Taipei newspapers support U.S. bombing of the fuel depots in Hanoi and Haiphong. The Central Daily News (Chung Yang Jih Pao) said: "U.S. planes raided fuel depots on the outskirts of Hanoi and Haiphong on June 29, thus ushering in a new stage of the Vietnam war. While the bombings do not escalate the conflict militarily, they deal a heavy blow to both Hanoi and Peiping.
"In concrete terms, the raids should have the following political impacts:
" 1. They will put Mao Tse-tung in an even more awkward position. The purges being carried out by Mao in his last ditch struggle are largely the consequence of the Vietnam dilemma. Mao knows he is unable to risk open confrontation with the United States, but he does not want to end the business in Vietnam, either, because that probably would mean the downfall of his regime. The bombings of the Hanoi-Haiphong area can only give him a bigger headache.
"2. They will aggravate the feud among Hanoi, Peiping, and Moscow. Unable to advance and yet unwilling to retreat, the Chinese Communists can only resort to their old accusation that the Russians dare not fight the 'U.S. imperialists' to protect their socialist 'brothers'. However, the charges will only bring counter-charges from Moscow and complaints from Ho Chi Minh, who thinks Mao is playing the role of a 'paper tiger' at the expense of North Vietnam."
The New Life Daily News (Shin Sheng Pao) said: "The bombings by U.S. Air Force and Navy planes of fuel depots in the Hanoi-Haiphong area destroyed 60 per cent of the oil storage facilities of the Ho Chi Minh regime, thus making North Vietnam's infiltration of the south more costly.
"Secretary MacNamara said the objective of the U.S. decision was to save the lives of the South Vietnamese, Americans, Australians, and South Koreans fighting in Vietnam. This is very significant. However, if Washington policymakers decide to take the additional step we suggest, they can save still more lives.
"We hope that from now on the United States will take resolute action in dealing with Hanoi and at the same time support a free Chinese counterattack against the Communist-held mainland. Only by hitting the head of the snake can the United States expect to win in Vietnam. Peiping is the head."
Absurd Opinions
Commenting on the three-page "advertisement" inserted in the New York Times June 5 by 6,400 U.S. professors, playwrights, and religious leaders, the Hongkong Kung Sheung Daily News said "U.S. intellectuals of today are plagued with a 'Communist phobia' that has turned them into pitiful weaklings and cowards who can only be despised."
The paper asked: "Why should these people pool their contributions to pay for such an advertisement? The gist of the message can be boiled down to just this: 'Get the U.S. forces out of Vietnam!' If it were not for the inclusion of some notable personalities, such as Playwright Arthur Miller, among the signatories, the ad could be mistaken for a Communist attempt to sabotage America's home front determination to fight."
The ad offered a four-point plan calling on the U.S. Government to: (1) cease all bombing of North and South Vietnam and all other offensive military operations immediately, (2) indicate that it will negotiate with the National Liberation Front and all other interested parties for a peaceful settlement, (3) encourage in every way and in no way interfere with the free exercise of popular sovereignty in Vietnam, and (4) seriously consider whether self-determination for the Vietnamese and U.S. national interest wouldn't be served best by termination of the American military presence in Vietnam.
The Kung Sheung Daily News said: "This 'four-point plan' contains nothing except some trite ideas copied from others; it is by no means a 'secret formula' or unique to the signers of the advertisement. It amounts to a synthesis of Vietnam war expressions and proposals previously advanced by some politicians and Communist fellow-travelers in the United States. Despite the high price paid for the New York Times ad, the intellectuals' 'plan', as we see it, cannot get anywhere for lack of some thing new or fresh. The signatories doubtlessly consider themselves the wise men of this age. Yet they have voluntarily thrown money into a hopeless, losing proposition, thereby becoming perfect examples of how one can try to fool others while really fooling themselves."
Red China lobby
According to a dispatch from London, the Observer magazine reported that certain elements in the U.S. State Department are quietly working toward U.S. recognition of the Peiping regime. Backed by a number of liberals who form the so-called 'Red China lobby', they assert that the Peiping regime is stable and that its thinking represents Chinese culture.
The China Daily News (Chung Hua Jih Pao) on July 14 cited recent development on the Chinese mainland to refute these opinions.
"First, the present wave of purges on the Chinese mainland, which began about three months ago, has involved such notables as Peng Cheng, 'mayor' of Peiping; Lu Ping, 'president' of Peiping University; Kuang Ya-ming, 'president' of Nanking University; and Chou Yang and Lin Mo-han, 'vice ministers of culture'. A few days ago, Lu Ting-yi, 'minister of culture' and Chinese Communist Party propaganda chief, was struck down.
"The Red purge is far from over. The more extensive it becomes, the more clearly it betrays the instability of the Peiping leadership. There are reports from Hongkong that the Chinese Communist are carrying out ideological reform in the countryside. Instability reaches down to the masses of the people.
"Secondly, the Chinese Communists have repeatedly stated that their rectification is 'a cultural, socialist revolution' aimed at preserving Mao Tse-tung thinking and destroying Chinese history, culture, and virtues. It is intended to degrade the social status of intellectuals, belittle Chinese tradition, and eventually replace Chinese culture with the thinking of Mao.
"These two points provide a reply to the American pacifists and a total refutation of their fallacious views."
The United Daily News (Lien Ho Pao) on July 12 commented: "The reason American appeasers have the 'courage to be wrong' and persist in their erroneous advocacy is that some Americans, especially the intellectuals, lack the 'courage to be right'.
"Professors John Fairbank and A. Doak Barnett told a U.S. Senate committee that the Chinese Communists represent Chinese tradition and that the Peiping regime is in full control of the mainland. The current power struggle, purges, and anti-Communist movement on the mainland prove that they are wrong. But few Americans have stood up to refute Fairbank and Barnett for fear of being branded as reactionaries or McCarthyites.
"While there is no evidence that John Fairbank and his fellow-travelers are Communists, it may be said that they work for the Communists. Their activities, amounting to Communist subversion, are tolerated in the American community.
"We hope that some men of courage in the United States will stand up to refute these appeasers and Red China lobbyists and resist their un-American activities."
More Isolated
The New Life Daily News said July 12 that the Peiping regime is becoming more isolated and helpless.
The paper said: "The Japanese Communist Party is now independent of the Chinese Communists. The Akahata (Red Flag), organ of the JCP, has suspended use of Radio Peiping's news broadcasts. Kenji Miyamoto, JCP secretary general, has instructed members not to listen to broadcasts from Peiping.
"The Chinese and Japanese Communists had been on close terms. The Chinese Reds financed the activities of Japanese Communists, who previously were submissive. In opposing the signing of the Japanese-American security treaty, the Japanese Communists exerted great effort for Chinese Communist purposes.
"However, the Chinese Communist 'tough line' of aggression was intolerable to the Japanese Communists. Early in 1961, some JCP members left the party and started an anti-Peiping and anti-Stalinist movement. The recent break can be traced to Chinese Communist refusal to accept Miyamoto's appeal that Peiping cooperate with the Russians on the Vietnam issue. Obviously, JCP's declaration of independence is a serious blow to Chinese prestige in Communist countries.
"The Chinese Communist fiasco in Asia results partly from the collapse of the Indonesian Communist Party. The Indonesian government has outlawed the party and banned all Communist publications.
"The Chinese Communists claim they still control Communists in North Vietnam, North Korea, and Thailand. But Ho Chi Minh has lost confidence in Peiping as a result of its inability to aid North Vietnam. Kim Il Sung will be greatly discouraged by events in Vietnam. Thai Communists feel chills run up their spines when they see stepped-up U.S. bombings of North Vietnam.
"In Rumania, Chou En-lai has found only indifference. This indicates the attitude of Eastern Europe.
"The Peiping regime is becoming more isolated and helpless. Its crisis is aggravated by internal unrest. The anti-Mao Tse-tung movement is widespread on the Chinese mainland. The final collapse of the Chinese Communist regime is not far away."
Groundless Charge
The English-language China Post said July 14 that Chen Yi's charge that the United States is collaborating with the Soviet Union against Peiping is "absolutely groundless."
The paper said: "In a speech delivered before a mass rally held in Peiping July 10 to denounce American air strikes against the Hanoi-Haiphong area in North Vietnam, the regime's 'vice premier-foreign minister' Chen Yi charged that the Soviet Union is deploying its military forces along the Red Chinese border in coordination with the United States. The Russians, said Chen, 'are making military deployments along the (Red) Chinese border in coordination with the U.S. imperialist encirclement of (Communist) China.' Chen further declared: 'The facts are very clear. The Soviet revisionist leading clique is redoubling its efforts to take united action with U.S. imperialism in a big way to sabotage the revolutionary struggle of all the peoples of the world.'
"This is a fantastic charge, which is absolutely groundless. Ideologically Moscow naturally would like to have the Peiping regime follow its leadership as the latter did during the first few years of its existence. When Red China tamely played the role of its chief satellite, the Soviet Union certainly had the satisfaction of knowing that at least indirectly it was in control of the Chinese mainland, which could not but add a great deal to its prestige in the Communist world. The Moscow-Peiping split, therefore, has pained the Kremlin leaders to no small degree, and the Peiping regime's refusal to patch up the quarrel is a bitter disappointment to the Soviet Union.
"This, of course, does not mean that the Russians are afraid of the Chinese Communists. Militarily the Soviet Union can defeat Red China any time and anywhere—in Sinkiang. Manchuria or Mongolia. But the Russians have no mind to invade the Chinese mainland. If the Chinese Communists should be rash enough to invade Soviet territory, it would be the maddest thing they could do. So far the Peiping regime has not dared to threaten to invade Soviet territory. Under any circumstance Moscow does not fear a Red Chinese invasion. It is absolutely unnecessary for the Russians to seek American coordination to attempt an encirclement of Red China. Soviet Russia and the United States are far from being good friends, and we believe they have no possibility of becoming good friends for many years to come.
"As for the United States, it certainly has no need to ally itself with the Soviet Union in an attempt to checkmate Red China. Ideologically Moscow is much closer to Peiping despite their present split. An alliance, formal or informal, between Moscow and Washington would make them very strange bedfellows. At any rate, the United States can easily deal with Red China single-handed. The American people have long seen through the Red Chinese paper tiger. Peiping's protests against American actions in Vietnam have become much louder since the air attacks on the fuel depots in the Hanoi-Haiphong area. In the speech referred to above, Chen Yi reiterated Red China's warning that Peiping will help North Vietnam win final victory, to whatever extent U.S. imperialism may enlarge the war and however heavy the price.' Red China, he said, is not restricted in any way any longer' in its actions in supporting North Vietnam. This is mere empty talk—and sheer bluff. There is not much that the Peiping regime can do under the existing circumstances to support the Vietnamese Communists."
Imminent Uprising
The United Daily News of July 6 said confusion on the mainland suggests that a widespread anti-Communist uprising is imminent on the mainland.
The paper said: "The Chinese Communists' struggle against 'revisionism' is actually a struggle against the human desire for freedom. It is also a struggle of traditional Chinese culture versus Marxism-Leninism and the thinking of Mao Tse-tung. Although a violent stage has not yet been reached, the anti-Maoism of the mainland is obvious.
"With the Chinese Communists purging intellectuals and ranking cadres, it is certain that Peiping is far from having the mainland under control. As anti-Maoism gathers strength, the likelihood of an anti-Communist uprising increases.
"The anti-Mao struggle within the Chinese Communist Party is not sufficient to meet the demands of the mainland people who want to be freed from their enslavement. It is possible the people will unite with dissident elements of the party in an all-out campaign against Mao.
"Students in Peiping have associated themselves with the people and have demonstrated against the purge of the president and some faculty members of Peiping University. Troops have been sent into major cities and to universities, and have even been dispatched to protect the wheat harvest. All indications are of a political storm soon to come.
"The fact that the 'cultural revolution' is led by Lin Piao shows that the party has lost control over its members. There are also indications of unrest in the Red army. It is likely that mainland intellectuals will unite with officers and men of the Red army in revolt against the Mao regime.
"U.S. bombing of the Hanoi-Haiphong area may intensify the Peiping-Moscow conflict. This, too, should spur the anti-Mao movement.
"The situation on the mainland can be likened to a volcano that may erupt at any moment. It is time to step up our preparations to return to the mainland."
Commenting on the same subject, the English-language China News of July 6 said:
"Observers looking at the purges of the current 'cultural revolution' have given most of their attention to the power struggle. This is understandable. It is interesting to speculate about the pecking order among Mao Tse-tung, Liu Shao-chi, Chou En-lai, Lin Piao, and Teng Hsiao-ping. In the soap opera of Chinese Communism, the burning question is whether Peng Chen is in or out. However, this preoccupation with personalities obscures the much more important fact that these purges are directed at the whole intellectual process and not merely at those who indulge themselves in the act of thinking.
"Communism anywhere must be either revisionist or anti-intellectual. This is because the Communist system, as handed down from Marx by way of Lenin, is a stupid, impractical, unworkable way of trying to exercise social control. It just doesn't work. Thus the Russians and their followers have survived by becoming revisionists. Having denounced revisionism as the greatest crime of the age — largely to assure their own survival — the leaders of the Chinese Communists must insist upon a society of closed minds.
"But as we have already seen, Peiping cannot even begin to solve the problems of the mainland without the creative productivity of intellectuals. So the Chinese Reds are trapped. Either revisionism or intellectuality will destroy them — in fact the former is an inevitable product of the latter. They have therefore fallen back on Mao-think, which is a magic bullet to destroy all enemies and a Genie from Mao's lamp to perform any miracle.
"So while the current purges may fade away without destroying the Peiping regime, the whole process of cultural revolution is merely sweeping the decisive problems of Chinese Communism under the rug. When the problems must be faced, as will inevitably be the case, that will be the end of Mao's enslavement of the mainland."