'Two Chinas' and the Global Struggle

...It may be worthwhile to mention a few of them...

...Vietnam...

...More important, how would it affect the hopes of the Chinese people on the mainland, where Communist admissions last July indicated that resistance is on a far larger scale than even Nationalist authorities believed possible...

...The day Chinese Communist troops crossed the Yangtze River -no mean military feat-the Mindszenty trial started in Hungary, and Western attention was focused on a dramatic courtroom scene...

...None of the regimes in Eastern Europe has faced up to the absurdities of present-day Communist doctrine or been swayed by our access to them...

...RICHARD L. Walker, author of China Under Communism, is Assistant...

...Surely China was not capable of recovering the area in the then foreseeable future...

...especially the China problem-thus making a world concern of issues on which the Western powers (especially Britain and the U.S...

...What is important is that a disproportionate share of our energy, personnel, thought and attention was focused on Europe...

...The resistance of the free world, fervent at the start, will cool off as one decade of the Long Detente follows another...

...6. Since the world is so small, we must perforce have dealings with this new power, even if only in terms of their kidnaping of our citizens and their aggression...

...Certainly there is no more important area of the new Communist empire to have viewed as " 'normal' and accepted" than China...

...It may have played some role in the Kremlin's switch to the soft line...

...For this reason, the "Two Chinas" policy deserves close scrutiny before we get ourselves stuck out on a limb of a tree we never really intended to climb...

...This is, probably, once again a reflection of preponderant concern for Europe...

...7. In order to preserve our strong position in areas that mailer (that is, in Kurope), we can afford a more flexible attitude elsewhere...

...Two Chinas means abandoning hope for free China and might well mean abandoning a free world...

...In the eyes of many people in Asia, the acceptance by the West of Communist control in China would demonstrate that the Soviet system offers a method of bringing the haughty Westerner to terms...

...A recent analysis of the new Soviet policy of "the Long Detente, of the prolonged breathing-spell," by David J. Dallin (NL, August 22) indicates some probable goals, but Dallin's emphasis on Europe may have caused him to overlook some of the East-West inter-relationships which the Soviets may not ignore...

...A majority of them, knowing what the Communists are doing in their homeland, still support the Nationalist Government...

...Blockade is a slow weapon, but by early 1954 it was already beginning to pay dividends for the West...

...There the creation of a great power center in China has brought immeasurable prestige to Communism...

...The context of a global struggle, provided by the Communists themselves and never abandoned by them, makes arguments in favor of "Two Chinas" seem minor...

...They are advanced not only from the myopic Left but also with some vigor by realistic opponents of Communism (for example, Dr...

...Many of the people who argue in favor of unwavering support for the Nationalist Government, for example, use emotion-packed language, talk in terms of past blunders which we must make up to "our staunch allies whom we sold down the river," and so on...

...Since then, lifting of the embargo has been one of the major demands of world Communism...

...Our continued recognition of the government currently situated on Formosa offers an alternate symbol of appeal...

...It is in the light of the foregoing that we must approach the "China problem," which current Communist policy is chucking back to us as the most controversial issue within the United States and between the United States and its allies...

...Stalin gave his famous interview to Kingsbury Smith of INS indicating that the Russians might be willing to solve the Berlin question...

...The event in Asia passed almost unnoticed...

...For example, on October 1 of this year there were only 257 Communist flags hung out in all Hong Kong in honor of the Communist national holiday, most of them by banks and stores under Red control...

...This background is necessary to understand some of the aims of the current Soviet talk of peaceful coexistence...

...For more than a decade now, Eastern Europe has lived as a part of the new Soviet state formation...

...2. Exploit this division to bring about recognition of Red China, its admission to the United Nations, and the lifting of the embargo...

...3. Recognition provides opportunities for more information by having observers on the spot, and conversely helps do away with some of the fantastic caricatures of our life and system created by the Reds for themselves...

...Chen the defeat of its ambitions in Europe, world Communism has focused on these leaders and these areas as its principal present target...

...It would cease to be China...

...Given an inexorable conflict which is indeed global, it could mean that the only future liberation in Asia or elsewhere would he Communist-style...

...A British economist, who four years ago wrote off any chances for the Nationalists or faith in them, recently visited Formosa and wrote his impression following an investigation of conditions there: "There is firm ground in Taiwan, despite many difficulties and the impossibility of seeing very exactly into the future...

...One must also consider the impact which acceptance of "Two Chinas" might have in long-range terms on people throughout the world who are divided or threatened in the present global struggle...

...This helps explain the important role of China in the new Soviet peace campaign...

...Arguments based on sentiment and emotion, when concerned with such an obviously vital problem, enable critics to portray us as "sulking little boys" unqualified for world leadership...

...Communist leaders in the past have found periods of "peaceful coexistence" ideal for expanding their organization and propaganda in free nations...

...Wishful thinking is partly responsible for our frequent failure to point out that the Soviets have never abandoned the life-death struggle of two systems which they postulate...

...But the picture is hardly the same in Asia...

...4. By bringing a reluctant West to "face up to facts," the Soviets can re-establish, for Asia at least, their doctrine of "inevitability...

...On the Nationalist holiday, October 10, the thousands of Nationalist flags could not be counted...

...The Berlin Blockade, for example, was occupying the center of our attention while China was succumbing to Communist armed might and while forces of aggression were being built up in Korea...

...the record of Mao's China is an eloquent answer to any speculations about heresy there...

...6. Given the obvious defeat for everyone in an atomic war, it is probable that the Soviets will concentrate increasing resources and attention on expansion of their area of control by other means, in which they have shown far greater progress than their opponents...

...Yet, only by courageously facing the true nature of international Communism can we evolve a strategy to insure our survival...

...We deal with a kidnaper in an attempt to preserve the life of his victim, but does this give him prestige vis-a-vis the law...

...This would help lift the burden of China from the backs of the Russians...

...This brings us right back to the world-wide implacable struggle...

...Further, much of our "embarrassment" at being forced to negotiate with the Chinese Reds results from our own ineptitude in the field of propaganda...

...Yet, paradoxically enough, even Dallin, who is aware of this Soviet goal, has now come out in favor of "facing the facts" and accepting Communist control of China...

...They are watching developments in China eagerly, wondering whether perhaps Communism can answer their problems and bring them power and prestige too...

...At least, this is what the Soviets hope and expect...

...Thus, while the addition of China and the build-up of military power there may have brought the Soviets short-run advantages, it is probable that, given the magnitude of China's problems, Moscow finds itself stuck with a long-run liability...

...David Dallin divides our post World War II conflict with world Communism into four phases: resistance, containment, stabilization (the present period of the Long Detente), and liberation...

...8. Only by having access to Peking can we hope to drive a wedge between the two Communist colossi and take advantage of Chinese Communist "tendencies toward heresy...

...Such points are not developed very effectively before the eyes of the world...

...The recognition we would extend as a price for agreement, and which is inherent in the "Two Chinas" attempt at stabilization, could only be interpreted by them as a capitulation leading to further victories for their system...

...Again, it is doubtful whether on-the-spot observers can provide us with any more intelligence about Red China than we get at the moment...

...Because the United States may be expected to oppose these goals most vigorously, world Communism can hope to regain some prestige for the USSR as a champion of peace by presenting our policy as the only obstacle to peace in Asia...

...The Russian policy of bluster and force combined with post-Stalin revelations of economic weakness has resulted in severe losses to the Communist camp...

...In any event, "Two Chinas" would not be two Chinas at all...

...Professor of History at Yale...

...4. The resultant trade can help build relations which would in turn make conflict less likely and eliminate a serious item of tension among the Western powers...

...The Communists possess an organizational weapon-propaganda, subversion, sabotage, front organizations, state-controlled cultural diplomacy, etc.??which our free institutions often deny to us, and with which we have not been signally successful in coping...

...One of Molotov's chief concerns at the Berlin Conference early that year was to get the Western powers to lift the embargo against Communist China...

...If Communism fails in China, its prestige in Asia could be destroyed forever...

...The Soviets' soft line is mobilizing many factors??fear of atomic war, cold-war fatigue, visiting delegations of genial farm, housing and cultural representatives, to mention only a few-with such effectiveness that it is downright risky to call attention to the implacable world struggle which has not changed one iota...

...In general, eight basic points are made: 1. Two Chinas have been in existence for six years and there is little prospect for the elimination of either one in the near future...

...This pleasant picture is in large measure a tribute to sound and forthright leadership by the United States...

...We have asked the Communists to renounce force against Formosa, and although the Soviets have not yet committed themselves, it is highly probable that the quid pro quo will be recognition of Red China and its admission to the United Nations...

...5. Our failure to "admit facts" is alienating neutrals and undermining our alliance with other free nations...

...We dare not overlook the implications of recognizing the Communist government of the mainland for the Chinese scattered elsewhere in the world...

...All these arguments, which occupy so much of our attention, are relatively insignificant, however, in comparison with the picture which emerges when the issue is placed in its special Chinese selling and considered from the viewpoint of global struggle...

...This is especially true with regard to the perennially thorny problem of China...

...The fall of Peking was noted on the inside pages of our newspapers...

...A very important consideration, usually overlooked, is the "overseas Chinese" who constitute a key segment of the population throughout Southeast Asia...

...This is well realized, and is being more boldly attempted than is sometimes appreciated abroad...

...Lattimore and the IPR" (March 31, 1952...

...Korea...

...Such outbursts of sentiment have helped obscure from allies (the British, for instance) the fact that our leadership may have just as sound a basis in Asia as it has had in Europe...

...Again, was not our non-recognition of the Japanese puppet regime in Manchuria a wise move in the long run...

...Whether the timing of events was intentional is not important here...

...Yet some of the very people who argue the necessity of keeping Formosa out of Communist hands favor a "Two Chinas" policy which could give Mao Tse-tung by diplomatic means the very advantage which they would risk hot war to prevent him from gaining by military attack...

...The counterpart of this development has been the remarkable unity and strength of Western Europe, culminating in the admission of West Germany to NATO...

...We could have "faced up to facts" there...

...The day Chinese Communist troops reached Shanhaikuan, the strategic point between Manchuria and North China where the Great Wall meets the Yellow Sea, Russian planes "buzzed" American planes on the Berlin Airlift...

...It is not merely a question of obstinate resistance to the further advance of Communism, but of building up, and demonstrating in practice, a positive alternative to it in Chinese, Asian and international terms...

...Dallin in The New Leader of October 10...

...Yet, China is poor and overpopulated and its economic problems are, for the most part, the very problems which the post-Stalin leadership has admitted are most acute in Russia...

...so long as the Communists struggle for the eventual victory of their system on a world scale, it carries with it all the advantages which have justified the maintenance of governments-in-exile in times of conflict...

...All this is very brilliantly spelled out by David J. Dallin, NL, August 15-22...

...are most openly divided...

...The result would be to hand Mao Tse-tung the largest potential fifth column in the world...

...Despite the harsh words in pro-Peking journals, there is every reason to believe that this symbol is effective in the struggle...

...Given their operational code, any agreements we reach with them are of negligible value...

...In Western Europe, where economic strength and rising standards of living have made the Soviet alternative look rather bleak, Communism has suffered severe setbacks...

...These people, though assimilating in some areas, normally give some degree of allegiance to the government which represents the China mainland...

...While our primary concern with Western civilization is understandable, we must not allow it to obscure events in other areas which could lead to its destruction...

...Here, once again, Asia and other underdeveloped areas constitute an obvious target...

...This weapon is especially effective in underdeveloped areas where colonialism or its lingering memories hurt the West...

...Two Chinas' and The Global Struggle Recognizing Red China would improve Communist prospects in Asia By Richard L. Walker It is increasingly difficult these days to remind people of some of the fundamentals of international life...

...How would it affect morale on Formosa...

...3. Isolate the United States and discredit our leadership...

...It has been a traditional method of Russian expansion over the centuries to advance to a new frontier, break resistance, withstand all attacks, and then to make it a constant feature of the landscape...

...Reaching maturity under new circumstances, they began to take for granted what their fathers had vehemently resented...

...What are the long-run implications for Germany...

...We would be acknowledging the existence of a small state with little or no meaning in the world struggle, and a great Chinese Communist power with all the psychological and propaganda advantages which our bowing to the "inevitable" would give it...

...With the soft line in existence, those who call attention to the finality of the struggle which the Communists have never given up are regarded as warmongers who threaten the chances for world peace...

...It would allow them to enjoy the prestige of China in the Communist camp without having to pay the price...

...There are equally telling counter-arguments to most of these points...

...As the struggle moves to planes other than open violence, we need every advantage possible...

...Shortly after the Chinese Reds entered the Korean War, the United Nations placed an embargo on strategic materials to Communist China...

...The basis for some of their greatest gains has been laid during periods when the party line was soft...

...In this connection, it is worthwhile to recall some of the correlations of events East and West in those earlier years...

...They hurt their cause more than they help it...

...Finally...

...The issue is as difficult as ever, and the arguments for and against the various solutions advanced must be weighed carefully...

...By showing an anxiety to be friendly, and at the same time indicating an intention to solve problems in Europe, the Communist leaders hope to make progress toward the following goals: 1. Push to the foreground, as the major threat to world peace, the problems of Asia and other colonial areas...

...Already we can see indications of renewed Soviet confidence even in the U.S., as, for example, the reappearance of ads for Moscow publications in the New York Times Book Review...

...The Russians in turn have been demanding and getting large shipments of foodstuffs from China, where in the past two years famines have reached tragic proportions...

...Recognition of Communist control of the mainland would in effect deprive the Formosa Government of its appeal as a beacon of attraction...

...The arguments in favor of "Two Chinas" cannot be dismissed lightly...

...2. Former experience indicates that recognition need not mean approval, as in the case of our recognition of the USSR and Tito's Yugoslavia, and that its effects are not so significant...

...One of the major reasons usually adduced for our continued resistance to Communist claims on Formosa is its strategic relationship to Southeast Asia...

...And it would also compensate world Communism for some of its lost prestige in Europe...

...Many are now arguing that this means the acceptance of a "Two Chinas" policy...

...Today, while the government on Formosa is recognized by major powers as the legitimate government of China, these Chinese remain divided in their commitment or prefer to remain aloof, a situation which encourages their assimilation...

...The new Communist state in China is based on violence and conflict...

...Certainly our experiences with other members of the Soviet camp do not bear out many of the points made above...

...This meant that Mao Tse-tung and his colleagues made increasingly heavy demands on the Soviet Union for economic aid at the very time when the Soviets, by their own admission, were (and are) least able to give it...

...Yet does not the eventual recognition which he favors constitute an important step toward abandoning hope of liberation...

...The day before Peking fell to Mao's forces...

...The present direction of Western policy has been toward the stabilizing of battle lines, as in Korea and Indo-China...

...Many of the leaders of newly independent states in Asia have been impressed by Communist China's ability to force concessions from the great powers of the West, their former colonial masters...

...5. A corollary of this is an objective which David Dallin has characterized as being "of a psychological nature: It is to dispel the impression of a huge overextended Communist empire, and to make that empire instead a 'normal' and accepted feature of world politics...

...Our acceptance of "Two Chinas" could aid this development appreciably...

...Its leaders are far more blunt about their ambitions and goals than their Soviet counterparts...

...Walker also wrote the New Leader supplement...

...We must, then, view the new Soviet line from the point of view of its implications everywhere in the world...

...this means we can use the China question for bargaining purposes...

...It is possible that Communist hesitation in accepting the Western proposal derives from their calculated effort to extract every propaganda advantage by finally giving in to our pleas and thus "demonstrating" that theirs is the camp of peace, willing to make concessions...

...As time passed, new generations grew up to replace the old political leaders...

...How quickly the situation could disintegrate from the point of view of the security of all Southeast Asia is only too apparent in Singapore today, where the British are being made grimly aware of the rewards of recognition...

...He served in the Orient in World War II and has just returned from a trip to Formosa...

...One of the greatest difficulties is to surmount the sharp acrimony and sentimentality which have accompanied past discussions of the problem...

...Thus, given our refusal to recognize them, they arc in a position to embarrass us and undermine our prestige...

...These areas offer an opportunity for a Communist expansion which could not only diminish the relative importance of Europe but undermine its ability to resist...

...China (as well as all Asia) occupies a key position in the struggle which we dare not underestimate during the "Great Detente,' as we did in the early phases of the cold war...

...The day the Western powers acknowledge Communist control of the mainland, they take away the main factor which prevents the 12-14 million overseas Chinese from giving undivided allegiance to Peking...

...Communist doctrines have lost their appeal among European intellectuals...