Taiwan Today

What role has Britain been playing in the Korean war? In one sense, at least, it is a role which should not be belittled: Britain's military, naval and air units under the United Nations Command have so far acquitted themselves quite creditably by fighting with a gallantry seldom displayed, if ever, by British armed forces in the Far East. Numerically, however, the contribution which Britain has been making to the UN effort to curb Communist aggression in Korea is quite negligible. British armed units actively participating in the UN police action against the Communists are estimated at less than one-tenth of the American forces fighting on the Korean Peninsula, and it is generally felt that Britain, as a major democratic power and one of the mainstays of the United Nations, should have borne a greater share of the common effort. Nevertheless, if Britain, in view of the insignificant part she is playing in the Korean war, had contented herself with having a proportionate share in the formulation of UN policy and the conduct of the operations against the Communists, she would have been less open to criticism despite her failure to send stronger forces to the Korean battle-front. Unfortunately, such has not been Britain's policy. On the contrary, in the formulation of UN policy in Korea, both politically and strategically, Britain has been trying all along to have a voice out of all proportion to the contribution she is making, and the influence she has thus exerted has been anything but wholesome. General Douglas MacArthur, who advocated the making of an all-out effort to win a decisive victory for the UN forces, was called a war-monger by his British critics, especially the Laborites; and it is an open secret that it was largely through "British machinations that the former UN Supreme Commander was relieved of his duties in the Far East. Indeed, had it not been for British opposition, the UN forces would have struck at the Communist sanctuary beyond the Yalu River a long time ago. Not satisfied with what she has done in the past to hamstring the UN Command in Korea, Britain is taking another step in the same direction by appointing a Deputy Chief of Staff to General Mark Clark, to which Washington has given its consent following Field Marshal Earl Alexander's visit to the United States. If Britain is entitled to appoint such a Deputy Chief of Staff, we do not see why the same privilege cannot be claimed by the other nations which also have armed units fighting in Korea.