Five Crucial Fronts
Thomson, John S.
Five Crucial Fronts North From Malaya: adventure on five fronts, by William O. Douglas. Doubleday. 352 pp. $3.95. Reviewed by John S. Thomson ASYMPATHETIC analysis of the political problems of...
...The Kuomintang represents the past— some of it decent, much of it reactionary, most of it full of despair...
...The tie-up with political developments in Burma and the Philippines has been less generally understood...
...In the Philippines there is at least land to feed the population, and the political leaders are committed to reform...
...It is on this question that Magsaysay has broken with President Quirino and is now campaigning for the presidency — which Douglas predicts he will someday win...
...The outlook for Malaya is far better where the British have promised dominion status...
...There the population, which is expected to double in 25 years, is already too large for the agricultural production, and two thirds of the island's revenue must be spent for defense against the Communists on the mainland...
...Neither is true of Formosa...
...The Vietnamese will not desire this until the French guarantee that they will withdraw when the fighting ceases...
...We of the West can never hope to save Asia from Communism or from any other form of tyranny...
...As the veteran political leader, Dr...
...Americans have fought on one of Asia's fronts against Communism...
...Vietnam is even more discouraging...
...On the village level it has been through Mass Education Officers who are trained to become leaders in the villages to which they are sent...
...Formosa and the Philippines are less fortunate than Burma in that the pressing need for land reform underlies all their other problems...
...This has been achieved primarily by government leadership in welfare activities...
...This, too, is negotiating with the tiger for the fur, but "the cause of free Asia" demands it of France...
...The countries visited by Justice Douglas during the 1952 recess of the Supreme Court are relatively well known (certainly more so than Ladakh and Lahul), and his conclusions based on interviews with such political leaders as Quirino, Magsaysay, and Rhee tend to corroborate what may be found in Michener's Voice o/ Asia and Adlai Stevenson's recent reports in Look...
...Yet until a move is made in this direction, the Huk movement will continue to appeal to the economically discounted peasantry...
...North From Malaya is not so original as last year's Beyond the High Himalayas...
...Already, Douglas reports, the MEOs are- so successful and so popular that the Communists are unable to move against them...
...In North From Malaya Justice Douglas reports on the situation in the four Southeast Asian countries and in Korea-Formosa, which he treats as a single problem...
...Douglas, "If our people so desired, they could get rid of the [Communist] Viet Minh in a week...
...The most valuable section of the book is on Burma where the material is fresh and the report on recent developments is most heartening...
...Today the Burmese government of U Nu appears to be in firm control...
...Filipino liberals ask themselves: "How long can we keep killing Huks for the benefit of the landlords and the Chinese moneylenders...
...Within the past year Americans have learned to connect events in Korea with those of Vietnam and Malaya...
...Our understanding and support will be needed on the other four...
...And this involves "negotiating with the tiger for his fur...
...Together these are the fighting fronts of Moscow-directed Communism in Asia...
...When Burma gained independence in 1948 its economy had not yet begun to recover from the war and the government's control was seriously threatened by Communist and other opposition forces...
...It is particularly welcome coming from Justice William O. Douglas, whose reputation for understanding the peoples of "strange lands" has been well established in his recent books...
...Jose Laurel, told Douglas in Manila, "The legislature is controlled by the landlords . . . And no landlord is going to legislate himself out of business...
...A Vietnamese spokesman in Hanoi told Mr...
...Reviewed by John S. Thomson ASYMPATHETIC analysis of the political problems of Eastern Asia is welcome today as the United Nations and the United States attempt a political-settlement for Korea...
...While social reform is slowly being advanced through joint Sino-American efforts, Nationalist Formosa does not supply the leadership which Asia seeks...
...For once in Asia, the counter-revolution has acquired and held the initiative...
...But if we approach her problems with a sense of justice and with humility, "we can help Asia acquire the strength to win her own independence and to maintain and enjoy it...
Vol. 17 • September 1953 • No. 9
