Geneva Accord
Taipei newspapers said the 14-nation Geneva accord guaranteeing a neutral and independent Laos is only “a scrap of paper” because it provides no effective sanctions against the Laotian Communists if they renew aggression.
Chung Yang Jih Pao (Central Daily News) said on July 24 that the Free World has suffered a setback, including the exclusion of Laos from the protective umbrella of SEATO, which otherwise could have been called upon to help if the Pathet Lao rebels bid for total power.
The daily said the free nations, headed by the United States, signed the accord because they believed—or hoped—that it would guarantee peace in Laos, check the Red advance on the Mekong river and protect Thailand and south Vietnam against Communist infiltration, and prevent further Communist moves against Laos.
However, the accord will restrict the movements of the free nations and give the Communists greater latitude and even a camouflage for subversive activities, the paper said.
The Communists will never abandon their schemes to conquer Laos and take over the whole of Indo-China, according to Chung Yang Jih Pao. Peiping already has clamored for withdrawal of U.S. troops from south Vietnam and for formation of a Laotian-type coalition government in Saigon, the paper said. It added that increase of the ground-to-air fire power of the Viet Cong rebels is an indication that the Reds are intensifying and expanding their military campaign.
The daily said Laotian sovereignty has been gravely jeopardized by the presence of Peiping diplomatic representatives in Laos. This flies in face of the fact that the Republic of China has established diplomatic relations with Vientiane and that Chinese Ambassador Han Lih-wu has presented his credentials to the King of Laos. The crucial test for Laos is only beginning, the paper said. Crisis may be expected in the integration of Laotian troops of the three rival factions, the handover to the coalition government of areas controlled by the Pathet Lao forces and the election of a new national assembly.
The paper warned that unless the free nations are determined to stop the Communist advance, they will not be able to maintain peace in this part of the world and will not be able to resist Communist aggression. Peaceful coexistence, said the paper, is a Communist term for “peaceful transition” to further conquests.
The English-language China Post on July 25 described the Geneva accord as a “worthless scrap of paper” because the Communists can get around its provisions through many loopholes and then return to armed aggression.
The daily said the provisions requiring the withdrawal of foreign troops will be of great advantage to the Communists. The American advisors and personnel can be easily identified, whereas the Pathet Lao, Viet Cong and Chinese Communist troops scarcely can be distinguished from each other, it was pointed out.
The promise not to enter any military alliance inconsistent with the neutrality of the Kingdom of Laos is meaningless, the paper said, in view of the close military and economic alignment of the Pathet Lao and the Vietnamese and Chinese Communists. Article four of the Geneva accord, said the paper, will deprive the kingdom of aid from the Free World, especially from the United States and SEATO, when its security or independence is threatened.
The paper said the promise of the Geneva accord that Laos will establish diplomatic relations with all countries is equally absurd. This is the formula the Communists seek to use in establishing the two-Germany, two-Vietnam, and two-China principle in international politics, and in squeezing legitimate diplomatic representation out of Laos.
The Post said in an editorial on July 20 that to enter into written agreement with the Communists is always disadvantageous to the free nations, because the Communists ignore their promises while the free nations feel bound to observe their pledged word.
The paper said the lack of determination of the Western countries, including the United States, in defending Asia has encouraged more Communist invasions. It predicted that the tragedy of partition in Korea and Vietnam will repeat itself in Laos.
The English-language China News said on July 20 that Peiping’s mission to Laos will have the dual purpose of speeding the Pathet Lao takeover and of expanding the Ho Chi Minh trail into a highway for the more rapid infiltration of south Vietnam. Without the Laotian portal, the paper said, Viet Cong guerrillas could not be sent into south Vietnam.
For Peiping, observed the paper, there is also the matter of the Thai rice bowl, which becomes ever more important as the famine on the Chinese mainland deepens. With Laos in hand, the paper said, the temptation to move into Thailand will be irresistible.
Lien Ho Jih Pao (United Daily News) said on July 13 that the Declaration of Neutrality for Laos will extinguish western influence in Laos and compel the kingdom to lean to the far left. Article four of the Declaration, which deprives Laos of SEATO protection and military aid from the West, implies the possibility of Laotian alignment with the Soviet bloc, the paper said.
There is nothing definite about the reorganization of Laotian troops and no assurance of their loyalty. This is alarming for the independence and neutrality of Laos, the paper said. Under such unfavorable circumstances, there is strong danger that Laos will be shut behind the Iron Curtain.
(File photo)
Empty Pledge
Taiwan’s press has doubted the sincerity of Soviet Premier Khrushchev’s pledge of support to the Chinese Communists. It suggested that he took advantage of the explosive situation in the Taiwan Straits to soothe the Peiping regime and to tell satellite nations that Russia, not the Chinese Communists, is the boss of the Communist bloc. Newspapers warned of political blackmail by the Kremlin, and forecast attempts to arouse the fear of war among pacifists and thus prevent a counteroffensive against the mainland by free Chinese troops.
Lien Ho Jih Pao said on July 5 that there are two points to prove Khrushchev’s lack of sincerity: First, his warning in Bucharest on June 24 that in a nuclear war, “the yellow race will not be spared.” This seemed to be directed at the bellicosity of the Peiping regime, but it would be more pertinent if the warning had come from U.S. President Kennedy, the paper said. Second, if Khrushchev really meant to support the Peiping regime in its military adventures, he would have given the pledge at the height of the tension and before President Kennedy’s statement opposing use of force in the Taiwan Straits.
The paper said that the Soviet Premier, well aware of the Sino-American defense alignment and the inability of the Chinese Communists to take Kinmen (Quemoy) and Matsu, was glad to speak of Russia’s superior position.
His pledge, the paper noted, is weaker than that of 1958, when he warned that any attack on the Peiping regime means an attack on Russia and will be answered by Soviet troops. This time he merely said that a Nationalist attack on the mainland would be met by a “crushing rebuff from the great Chinese people, the peoples of the Soviet Union and the whole Socialist camp.”
However, the daily cautioned, Khrushchev’s huffing and puffing probably will arouse the fears of pacificists and appeasers. This may lead the U.S. government to maintain its passive policy of opposition to the use of force and thus hinder return of the Chinese government to the mainland.
The paper asserted that the Soviet Premier’s clamorings implied that the Peiping regime and the Kremlin fear a counteroffensive by free Chinese troops. This suggests that free China, rather than the Communists, has the upper hand in the Taiwan Straits, the paper said.
Kung Lun Pao (Public Opinion Daily News) said on July 5 that Khrushchev, because of his rift with Mao Tse-tung, would not be unhappy to see Mao lose face in the Taiwan Straits. During the Korean War, the paper recalled, the Chinese Communists bore all disasters alone and Russian soldiers were not sent to help them. In fact the Kremlin has been demanding that the Peiping regime repay its war debts regardless of famine and economic failure on the mainland, the paper said. During the Communist shelling of Kinmen in 1958, Khrushchev again vowed to support Peiping. Russian troops, however, remained idle despite the Chinese Communist fiasco, the daily added.
Kung Lun observed that military supremacy in the Taiwan Straits has been shifted from the Communists to free Chinese troops. Both Peiping and Moscow, the paper noted, talked of a “Nationalist attack” (from Taiwan) and said nothing of “liberating” Taiwan.
Chung Yang Jih Pao said on July 5 that Khrushchev, unable to find a way to neutralize the European Common Market, found it convenient to take advantage of the Chinese Communist military adventure to bargain with the U. S. government.
Khrushchev’s idea, the paper said, is to induce the Chinese Communists to create more conflict in Asia “so that he can exploit the situation to eliminate Mao Tse-tung’s influence.” The paper’s assertion was based on the fact that Moscow has not given food to the Peiping regime to alleviate the famine on the mainland, but instead demands the payment of Peiping’s debts. If war breaks out in the Taiwan Straits, the paper said, Khrushchev will scream his support for the Chinese Communists but will drag his feet in terms of any real help.
Noting that there are unpleasant relations between Peiping and Moscow, Hsin Sheng Jih Pao (New Life Daily News) said on July 6 that Khrushchev’s pledge of support to the tottering Peiping regime may have a twofold purpose:
First, he wants to show the world that although there are rifts among members of the Communist bloc, the Communist nations will “stand together” in dealing with a free nation. This also may serve to warn satellite nations that “they cannot survive if they slip out of the Soviet lineup or betray their leader, the Soviet Union.”
Second, Khrushchev fears the Chinese Communists might touch off a nuclear war that would result in destruction of the Soviet camp. He therefore was trying to stop the Chinese Communists with the vagueness of his pledge of support.
Hsin Sheng predicted that Russia will not dare to intervene if there is a general anti-Communist uprising on the mainland. The furious revolutionary flames would engulf the Russian troops if they involved themselves in the China theater, the paper said.
Chung Hua Jih Pao (China Daily News) said on July 6 that the Soviet Premier’s clamorings were to create a tense international atmosphere for purposes of blackmail, to undermine Sino-American solidarity and to disturb the American people. The Communists will never abandon their attempt to seize Kinmen, Matsu, the Pescadores and Taiwan, the paper said.
(File photo)
Captive Nations Week
In response to observance of Captive Nations Week, the Chinese press urged free nations “to take some action rather than merely shouting slogans” for the deliverance of hundreds of millions of people from Communist starvation, tyranny and enslavement.
Hsin Sheng Jih Pao said on July 17 that free mankind has been seriously threatened ever since Communism began its aggressions. It said it is ridiculous that whenever Communism faces a serious crisis—such as the famine in Russia in 1921—the free nations come to its rescue instead of ending the Soviet system once and for all.
The paper said the free nations have done so out of humanitarian considerations and the hope that the Communist dictators might “change their attitude.” However, the Communists will feign friendship when they confront a crisis and need Western help, then return to their old ways of aggression and conquest, the paper said.
The daily called on the free nations to give moral as well as material support to the Republic of China in its efforts for the deliverance of hundreds of millions of Chinese people on the mainland from Communist starvation and political persecution.
Chung Yang Jih Pao said on July 14 that the successive uprisings behind the Iron Curtain—such as the revolt of East Berliners in 1953, the revolt of Poles in 1956, the Hungarian revolution in 1956, the uprisings of Tibetans in 1959, the mass exodus of East German to the West (totaling 3,500,000 in the last 15 years) and the stampede of the hungry Chinese people from the mainland—indicate the determination of freedom-loving people to shake off the yoke of Communist enslavement.
The paper said international pacifists and appeasers ignore the aspirations of captive peoples for freedom and still try to maintain the status quo of a world half free and half enslaved. This is tantamount to assisting the enemy in solving its difficulties. International Communism has suffered many setbacks and is nearing collapse, the paper maintained.
Chen Hsin Hsin Wen Pao said on July 20 that goodwill and sympathy for enslaved peoples are useless “unless coupled with some action.” If given active outside support, the paper said, uprisings in East Europe and on the Chinese mainland already would have liberated many captive nations.
The daily said U. S. President Kennedy’s statement opposing use of force in the Taiwan area and the Washington-Peiping talks in Warsaw contradict the spirit of Captive Nations Week. The passive policy of the United States will disappoint the captive peoples and make them lose faith in the Free World, the paper said.
Noting that the Peiping regime has been crippled by creeping famine and popular revolts, the English-language China Post said on July 21 that the Chinese government wants to destroy the Bamboo Curtain and help the suffering Chinese people. Preparations virtually have been completed and the helping hand of free nations is required, the paper said.
The English-language China News said on July 16 that Captive Nations Week this year is more significant than ever in view of the massive exodus of hungry Chinese people to Hongkong and Macao.
The paper said sympathy is of little use if there is no action. In the postwar era, it said, the Communist octopus has grabbed some one billion people. “Each time a free nation fell prey to Communism, the democratic countries would perfunctorily condemn the aggressors and offer sympathies to the victim people. What happened? Moscow responded to the gestures by enslaving more people. Even now, the Kremlin masters are continuing their nibbling process.”
The News said the inaction of free nations would be excusable if the captive peoples were resigned to their fate. But this is not the case. Communist despotic rule, the paper pointed out, has been marked by a series of bloody uprisings among the oppressed peoples.
“One fallacy...of the Free World is that the Communists are firmly in the saddle and that any effort to unseat them would trigger off a destructive world war. This is a flimsy excuse. They can be dethroned if we give the enslaved peoples timely support,” the paper said, adding:
“Our lack of courage not only is to be condemned on humanitarian grounds but also works to our own disadvantage. Continued apathy on our part will make the captive peoples lose their faith and thus indirectly help the Communists consolidate their control. It will also encourage the Communist aggressors to further expansions. Half of the world has already lost its freedom. Who will be the next victim but ourselves?
“A world cannot survive if it remains half free and half enslaved. In observing Captive Nations Week, we should do a little more than pay lip service to the enslaved peoples. We should give them more active support to enable themselves to be as free and dignified as ourselves. The time for such action is now.”
In another editorial on July 18, the paper said the captive nations will choose independence rather than Soviet slavery, if given the chance.
“Fortunately,” the paper said, “every land enslaved by the Communists has government or some form of representation in the Free World. These emigre groups are active and vocal. They are feeding the fires of national freedom and making plans for the day of deliverance.”
The paper urged the United States and other free nations to give active support to these movements. It said the spark for a Hungarian-type revolution in captive nations may well come from the continued support of those who insist on a free choice for the captive peoples.
Ambassador Kirk
The free Chinese press warmly welcomed Admiral Alan G. Kirk, new U.S. Ambassador to China, on his arrival July 2. Papers urged him to report to Washington, after observing the situation here, that Kinmen (Quemoy) and Matsu not only are defensible but must be defended. The press also urged him to tell his government of the strong aspirations and determination of the Chinese for national recovery.
Noting that Ambassador Kirk arrived in Taipei ahead of schedule because of the explosive situation in the Taiwan Straits, Hsin Sheng Jih Pao urged him to advise his government to adopt a firm, clear policy for the defense of Kinmen and Matsu, and to warn the Communists that if they invade the two offshore islands, they will be hit hard. Only such a policy and warning can stop Communist military adventures and discourage their attempts at political blackmail, the paper said.
For the security of the Far East, Taiwan and the Pescadores, the daily observed, Kinmen and Matsu must be defended. Reinforcements should be sent to strengthen their defenses. A move should be made to show the determination of China and its ally, the United States, to defend the offshore islands, the paper said.
The paper urged Ambassador Kirk to report to Washington that the Peiping regime, weakened by economic failure and the popular rejection of Communism, can be destroyed by attack of free Chinese troops coupled with large-scale uprisings on the mainland.
Kung Lun Jih Pao said the Communist military buildup and allegations of an imminent counteroffensive by the Chinese government, backed by the United States, were to test American reactions. Subsequently, President Kennedy reiterated U. S. opposition to use of force in the Taiwan Straits. The remarks of the U.S. President, the paper said, were not encouraging to the Chinese government and people.
The situation in the Taiwan Straits, the paper declared, is entirely different from that of 1954 when the Sino-American mutual defense treaty was signed and the Communists had the capability of waging a war. Now, the paper said, the imminent collapse of the Peiping regime provides the best chance for the Chinese government to pull it down and return to the mainland.
Therefore, the daily added, the United States should reverse its policy toward China and actively support the Chinese government in recovery of the mainland. It urged Ambassador Kirk to exert himself in this direction.
Noting that the arrival of Ambassador Kirk has ended rumors about strained Sino-American relations, Chen Hsin Hsin Wen Pao urged the Chinese and the U. S. governments to seek the widest possible area of cooperation.
The paper urged Ambassador Kirk to close the gap on any differences of opinion about the mainland situation or the Peiping regime. Many facts indicate that the Peiping regime is in the process of disintegration and can be overthrown, the paper said.
Lien Ho Jih Pao observed that the task of Ambassador Kirk is difficult because the anti-Communist concepts and policies of China and the United States are not wholly in accord.
Fundamentally, the paper said, China respects and is willing to help uphold the leadership of the United States in the Free World. But on problems concerning the interests of China, the paper said, the Chinese government cannot follow all the policies of its ally. For instance, the paper said, China hopes the U.S. government will give reasonable support for a return to the mainland. The Chinese government and people will be greatly discouraged, the daily said, if the U.S. government ignores the changing situation and continues to oppose the use of force in achieving national recovery.
The paper urged Ambassador Kirk to report to his government on the probability that the Peiping regime will collapse, and the strong, adamant determination of the Chinese government and people for national recovery.
The English-language China News said that what will count most from Ambassador Kirk’s mission is his reporting to the State Department and to President Kennedy on the deepness of the Chinese aspirations for a return to the mainland.
But above and beyond that understandable wish, the paper said, is the unshakable belief that China can prosper and make its contribution to world peace “only when it is free.” So long as Communism reigns on the mainland, it warned, Asia will be involved in a hot war and the threat of an all-out conflict.
“Our goal is not power for anyone, including ourselves, but for a free and democratic China,” the paper said, adding: “If Ambassador Kirk also sees that prospect before us and convinces his government, he will have served his country greatly.”