Korean Situation
The signing of the POW Exchange Agreement and the feverish preparations for the conclusion of armistice in Korea, all based on the Communist eight-point proposals, have bitterly disappointed and to some extent shocked the Free Chinese press which strongly warned the Western Powers against deviation from the principles and goals announced by the United Nations at the time when the Korean War first broke out.
The independent Combined Daily called the signing of the 30-clause POW Exchange Agreement at Panmunjom "the most shameful act beyond conception" on the part of the United Nations which had thereby committed itself to offer the Red aggressors freedom and facilities to enter the POW installations and to carry out the so called "explanation work" among the anti-repatriation prisoners. In three editorials published respectively on June 11, 15 and 16, the paper asked the United Nations in general and the United States in particular how they could justify themselves ill making such incredible concessions to the enemy against whom they had pledged to fight in the name of human justice, world peace and the principles of the United Nations Charter. "It is a malfunction to have signed such an agreement which throws away any chance that in future wars the Russian satellite' or Soviet soldiers will surrender," the paper declared. "It is not the firebrands or the aggressors, but the firemen or the Western Powers, who have been beaten to their knees at Panmunjom. An armistice in Korea based on such an agreement is anything but honorable, however plausible the explanation may be."
Challenging General Mark Clark's right to stop any South Korean military move against the Communists after an armistice, the paper, stated that Clark's authority in his capacity as United Nations Commander will automatically end in the event of a United Nations termination of its police duties in Korea. Once the UNC ceases to exist, or once the South Koreans pull out of the UNC, no one in the present UNC setup will be in a position to interfere with Korea's right as well as her freedom to fight for national unification and independence.
Realizing that a truce would not mean the solution of the Korean problem, both the Kung Lun Pao and the Hsin Sheng Pao emphasized that none of the Korean issues will be settled despite an armistice and strongly warned the United Nations against making further concessions in any future dealings with the Communists. Predicted the Kung Lun Pao on June 7: "The truce will lead the democracies nowhere. It only means a postponing of the final showdown between the democracies and the Reds. Any international conference held after an armistice will not be able to solve any of the outstanding issues but only can give rise to new ones. Echoing Lieutenant-General, Maxwell Tayler's warning that an armistice is not peace but just a pause in the fighting, the Hsin Sheng Pao commented on June 16 that when the problems of the withdrawal of troops and the unification of Korea come up for discussion, the danger of a new conflict may arise and the truce may prove to be a prelude to a new war. The paper further doubted on June 19 that the Communists had changed their minds over the eventual conquest of the Korean peninsula. It declared that any problem which could not be solved on the battleground would certainly not be settled at a conference table. The most the democracies could get from the truce, it predicted, would be a short-lived peace.
The official Central Daily News and Chung Hua Jih Pao and the independent Combined Daily voiced deep sympathy with the Republic of Korea in her adamant stand against a truce based on Communist terms. The Combined Daily on June 20 specifically lauded President Syngman Rhee for his decision to release anti-Communist North Korean war prisoners. “Rhee's courageous and heroic decision," said the paper, "is a reflection of his strong sense of responsibility towards his patriotic citizens. When his compatriots were facing a situation which meant sure death to them, he had no alternative but to come to their rescue on his own responsibility irrespective of the stand of the United Nations Command. All the anti-Communist countries in Asia would applaud his act which will certainly help enhance the position of the ROK in the days to come."
The Central Daily News said on June 21 that the ROK should not be blamed for violating the POW Exchange Agreement because she has no obligation to abide by an agreement which was signed without her approval. The paper declared Rhee's action could be ascribed to two things: first, United States failure to sign a defense pact with the ROK before a truce is concluded, and secondly, failure to obtain ROK's approval of the truce terms. "The ROK has been playing the leading role in the Korean War," said the paper. "Her contribution to and sacrifices in the war have exceeded those of the other UN members combined. It was only natural that she should take this desperate step when she was completely neglected by her Allies and a truce was going to be signed without her consent. Rhee's action should not be judged purely from the legal point of view. It is based on the principles of justice and humanitarian motives. The United States must not apply pressure against the ROK for it, because pressure would only damage US leadership of the free world and violate the American tradition of help to small powers." The Chung Hua Jih Pao said on June 5 that there is no ground for the United States to refuse to sign a US-ROK mutual security pact because an armistice only confirms the existent military division of Korea which makes peaceful unification all but hopeless.
The English-language daily China News, in defense of President Rhee's stand, said on June 21: "Rhee was severely criticized by the Western press: Some British papers even suggested that the US should depose him and deprive him of his authority. Such comments are too ridiculous to warrant our comment and serve only to incite the resentment of not only the free Koreans, but all the free Asians as well. If the Korean situation has become difficult today as a result of Rhee's desperate action, the main responsibility should lie with the United Nations and the United States. For it is only fair and logical that the ROK should have been consulted about the truce terms and given adequate assurances before the Allies plunged into honeymooning with the Communists. This is "the time for the Western nations, which seem to be dictating truce terms not to the Communists but to the ROK, to stop and ponder. To be too critical of President Rhee would only play into the hands of the enemy."
The Bermuda Conference
Reflecting Free China's anxiety over the nature and scope of the forthcoming Three-Power talks at Bermuda, the Chinese press unanimously urged the United States to stand firm on her resolution to reject the expected French and British proposal for a Western appeasement of Russia at the expense of weaker and smaller nations.
The Chung Hua Jih Pao Slated on June 19 that the Bermuda conference would be supported by the free world if it were truly called to forge Western unity, to narrow the gaps between the democracies and to a agree on a policy in dealing with Communism in the face of the Soviet peace offensive. But, the paper warned, should the meeting smack of personal or secret diplomatic and should President Eisenhower cater to the wishes of Churchill in· making that conference another Munich or Yalta, disastrous consequences would follow. The success of the conference, it added, will depend on whether the United States is able to accomplish the following ten points: (1) To frustrate the British and French appeasement program in exchange for a temporary peace (2) to hold to the principle that no nation should seek its own profit at the expense of others; (3) to convince the European Powers that international cooperation is the essential prerequisite to the survival of the democracies; (4) to promote realization of the European Defense Community; (5) to press both Britain and France to forsake colonialism to meet the national aspirations of the peoples in Southeast Asia; (6) to frustrate any attempt on the part of Britain and France to admit the Chinese Communists into the United Nations; (7) to push the formation of a Pacific Alliance; (8) to hold to the principle that the unification of Korea is an essential. condition in the maintenance of Far East peace; (9) to allow free news gathering and reporting and to tolerate no secret diplomacy at the conference; and (10) to refrain from making any "decision on any problem without the consent of the parties concerned.
The Central Daily News was certain that the advisability of an early meeting with the Russians would be one of the top questions to be considered at Bermuda. In an editorial entitled “The outlook of the Big Three Talks," the paper stated on May 23 that one think which concerns the free world most is whether the United States, at the forthcoming conference, is able to withstand the pressure from Britain and France for an immediate West-USSR talks. Any conference with Russia at the present moment is unnecessary, for such a conference only helps Russia to exploit Allied disunity and confusion and to turn it into another Munich which the free wor1d cannot afford to tolerate, said the paper.
Refuting Washington's announcement that the purpose of the Bermuda conference will be to foster unity among the free world, the Combined Daily declared on June 7 that the most effective measure to promote real unity among the free nations is to call a full-dress "Free World Conference" instead of a tripartite conference. "It is obvious," the paper stated, "that problems relating to nations other than the Big Three will come up for discussion at Bermuda. We want to know how the Bermuda meeting could protect itself against defamation as another Munich or Yalta if such problems were mooted without the concurrence or even the knowledge of those nations concerned. The Bermuda meeting would be condemned by the free world if it should prove to be just a curtain raiser for a Four-Power conference."
Rice Crisis
The rice crisis in Taiwan has received extensive treatment in the editorials which generally opined that a stronger food administration and a more realistic food policy should be instituted and mapped out, so as to forestall its repetition in future.
The Central Daily News, in an editorial on June 16, advanced three points for the reference of the government in its formulation of a new food policy. First, equal emphasis should be laid on rice reserve and rice production. In the past, attention was only directed to rice production while its reserve was sadly neglected. Whenever there was any surplus over and above what was needed for local consumption, it was invariably exported. Rice being the staple food of the people, its importance far outweighs that of any other commodities. Now that we are engaged in preparations for the counter-offensive against the mainland, the have to pay equal attention to rice production and its reserve. Secondly, a clear cut line of demarcation should be drawn in the administration of rice production and rice distribution. To increase efficiency in food administration, production and distribution should not all be entrusted to the Food Bureau of the Taiwan Provincial Government The Food Bureau should from now on only take charge of food supply and distribution, leaving the duties relating to food production to the care of the Water Conservancy Bureau and the Department of Agriculture and Forestry. Thirdly, encouragement should be given to the improvement of agricultural technique. Only through improvement in agricultural technique is there hope for a lowering of the cost of production which in turn will help stabilize the food prices.
The Cheng Hsin News advocated on June 6 the substitution of flour for rice as the staple food of the people. It is the only practical way, in the opinion of the paper, to ease the rice shortage on the one hand and to save more rice for export on the other. The current price of rice is around US$250 per metric ton in the world market, while that of flour is only US$120. Thus, if 150,000 metric tons of rice could be exported annually in exchange for the same quantity of flour, a profit amounting to US$19,500,000 would be made.
Should we be able to import the same quantity of wheat and process it ourselves, another US$3,000,000 could be saved. The chief obstacle to the achievement of this end, the paper said, is how to urge the people to consume less rice and more flour.
Ascribing the recent rice crisis to mal-administration and embezzlement, the Chung Hwa Jih Pao on June 7 called upon the government to stabilize the food prices through government-control of a large quantity of rice. To implement this measure, the paper made the following suggestions: (1) to conduct a thorough investigation of all garners; (2) to reorganize and· simplify the food administration so as to assure higher efficiency in future; and (3) to strengthen the organization of the Farmers' Associations in the various districts of the province.
East Berlin Riots
Leading newspapers here viewed the wide fire riots in East Germany as a significant sign of the unrest and shaking of the Soviet rule behind the Iron Curtain which would eventually lead to its total collapse, provided the free world would step in immediately to help liberate the peoples enslaved by the Soviet Union.
Asserting that the East Berlin riots came as a complete surprise to the Red rulers who originally staged the workers' demonstration, the Combined Daily on June 9 expressed fear that this might possibly be another trick of the Reds designed to uncover the real strength of anti-Red elements in East Germany. The paper held it possible that the Red rulers might take advantage of this chance to purge all the patriotic Germans under their rule and impose an even tighter control in that sector. It is up to the democracies, the paper urged, to take immediate steps to help the enslaved and oppressed peoples behind the Iron Curtain so as to carry out President Eisenhower's liberation policy.
Commenting again on the subject on June 20, the paper said that the anti-Communist demonstration in East Germany is the first of its kind facing the Soviet imperialists in the past thirty years. It is also a situation the free world has never faced before. The crucial question now is: how will the free world deal with this situation? If properly handled, it may well prove to be the beginning of a new era and of the gradual dissolution of the Communist empire. Otherwise, the outcome of the present struggle by the people in East Germany would not contribute in the slightest degree to the amelieration of their tragic fate. It might bring the enslaved and oppressed peoples behind the Iron Curtain fresh misfortunes even more disastrous than they have hitherto experienced. For this reason, the paper said, the bloodshed in East Germany is an acid test to the free world as to whether it has enough wisdom to deal properly with the situation. To the United States, the paper continued, the East Berlin riot is particularly significant. President Eisenhower and Secretary of State Dulles have all along advocated a "peaceful liberation policy" which actually means to liberate" all the oppressed peoples behind the Iron Curtain by any means short of war with either Soviet Russia or her satellites. The East Berlin riots may be regarded as one of the important outcomes of this policy. It is, therefore, up to the United States to exploit it to the fullest extent possible, so as to realize this "peaceful liberation policy" at an early date.
The Central Daily News on June 19 held the view that the Berlin demonstration was originally staged by the Communists as a part of their peace offensive to bewilder the free world but turned out to be something quite beyond their own expectations. The East Berlin riots, the paper stated, prove that the oppression of the workers in East Germany by the Communists is such that it has gone quite beyond the limit of their endurance and that the free world has overestimated the control over the workers behind the Iron Curtain. They were also an indication, the paper continued, that unrest and popular discontent are surging among the people behind the Iron Curtain which may well prove the death-knoll to the final collapse of Communism. It would not be difficult, therefore, for the free world to break through the Iron Curtain, if it has the will and determination to do so.
Taking a view entirely different from that of its contemporaries, the Kung Lun Pao editorialized on June 19 that it would be quite unbelievable that the workers demonstration in East Germany could be either inspired or staged by the Communists themselves. The Red rulers may on certain occasions adopt a measure contrary to what has been their wont to attain a certain end. They would, however, never do anything so rash as to even remotely endanger their own prestige and power. What has happened in East Germany, in the opinion of the paper, may be attributed to the following factors: (1) lowering of Russia's prestige and control among her satellites since the death of Stalin; (2) illusion stirred up among the peoples behind the Iron Curtain toward the recent Communist peace offensives; (3) effects of the liberation policy as ennunciated by President Eisenhower; and (4) the anti-Communist solidarity among the western European countries.
Noonday Peony
Ou-yang Hsiu once acquired an ancient picture in which were, painted a cluster of peonies and a cat underneath. He was not able to make out the sense contained therein. The prime minister Wu Yui, his relative and friend, said at first sight of the picture, "This is noonday peony. Why? Well, look at the flowers, in full bloom and without dewdrops on their petals. This is exactly how flowers usually appear at noon. And then look at the eyes of the cat, their pupils narrowing down almost to a line. Is this not how the eyes of a cat would appear a noon?" - Shen Kua: Meng Hsi Pih Tan