Western Hegemony in Post-War Asia

...You will find this view expressed by so enlightened a writer ss Nehru, the Indian nationalist leader...

...His exact words were: We hope that India, ia what we believe to be her aw* highest interests, will wish to remain within the British Commonwealth...

...The Chinese were for two thousand years the great imperialist nation of Eastern Asia, and they, may easily become so again...

...Asiatics generally tend to regard Zionism as a British imperialist trick for importing Europeans into a continent on which they have no business...

...Any auch attempt would embroil the Western Powers in Asiatic disputes, and would tend to promote hostility to the Western Powers in China and India...

...I think the question of Zionism should be considered, not only because the world owes the Jews whatever reparation is possible for the appalling wrongs that they have suffered at the hands of the Nazis, but also because it illustrates the complexity of international questions...

...But the Japanas* showed Asia that resistance to the white man ia possible, and this lesson will not bo forgotten when Japan is defeated...

...Powerful American interests will urge their retention under white domination...

...He even went ao far as to any that, if India as a whole could not agree on a Constitution, there could be partition, and fraedom for the separate parts...

...but they are of great economic importance, not only to toe English and Dutch, but also to tha Americans...

...Perhaps something of this sort ought to be accepted, but it is a hard choice, and England cannot be much blamed for reluctance to make it...

...Given these two, a well developed industry is more essential to military strength than the actual possession of the other taw material*, that are needed in war, since the others ran as a rule be purchased...

...If (ndis cannot yet agree to Move forward as a single whole, we are prepared to see her large component clement* move forwsrd separately...

...Wester* Imperialism ia Asia Precarious DUT what is to hsppen to the Dutch East Indies, the Malay Peninsula, and Singapore...

...Both the United States and Great Britain have spoken aa if tha Dutch Esst Indies were to be restored to Holland, and the British have not renounced their claim to the Malay Peninsula'and Singapore...

...They are far more successful as colonists than the Japanese, and possess the art of peaceful penetration, it is to be expected that they will have the leading role throughout South East Asia after the war, and I see in this nothing to regret from an international point of view...

...hut if, after the war, her people can establish, aa agreed Coastitation and then desire .to sever their partnership with us, we have undertaken not to overrule such decision...

...For my part I do not think it would be wis* to attempt to retain the Malay Peninsula and the Dutch East Indies, either under separata British and Dutch governments, or under the joint rule of America, Great Britain, and Holland...

...There may, however, be some gain to the world in greater stability, with a eonsequent smaller temptation to war...

...England has no oil at home, and without oil it is impossible to be a Great Power...

...I do not myself see any complete solution, in the near future, for the problems of the Far East...

...At the aams time, . the economic interests, British, Dutch, and American, that are involved, are so great that I doubt whether wisdom will prevail over greed...

...There was nothing new ia his statement, except perhapa a certain (iftAaikrneaa...

...It is possible, however, especially as regards the Malay Peninsula, that economic arguments may also work in b contrary sense...

...frftfsfc Jmperioiism and Zionism ------IN connection with Western Alia it is impossible to ignore the problem of Zionism...

...England has depended largely on oil from Iraq and Southern Iran, and will not readily relinquish this source of supply...

...Ha expressed the hope that India would k« content with Dominion status, but aaid unequivocally that, if not, India's right to secede from the British Commonwealth would be acknowledged...

...the Russians already control northern Iran, and have long wished to penetrate to the ports on the* Persian Gulf...

...These colonial possessions will be very difficult to defend, given an independent India and a powerful, victorious China...

...I shall expect India, as soon as the war against Japan is won, to demand complete independence, and to connect herself rather with other Southern Aaiatic countries than with Europe or America...

...Western Asia, Malaya, and the Dutch East Indies will not, of course, acquire freedom by the British withdrawal, but will fall under the domination of newer imperialisms...

...of these iron, and to a lesser degree oil, are the most obvious...

...If Great Britain sincerely abandons imperialism in all parts of Asia, she will become incapable of taking any important part in a greet war, and will no longer be one of the leading nations of the world...

...Lord Halifax recently restated British policy in regard to India...

...Cooperation between Japan and China, when that time comes, would secure the peace of the Far East, and would be an effective barrier to any revival of western imperialism in that region...

...As for rubber, there will be a huge synthetic rubber industry, which will not wish to be put out of business, and there will be plantations of natural rubber in its original home in the Western Hemisphere...

...The whole project would be incredibly wasteful except on the assumption that policies approved by America will prevail in those regions after the war...

...The difficulties in this region, especially in Iran, will arise not only, or chiefly, from a local desire for independence, but from Russian imperialism...

...Until the general level of prosperity in those countries haa become approximately equal to that of America or England, they . will, in so far as they are politically conscious, suffer from a sense of injustice, the more so aa we shall no doubt continue to protect oursrlrs* against both the immigrants and the cheap goods that come from the East To raise the level of well-being In those countries (and ultimately also ia Jspaa) must herefore be one of the alma of every sincere advocate of world peace...

...Some, it is true, seem likely to remain necessary for a long time to come...

...The hope that India will choose to remain in the British Commonwealth is, I fear, likely to be disappointed...

...For example, the American Government has decided to spend 130 to 195 million dollars on a pipe line from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean, to convey oil for American use...

...As regards China this haa been recognized by the abolition of extra-territoriality, but it will be equally true iliswhsts Its effects, not only upon polities, but upon culture, are Hkely to he among the moat important and lasting results of the present war...

...Japan, of course, cannot be kept permanently in subjecTJonT Wmiy 't^^VWl'IsMM 6f WW hardship, Japan will emerge,- leas militaristic and .ess ambitioua than during the last fifty years, and willing to form part of a more genuine "East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere...

...Synthetic rubber is an example of a fact which is as yet insufficiently realized, that modern science has rendered many formerly essential raw materials no longer indispensable...

...The importance of that region has been derived from tin and rubber...

...If the war with Japan lasts for some yrsrs longer, the United Nations will hsve found means of obtaining their tin elsewhere or of using substitutes...

...Assuming the complete defeat of Japan—the powers —though not, we hope, the vices—of the Japanese Empire will come in large measure to the Chinese after a certain lapse of time...

...A general and undiacriminating'condemnation of everything that can be labelled imperialism may incidentally inflict much undeserved hardship, since the disappearance of one imperialism may only give occasion for the rise of another, and new imperialisms sre as a rule more oppressive than old ones...

...It is not only Great Britain, but also the United Ststes, that is interested in the oil of the Near East...

...For neither England nor Holland can hop* to retain possessions In Eastern Asia except with th* help of America, and the help of America cannot be expected without a quid pre on...

...If British imperialism in the Near Eaat comes to an end, the Jews of Palestine will find themselves at the mercy of the Mohammedan populations by whom they are" surrounded, and will probably be compelled to evacuate the country...

...I do not see how anybody who thinks it important to win tha war can reasonably demand more than what I-ortl Halifax, in these words, has explained as the policy of tha British Government...

...This will present a temptation to American imperialism...

...That India must be free after tha war is generally rveeeded by tha British—much more generally than ¦Mat Americans realise...

...Oii oad War jDROBLEMS will arise in Western Asia, chiefly owing to oil...

...If India is divided into av Hindu and a Mohammedan areas, tha Hindu portion may be expected to be allied with China, and the Mohammedan paction with the countries of the same faith to the west of India...

...Given such a state of affairs, it may be reasonably hoped that no occasion for a world war would arise in the Far East...

...China and India are appallingly over-populated, and suffer from a degree of poverty almost unimaginable in the Weat...

...From the sixteenth century onward, tha jrUte man gradually acquired increasing domination in the fast, which reached its maximum noon after Coramueore Peary opened Japan to the Went...

...I think we should recognise, as one ef the lesson* of the present war, that the hold of Western Power* in these regie** must henceforth be precartsua, and that any attempt to re-establish the pre-war status in this part ef tha world ia likely te he a cause ef future wars...

...This makes the United States Government and certain American oil companies partners in the preservation of American influence in Iran, Arabia, and the Eastern Mediterranean...

...leutasm Asia contains about half the population of the world, and a mere glance at tha map will show how L-Ssaaltrh it will be for white domination to survive ,,uw that tha process of modernizing Asia haa begun...