Red Discomfiture
In neutral Laos, where the Communist tide is supposed to be on the upsurge, the Red regime of Peiping suffered a humiliating defeat early this month.
The Communist discomfiture, first in a long time in the Southeast Asian kingdom, was the work of overseas Chinese in Vientiane. Significantly, it came after China broke diplomatic relations with Laos.
The Red defeat was of their own asking. On September 25, Liu Chun, "ambassador designate" from Peiping, summoned representatives of Chinese businessmen in the Laotian capital and asked them to organize celebrations for the Communist "national day" on October 1. He wanted a school holiday, raising of Communist flags at the school and on Chinese buildings, and distribution of leaflets.
The Chinese representatives declined to organize celebrations and hoist Communist flags but agreed to closing of the Lieu Tou Chinese school. With more than 1,400 students it is the largest Chinese school in Laos.
On the Communist usurpation day, however, the Lieu Tou school opened as usual. With only a few exceptions, pupils showed up for their classes. A platoon of armed Laotian policemen stood guard on the sidewalks in anticipation of troublemaking by the Communists.
But the Reds did not show up.
A Chinese teacher at the school explained to reporters that "we do not recognize those people (Chinese Communist officials) and we refuse to take any orders from them."
He said only five or six pupils failed to show up-and those because of confusion.
After thumbing their nose at the Communists, the Chinese in Laos demonstrated their loyalty to the legitimate government in Taipei by sending a 29-member mission to participate in the October 10 National Day celebrations. At Vientiane, the Chinese celebrated the Double Tenth at a dinner party.
Former Premier Prince Boun Oum of Laos and American Ambassador Leonard Ungersul were among the distinguished guests present. Prince Boun Oum toasted "the prosperity of the people of China under the leadership of President Chiang Kai-shek."
Hongkong
Popularity Contest
In Hongkong the Chinese Communists lost another round in their popularity contest with the Republic of China. And the defeat was one of their worst.
According to a press survey, only 459 Red flags were flown in the British colony to mark the Red holiday on October 1. The previous low was 731 last year.
In contrast, the October 10 National Day of free China was marked by a sea of Chinese national flags of the white sun and blue sky. The number of flags was too large to be counted but exceeded a million.
On the eve of the Double Tenth festival, the Reds suffered another loss of face when the Communist-controlled print shop of the Chunghua Book Company in Kowloon was topped by a Chinese national flag for the first time in 13 years.
The four-foot silk flag was hoisted by Chen Sung-lin, who had worked in the print shop since he was 15.
He said action had the backing of a majority of his fellow workers, who have become disillusioned with Red rule on the mainland. The Communists were not able to intervene until the flag had flown atop the building for more than a quarter of an hour.
Free China also won the "battle of the flags" in the Portuguese colony of Macao, where the Communists are detested as much as in Hongkong.
United States
Timely Advice
The Chinese Committee of Five Million in New York has advised Prime Minister Nehru of India "to immediately sever diplomatic relations with Red China and restore normal relations with the Republic of China."
In a letter signed by Committee Chairman D. S. Chen, the anti-Communist organization told Nehru the Republic of China "will for give your past errors" and advised him to stop supporting the admission of Red China into the United Nations.
Chen reminded the Indian Prime Minister that "the back door of your country has been thrown wide open" and "your border dispute with Red China becomes hotter and hotter."
"Any more flirtation or appeasement with the Communists would invite great disaster to your nation," Chen warned.
Reviewing India's diplomatic record, Chen said, "Of all mistakes you have made in your foreign policy, we deem the betrayal of the friendship of Nationalist China, which was manifested on many occasions before the independence of your country, at the time of the Mao (Tse-tung) regime, as the most shameful and inexcusable."
The Philippines
Naturalization Laws
The Office of the Solicitor General is studying proposals to make it extremely difficult for foreigners to acquire Filipino citizenship, the Manila Daily Bulletin reported early this month.
Solicitor General Arturo Alafriz was quoted as saying that the proposals calling for thoroughgoing revision of naturalization laws would be sent to Congress for enactment.
About 6,000 aliens, mostly Chinese, have acquired Filipino citizenship since 1946.
There have been suggestions that Congress should stop admitting aliens as citizens. But Alafriz thinks a total moratorium on naturalization is too drastic and might invite diplomatic complications.
Among the proposed changes in the naturalization laws, the residence requirement would be increased from 10 to 20 years, annual income requirement from 4,000 to 6,000 pesos, and membership in an alien political or business organization would be grounds for disqualification or cancellation of citizenship.
It is also proposed that nationals of countries recognizing dual citizenship should be barred from naturalization. If the national concerned prefers Filipino citizenship, he should get a written document from his country renouncing his allegiance.
None of the proposals mentions Chinese by name. But it is apparent that the revision is directed at overseas Chinese who will be disqualified in one way or another if the proposals are enacted.
West New Guinea
Flight From New Guinea
A mass exodus of Chinese from former Dutch West New Guinea has been touched off by Sukarno's approaching takeover.
Many of the 6,000 Chinese are fleeing in expectation that Indonesia will mistreat them.
A Chinese department store owner who left Hollandia recently predicted Communism eventually will take over the island from Sukarno.
He said the Papuan natives are split into three groups - one loyal to the departed Dutch, one listening to commands from Jakarta and the third clamoring for independence. The Communists easily can move in and enslave them all in the inevitable chaos and confusion, he said.
The store owner said fear of native atrocities is another factor in the Chinese exodus. The Papuans are talking about milking the Chinese and taking over Chinese women after impressing their husbands into military service, he declared.
The Chinese in West New Guinea thrived because of their diligence and higher education, the merchant said. The natives needed only "a knife, and arrow and bow and a bagful of betel nuts," he said, and they dislike work and study.
The contending native groups could turn the island into another Congo after the Indonesian takeover, paving the way for well-organized Indonesian Communists to build a Red bridgehead in the middle of the Pacific, he warned.
Taipei
Relief Donations
Overseas Chinese visitors who came to Taiwan to join in the October celebrations donated more than NT$1,400,000 to the relief of refugees from the mainland.
The donations were made at a tea party given for the visitors by the Free China Relief Association, which is in charge of the relief program.
In addition, Chinese visitors from Thailand pledged NT$280,000 worth of rice.
The biggest donation was made by Chinese from the Philippines. They contributed NT$1,000,000. They gave a similar amount earlier this year.
The Indonesian government barred the Republic of China from the so-called Fourth Asian Games for more than political reasons.
Chang Tse-mou, a Chinese leader in Indonesia for more than 40 years, made the disclosure after he was expelled by Jakarta recently.
Chang, who spent two years in an Indonesian jail for being an anti-Communist, said the Peiping regime promised Sukarno 30,000 tons of rice and 35,000 bales of cotton yarn in return for Indonesian cooperation in keeping free Chinese athletes out of the Jakarta games.
But, Chang said, Indonesia was actually the loser, although Peiping honored its pledge. Apart from its loss in international prestige, the country also suffered grievous monetary loss due to the injection of politics into sports.
Gate receipts at the games fell far short of the expected goal, and the anticipated large influx of international tourists failed to materialize.