Report from Japan:
NAOI, TAKEO
Report from Japan SOCIALIST SPLIT WIDENS By Takeo Naoi TOKYO THE RECENT visit here by seven members of the British Labor-party delegation returning from a tour of Russia and Red China--Clement...
...troops and military installations from Japan, dissolution of the country's self-defense corps, a non-aggression pact with China, and expansion of trade with China...
...Thus, the visit fell short of expectations for both Socialist groups...
...On October 20, 1952, I wrote in The New Leader: "[Socialist] unity will only come about when the Right Socialists surrender completely on [the rearmament] issue...
...Miss Summerskill was right when she said that Japanese Socialists must establish a sound foreign policy...
...The Right is not likely to swallow these ideas...
...A few days before the joint talks broke down, a Left Socialist spokesman published a long list of differences between the two factions and said: "Since the Geneva Conference, world developments have borne out the Left Socialist party's policies...
...In explaining the Right Socialists' defense policy to the Laborites, for example, a party spokesman said: "We are not for rearmament, as the Left alleges, but before the party split we acknowledged that a police force of 75,000 was necessary to keep order...
...At this point, Morgan Phillips, Secretary of the Labor party, interrupted and asked whether the Right Socialists favored a new Locarno Pact based on the Japanese-American security treaty...
...The British were primarily concerned with bringing about Socialist unity, but they were so perplexed by the confusion in both parties that they could not accomplish anything here, either...
...Officially, it was announced that the British had been asked to stop off in Japan to pave the way for unity between the warring Socialist groups...
...Nevertheless, each side interpreted their words as an expression of approval for its own viewpoint...
...If this is your feeling," asked Phillips, pressing for some sort of clear position, "with whom are you going to conclude the pact...
...The spokesman replied that his party opposed the security treaty but felt that some collective-security measure was necessary...
...And, once they arrived, the Laborites did give both sides equal attention...
...They conferred privately with Left and Right leaders, appeared at a reception for all Socialist and labor leaders, and then held a joint conference to discuss the problems of unity...
...But it is also unlikely that its confused, vague position will be able to stand against the clear-cut, albeit unrealistic, policy of the Left...
...Three weeks before the Laborites' visit, they ended the top-level unity talks that had been going on for months...
...When it became evident that Yoshida would succeed in maintaining his position, Socialist dreams faded...
...Now the Left has become so confident that it demands complete surrender on all issues...
...Its statement calls for the withdrawal of U.S...
...Each had hoped that the Laborites would strengthen its own stand and raise Socialist stock in general--particularly since the Yoshida Government is finding it difficult to maintain its balance--but this did not happen...
...These had been motivated by the corruption scandals that seemed about to topple the Conservatives and by the prospect of a Socialist government...
...Even now we feel it is necessary to resist indirect aggression, though, like the Left, we oppose sending troops abroad...
...Since the British delegates were not specialists on Japanese problems, their advice was general and even somewhat vague...
...It was felt that an endorsement of these policies by the British Laborites, particularly left-wing leader Aneurin Bevan, would boost the Left Socialists' popularity and help secure their new gains...
...We expect the Right Socialists to change their views and come over to our side...
...Originally, the visit was sponsored by the Left Socialists...
...This prompted Edith Summerskill to comment that the Left and Right ought to establish a clear foreign policy...
...As it happened, the British seemed to find the Left too unrealistic and the Right too confused...
...Since the Geneva Conference, their program of neutralism, disarmament and "peaceful coexistence" has been gaining support...
...Now the Left Socialists are less inclined to work for unity...
...This is the weakest point of both parties and a major reason why the country cannot rely on them...
...Report from Japan SOCIALIST SPLIT WIDENS By Takeo Naoi TOKYO THE RECENT visit here by seven members of the British Labor-party delegation returning from a tour of Russia and Red China--Clement Attlee went direct to Australia from Hong Kong--only served to widen the rift between this country's Left and Right Socialists...
...The Right Socialists, fearing this, became co-sponsors of the British trip, and each side tried to outdo the other in gaining the visitors' favor...
...The Right Socialist, unable to answer directly, started insisting that his party opposed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Southeast Asian Treaty Organization...
Vol. 37 • October 1954 • No. 40
