Commenting on recent developments in the Moscow-Peiping feud, the Washington Star said editorially November 24: "Of all the Communist powers, Red China alone has reviled the memory of President Kennedy and heaped abuse on his successor. This it has done only days after having cut loose against Nikita Khrushchev in a long harangue suggesting that it has undergone quite a change in its attitude toward war and peace.
"Thus, while assailing him as a 'Bible-reading, psalm-signing buffoon' and an 'unrequited lover' of the West, the Chinese Communists have accused the Soviet Premier of lying about their position regarding a nuclear conflict between Russia and the United States. Mr. Khrushchev and the Kremlin in general have asserted that the Mao Tse-tung regime wants to bring about such a conflict and then pick up the pieces of the world afterwards. This now has been indignantly denied by Peiping in these curious words:
"'You (Mr. Khrushchev) had better cut out your sensation-mongering calumny. The Chinese Communist Party is firmly opposed to a "head-on clash" between the Soviet Union and the United States, and not in words only. In deeds, too, it has worked hard to avert direct armed conflict between them.' And how so? Well, for example, by entering the Korean War lest the Russians be dragged into it and have a direct military confrontation with America. As Peiping's statement has put it, 'We ourselves preferred to shoulder the heavy sacrifices necessary and stood in the first line of defense of the Socialist camp (Communism) so that the Soviet Union might stay in the second line' and thus avoid the kind of encounter that could have erupted into a global nuclear war.
"Seldom has the inscrutable East put forward a more inscrutable line of reasoning. But there it is. Despite all their past bellicosity, despite all that they have said about Khrushchev's 'cowardliness' in dealing with America and despite all their belittlement of the consequences of nuclear warfare, they now parade themselves as the true opponents of such warfare, the true peacemongers of our time—except, of course, in cases where peace interferes with 'revolutionary wars of liberation' aimed at bringing about Communist domination of the world.
"It is not known how the Kremlin's 'buffoon' will respond to all this. It is known, however, that Soviet and Chinese Communist representatives still are consulting with each other in search of a reconciliation. It will be one of the neatest tricks of the decade if ever accomplished."
Reviewing the same topic, the Milwaukee Journal said November 22: "A Russian delegation is reported to be in Peiping and to have had a friendly meeting with Chou En-lai. At the same time there have been murmurs from the Soviet Union and from some other Communist centers to the effect that world Communism, after all, is too tightly knit to break apart—implying that some means will be found to repair the breach between Red China and the Soviet Union.
"Against the background history, however, a reconciliation now, while not impossible if both sides are ready to eat crow, seems unlikely. Just this week the Chinese Reds attacked Premier Khrushchev in highly personal terms in two Peiping publications.
"They called him a servant of the United States. They said he was a bluffer when he promised to use nuclear weapons to defend revolutionary struggles. They said he had no gratitude for the 'fact' that in Korea the Chinese Communists fought Americans to prevent a war between the Soviet Union and the United States—a new version of that action. The Russians had recently charged that the Chinese Reds were trying to push the Soviet Union into war with the United States.
"For four years the two Communist powers have been attacking each other with increasing bitterness. The Maxist camp has definitely split into two factions, much as it did into Bolsheviks and Mensheviks in Lenin's day—a split in which Lenin's Bolshevik minority won. This split amounts, in the view of Edward Crankshaw, the British expert on the Communist world, to a real declaration of war by Red China.
"If this were only a strategic and ideological quarrel it might be patched up in mutual interest. That is what happened with Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union—they don't consider themselves partners but they coexist in a friendly way. But, as Prof. Zbigniew Brzezinski of Columbia University's Research Institute on Communist Affairs points out, the Russian-Red Chinese split has developed into 'a bitter national territorial hostility, reawakening deep rooted historical conflicts.' Thus it may have passed the point of any reconciliation.
"A Soviet general staff officer held a secret briefing for Moscow journalists in October and told them that 'our border with Red China is the most explosive of all Soviet frontiers.' The Soviet Union has moved troops along the border. The Chinese Reds have done the same, as well as relocating settlers there. A top Red Chinese official told a visitor to Peiping recently that Red China's top soldier, Marshal Lin Piao, 'now spends most of his time on the (Russian) frontier.' There have been border clashes. This is no sign of war, but it is a sign that, as they have historically, the Russians and the Chinese Reds believe each other to have territorial designs. There is no surer breeder of suspicion and hate.
"Whether the split will grow to more serious proportions is not yet clear. Certainly it is already very serious. It has put the Communist world in great ferment. How this will affect the West is not yet clear either. It does seem certain, however, that if Russia and Red China have to spend time, resources and manpower watching each other, they will have much less opportunity to threaten the rest of the world."
Cuba and Peiping
Henry Raymont wrote for the New York Times December 1: "Cuba has recently been emphasizing her cordial ties with Communist China and China's allies, although Cuba's economic dependence on the Soviet bloc appears to be greater than ever.
"Specialists on Cuban and Communist affairs here viewed a recent series of diplomatic and economic exchanges between Havana and the Red Chinese bloc as designed to strengthen Fidel Castro's 'neutrality' in the Soviet-Red Chinese ideological dispute.
"The moves came amid new indications that the Soviet and Chinese Communist parties may be preparing to hold a new conference with a view to lessening their ideological differences.
"In the last week, the Cuban government announced the following steps:
"It raised to embassy status its legation in Tirana, Albania, and appointed Froilan Chaumon as new Ambassador there.
"It concluded a scientific treaty with Communist China envisioning broader exchanges of public health officials.
"It signed a new technical assistance program to increase Communist China's participation in efforts to correct Cuba's lagging agricultural production.
"The greatest political significance was given here to the show of friendship toward Albania, which has been Peiping's staunchest ally in denouncing Soviet policies.
"Albania, like Peiping, favors a militant approach to establish world Communism. Moscow is committed to peaceful coexistence under a theory that Communism will inevitably supplant capitalism.
"Without directly connecting the two events, the broadcast also disclosed the departure of a Soviet mission charged with building a fishing port in southern Cuba. It said that Yural Karpilov, head of the mission, had left for Moscow with three of his assistants after asserting that the port would be finished before the end of 1964.
"United States officials little doubt that the Soviet Union would continue to help Cuba bolster her economy even though there might be discrepancies over political and administrative policies.
"Soviet diplomats have repeatedly expressed their dismay over Dr. Castro's unpredictable political postures and over his apparent inability to develop an efficient economic machinery.
"Every time Cuba wanted to demonstrate her irritation over Soviet policies, she went out of her way to stress her ties with Albania, a tiny, poverty-ridden state without economic or military importance for the Havana regime.
"The Cuban position in the Communist ideological dispute has alternated between complete support for Khrushchev's policies and the espousal of Peiping's hard line."
Sihanouk's Motives
In a review of the situation in Cambodia, the New York Herald Tribune said November 21: "There is good reason to be alarmed over developments in Cambodia, which occupies a strategic position in relation to Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and Southeast Asia as a whole. It is not just the fact that Prince Norodom Sihanouk cut his military and economic ties with United States but the circumstance under which this was done.
"The Cambodian ruler obviously acted under duress. It would not be surprising if he surrendered to Red Chinese wishes only after receiving the most ominous threats—tantamount to an ultimatum—from Peiping.
"The Prince seesawed back and forth. Pushed toward the break one day, he pulled back the next. Then, presumably, Peiping said it would brook no more delay. And the Prince dispatched his notice to Washington, reaffirming his friendship for the United States as if to inform us that his heart was still with the United States but his hand (and leg?) was in the mouth of 'the Chinese dragon.
"We must now anticipate the end of Cambodia's 'positive neutralism' and increasing Chinese penetration of that key area. The Prince obviously hopes that he can buy time and delay an open Red Chinese takeover.
"The non-Communist world cannot base its policy on thin Cambodian hopes. It must prepare for new and increased Communist attacks via Cambodia."
The Denver Post also commented the same day: "Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia has finally carried out his threat to tell the United States to get out of his nation.
"For several months Sihanouk has been warning the United States that he would reject U.S. financial aid and U.S. military and civilian advisers if something were not done to get rid of the Cambodian rebel groups that are operating (with the complicity of the U.S., according to Sihanouk) in South Vietnam and Thailand.
"The United States has, of course, been disturbed by these ultimatums, and it has consistently denied that it is supporting any group devoted to overthrowing Sihanouk.
"The Cambodian ruler obviously does not believe the U.S. protestations of innocence. His demand—made Tuesday in a mass meeting in Phnom-Penh—for the withdrawal of all U.S. aid is an unequivocal indication of this.
"It seems certain that the key factor in Sihanouk's making the demand now is the recent coup in South Vietnam. Although the United States has denied any complicity in that coup, Sihanouk and almost everyone else knows that the coup in Saigon could not have been successful without the knowledge and at least tacit approval of the United States.
"The Vietnam coup apparently indicates to Sihanouk that U.S. policy is to make sure that any nation receiving U.S. aid has a government that will cooperate with the U.S. and further U.S. aims.
"Even before the Vietnam coup, Sinhanouk had made no secret of his opinion that the U.S. had hold of the short end of the stick in Southeast Asia, and that the big end of the stick was held by Communist China. He further made clear that he had no intention of taking a beating from the power that held the big stick in Southeast Asia.
"Since Cambodia became independent a decade ago, Sihanouk, proclaiming himself a neutralist, has been very cagey in working both sides of the street. He has received more than $300 million from the United States, taking the aid gratefully even though he believed that the fortunes of the West were declining in Southeast Asia.
"At the same time, he accepted considerable aid from the Communist nations, who he believed to be the ascendant powers, and he even sent his son and political heir off to Red China to be educated under the personal guidance of no less a Communist than Chou En-lai.
"Sihanouk has now given up working both sides of the street. His demand that the U.S. withdraw all its aid can only be interpreted to mean that he has now decided to bring Cambodia firmly into the Communist bloc.
"This is, of course, an extraordinary serious setback for U.S. foreign policy—and for the entire free world.
"A Communist Cambodia would make it very difficult for the U.S. to advance war against the Viet Cong successfully and to defend Thailand against the inevitable increased infiltration and perhaps outright attack.
"At this point, our chances of preventing that from happening look pretty slim."
Challenge to LBJ
Under the headline "Challenge to LBJ," the New York Daily News said December 2: "The above heading doesn't mean the News is challenging President Lyndon B. Johnson to anything.
"It refers to the fact that Red China's cutthroat rulers—Mao Tse-tung, Chou En-lai & Co.—are making it clear that they intend to harass and annoy and provoke the new Chief Executive in every way they can.
"Our Kremlin enemies are being more cagey as Mr. Johnson settles into his new position in the government. They are pretending a degree of friendliness which they don't feel—and hope LBJ knows they don't.
"But the Chinese Reds are spewing venom at President Johnson over their radio stations and in their press. They are causing their puppets in North Vietnam to step up South Vietnam's Red war against that nation's lawful government and its U.S. military 'advisors.' They are spurring their Laotian and North Korean puppets to stiffen their attitudes toward the neutrals in Laos and the anti-Red government of South Korea.
"All this could explode into a military showdown in the Far East between the United States and Red China. It is already a challenge to LBJ's caginess and courage.
"It so happens that free. China is very active militarily at the moment, and growing more so.
"Since he had to flee the mainland in 1949, Generalissimo Chiang. Kai-shek has been building up for a return to said mainland in force, and for what, he hopes will turn into a China-wide revolution against the Peiping Reds.
"The Taiwan (Formosa) government now reports that 32 groups of guerrillas—highly trained commandos—have landed in mainland China from Taiwan thus far in 1963, 'encountering little resistance' from the Communists and often being welcomed by the miserable slaves of Peiping.
"Eleven of these groups, it is claimed, were landed between October 6 and 26.
"'Supporting forces,' reports free China's news service in New York, 'later moved large quantities of supplies to pre-arranged locations and returned safely to unspecified bases.'
"Quoting further: 'One of the most successful raids was Fukien. The commandos hit Hsiayu-ching in Futing county, northern Fukien, at about 2 a.m. October 25, destroyed a village commune production headquarters, established contact with anti-Communist guerrillas, and I returned safely after leaving a group to penetrate farther inland.'
"Of course, when Peiping acknowledges these raids, it almost invariably claims to have liquidated the raiders. But Peiping's reputation for baldfaced lying is outstanding, whereas President Chiang's people habitually tell the truth.
"All this being the case, wouldn't it be wise for the new President at least to consider seriously giving President Chiang Kai-shek the green light for his longplanned jump for the mainland, with a little quiet convoying help from the U.S. 7th fleet if requested?
"Such an attack would at least be a dangerous and distracting flank operation against our Red enemies in North Korea, Red China itself, Laos, South Vietnam, and Cambodia.
"At most, it could—as the Generalissimo has been predicting for years—bring about the downfall of the Peiping regime and start the downfall of the entire Red Slave Empire's Chinese and Russian divisions.
"Such possibilities merit the most serious thought, we believe, on the part of the courageous Texan now in the White House."
Ripe for Revolt
In a review of free China's counteroffensive, George Todt said November 18 in the Evening Herald-Examiner: "Is it time for sturdy Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and his effective Nationalist Army of the Republic of China, now on Taiwan (Formosa), to try to regain the Chinese mainland?
"Not long ago I was present as a guest at a delightful dinner for a small number of sympathetic friends of free China.
"And so was the thinking that was evoked by the group of knowledgeable experts—including some admirals, diplomats, editors, statesmen, university professors, et al—assembled there.
"I would be glad to give my readers their names, but perhaps it will drive the so-called 'liberals' crazy a little further on if they remain anonymous. So let's take it from there.
"Mainland China today is ripe for revolt from Communist slavery.
"Not only the people but large segments of the Red army are completely disillusioned with the Red treachery and deceit which has been an invariable hallmark of their vile administration.
"Instead of great leaps forward, the progress has been backwards to the point of starvation—some 'Utopia' (or 'Worker's Paradise') in reverse!—and the Mao Tse-tungers lately have had to beg Capitalist wheat.
"Oh, to be sure, there is the face-saving fiction that they are going to pay for it. But is this really so? Only recently we learn the poor Canadians, who leaped like greedy trout at the $550 million dollar bait, have been badly stung.
"The bankrupt Reds are already $100 millions in arrears of payments and unlikely ever to catch up. So the nervous Canadians are cleverly trying to arrange at this very moment that the 'World Bank' (meaning us) will loan 'Good Old Mao' the necessary funds.
"This, when translated into plain horse sense, indicates the free world is even more decadent and immoral than we may have dreamt before. Imagine trying to make the overworked American taxpayer eventually pick up the tab for Mao Tse-tung's wheat, so the suckered-in Canadian allies can get fat!
"Instead of permitting this Communist monster to have free world wheat of any kind at all, we ought to have imposed an embargo on all Red dictatorships long ago—until famine caused their people ultimately to revolt.
"Then, and only then we should have stood by ready, willing and able, to extend all necessary food and credits to the home-grown variety of victors who vanquished our neurotic Red enemies on the world stage.
"Only those who are willing to fight against our Marxist foes on the world stage deserve our help.
"Let the Communist slaves behind the Iron and Bamboo Curtains liberate themselves—knowing full well they can count on our generous assistance thereafter to restore them to a working membership in the family of nations once they have been rehabilitated.
"But we should never do anything to help an enemy government with whom we are at war—cold, hot or otherwise... Let them stew in their own juice!
"Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek believes mainland Red China is ripe for a successful revolt. Why not take him at his word? Let's unleash him.
"Lenin once said the road to Paris lay through Peiping. He meant that our American foreign policy in Asia will always be a failure until China is free."