchange of war prisoners. It appeared to be a miracle, therefore, when the question of the exchange of sick and wounded prisoners of war was settled in only five days. The POW's exchange at Panmunjom began on April 20. Under this agreement, the Reds sent back to the UN Command 605 wounded and ailing allied prisoners, including 120 Americans, and the UN Command handed over to the Communists 5,100 North Koreans and 700 Chinese. It must be noted that the number of disabled allied captives is surprisingly small. According to the United States Defense Department, the Communists have made "unremitting efforts" to convert United States war prisoners to Communism by applying their "brain washing" technique. By releasing a mere 605 allied prisoners, the Communists have lured the allies into the hope of getting the armistice talks under way.
In addition to the amazingly speedy negotiations on the exchange of sick and wounded prisoners of war, a series of synchronized peace moves have been made by the Communists. In Berlin, Soviet Supreme Commander General Vasily I. Chuikov invited the Royal Air Force officers to discuss ways of preventing "regrettable incidents" in the air, and later invited the United States and France to join in the talks. In the United Nations Security Council, the Soviet delegation agreed to the appointment of the Swedish diplomat Dag Hammarskjold to succeed Trygve Lie as United Nations Secretary General. Moscow also carried out its promise to release a number of British and French civilians interned in North Korea. The USSR Foreign Office dramatically informed the American Embassy in Moscow that it could, if it wished, keep its building overlooking the Kremlin. These gestures have led a substantial number of people throughout the world to hope that Moscow would undergo a real change of policy. American press and radio executives who were warmly received during their eight-day trip to Moscow reported that the desire for peace in Soviet Russia was so strong that it looked as if Russia might really wish to end the cold war.
The foreign policy of President Dwight D. Eisenhower has been directed towards the building up of European defense. James Reston, correspondent of the New York Times, wrote, "The timing of the Kremlin's peace offensive seems significant to officials in Washington. This is the official tourist season there." It may be recalled that the visit of the French Prime Minister Rene Mayer to the United States was preceded by that of the British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and followed by that of the German Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer. While it is not known what damage has been done to the European defense program by the Communist peace offensive, it was reported that the French Defense Minister Rene Pleven felt that Russia's current peace gestures might delay the French approval of the plan for a Western European Army.
On May 11, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill dramatically called for a speedy meeting of "the smallest number of powers and persons possible." to bring about a "generation of peace." His proposal, however, was fundamentally contradictory to the US plan for peace. It may be recalled that US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles had previously said in a press conference that high level meetings were profitable only when lesser officials had made preparations. But up to this time no such preparations have been made.
The result of Soviet peace moves in the Pacific area is more clearly seen in Japan. With the promise of a general peace, the stocks of the war industries have slumped. It is also learned that Japanese business circles are anxious to hold a large exhibition in Shanghai and Peiping by the end of this year to promote trade between Japan and the Chinese mainland.
It was no longer fashionable to talk of the Pacific Defense Alliance. On the contrary, stories on the post-war settlement of Formosa and the division of Korea have once again come to the fore. Foreign Minister George K. C. Yeh described the report of the "trusteeship of Formosa" and the division of Korea as "too preposterous to deserve serious comment." He added, "If the United Nations should recognize the fruits of Communist aggression in Korea and elsewhere, it would be doing something in glaring violation of its charter. If the United States should sponsor such a concession, it would be like offering up world leadership on a platter to Soviet Russia." Syngman Rhee, President of the Republic of Korea, stated on April 13 that a settlement along any broad or narrow waist of the Korean peninsula would be a victory for aggressive Communism. Testifying on April 17 before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, US Secretary of State John F. Dulles stated that "Nothing in United States policy contemplates a trusteeship of Formosa." He further reiterated the UN objective of a "unified, independent and democratic" Korea.
Following the exchange of sick and wounded war prisoners, the truce talks at Panmunjom resumed the first session on the morning of April 26. According to reports from Korea, the prospects of the truce talks have not been encouraging. Describing the Communist proposals, Lieutenant General William K. Harrison, Chief UN Delegate, said, "They contain nothing which could be a reasonable and constructive basis for negotiation." "The Communist new eight-point proposal of May 7," commented the New York Times, "contains enough dubious conditions that whether it is a real compromise or merely another truce trap must still be determined."
What is going on behind the Iron Curtain all this time? According to top United Nations officials in Tokyo, it is believed that the Communists have completed the construction of a modern defense line along the Chinese bank of the Yalu River. More than 200,000 people have been conscripted to construct the defense line consisting of dug-in gun positions, under ground storage areas, and shelters designed to withstand even atomic bomb attacks. The same line could be used as a springboard for future invasion of Korea after the withdrawal of the UN forces there.
In Indo-China, the Vietminh Communists won a bloodless victory in an offensive against the Indo-Chinese state of Laos when two French battalions pulled out of Samneua without firing a shot. Forty thousand red-led Vietminh troops have already won about one half of the whole territory of Laos since they crossed the border from Vietminh on April 13. The US Secretary of State officially expressed "grave concern" over the unprovoked attack on the peaceful country. According to other reports from behind the Iron Curtain, a force of about 15,000 Chinese Communists have marched down through Kwangsi to the Indo-China border, while over 10,000 Chinese Communists who have infiltrated into Indo China are working side by side with the Vietminh troops. On April 16, the official Chinese Communist New China News Agency reported that Thailand was preparing to send troops into the neighboring Laos to help repel Communist Vietminh invaders. This groundless charge may be interpreted as a pretext for the Chinese Communists to assist the Vietminh forces in the open and eventually to invade Thailand, the rice bowl of Asia, whenever it suits their convenience to do so. In the meanwhile, the Chinese Communists have concentrated 10,000 men on the Yunnan-Burma border ready to move into Burma as a prelude to their southward aggression.
While it is not likely that the free world would be taken in by the peace offensive launched by Moscow, valuable time will be gained by the new masters of the Kremlin to consolidate their power internally and to tighten their hold on the satellites abroad. So far as the Chinese Communists are concerned, it is obvious that they can no longer bear the burden of the Korean War. It is due to these factors and President Eisenhower's announced policy of liberation that the Communists are compelled to change their tactics.
According to Communist theory, capitalism and communism cannot exist side by side. As has been pointed out by Joseph Stalin, it is sometimes necessary to beat a strategic retreat. It is obvious, therefore, that the peace move of the Communists is but another tactical advance towards the same goal of world conquest. Whatever the Communist tactics may be, the Communist aim of world revolution remains unchanged. The free nations will have only themselves to blame if they play into Malenkov's hands by quarrelling among themselves instead of uniting, ever more closely against the menace of the Soviet peace offensive. In his major policy speech delivered on April 16, President Dwight D. Eisenhower outlined the steps for the Communists to follow towards world peace. He said, "The test of truth is simple. There can be no persuasion but by deeds." It is up to Moscow to demonstrate its announced peaceful intentions not by words but by deeds.
Bell Justice
Chen Shu-ku, magistrate of Pu Cheng Hsien, once tried a case of theft. A number of suspects had been seized, but he was at a loss to identify the culprit. He non-chalantly said, "I know of a bell; it can tell most accurately which is the thief." Orders were then given that the bell be conveyed to the back-yard of the courthouse. The prisoners were brought forth standing in front of the bell. They were told that those innocent will not make a sound when touching the bell, while the guilty one will make a sound at the mere touch. Shu-ku and his colleagues performed solemn rites to the bell before they hedged the bell in with a curtain. The bell, however, was secretly smeared with black ink. The prisoners were ordered to go behind the curtain one by one and to touch the bell with their hands. As they emerged from behind the curtain, their hands were examined and were found to have been stained with ink. But there was one whose hand remained unsoiled. It did not take much grilling before he confessed. For he had been in fear of making a sound and dared not touch the bell.
—Shen Kua: Meng Hsi Pi Tan