BURMA AND CHINA: A ONE-SIDED LOVE AFFAIR
Thomson, John Seabury
Burma and China: A One-Sided Love Affair by JOHN SEABURY THOMSON GENUINE neutralism is undergoing ordeal by fire far from foreign observers along the wild and mountainous Chinese-Burmese border....
...A Burmese law, dating from the British period, permits border tribes people to cross freely from China for short visits, to make allowance for the artificial boundary which splits family and tribal groups...
...He will not concede that the Chinese are now holding at least 2,000 square miles of Burmese territory and he is clearly unwilling to say how extremely grave the situation is for his country...
...Chinese intermarry and are Burmanized far more readily, for example, than Indians...
...The traveler in northern Burma cannot fail to be impressed with the high proportion of Chinese in the towns and villages...
...Nor is there question of the Chinese intent to penetrate and hold this territory...
...Though China has been pressing a two-pronged attack across the border for at least 18 months, it has come to public attention—even within Burma—only since July, and the Burmese government has had to use humiliating caution in bringing its accusations...
...Ba Swe, then minister of defense, put the blame on the U. S. China Lobby, which, he said, "is not a Department of State...
...But in dealing with China even the Big Tiger has had to be as slow to anger as his mild-mannered predecessor...
...Burma is working hard to keep its commitment to reopen the Burma Road by December...
...By 1948, despite the war and the Japanese occupation, official estimates raised the number to 300,000...
...It was at this time that Burma cancelled the U. S. technical assistance program, which it needed and valued, in the belief that the United States was arming the KMTs and appealed unsuccessfully to the U. N. for the aggressor label against Formosa...
...Editor, Morris H. Rubin, Madison, Wisconsin...
...More complete evidence comes only from the center of the arc of invasion in the fully-administered and much visited Myitkyina District, well known to American servicemen of the Burma campaign of World War II...
...The Burmese accept the traditional influx of visitors and even the large numbers of voluntary immigrants...
...Thailand, Indonesia, and India are countries which might have been expected to take an active interest in what is happening in Burma...
...For example, in a press conference with Ba Swe, August 7: Q. Our information is that there is a steady stream of illegal Chinese immigrants into Burma arriving at the rate of 1,000 per month...
...Prime Minister Pibul Songgram of Thailand has announced that when Burma brings the dispute to the United Nations JOHN SEABURY THOMSON, political scientist at the University of Wisconsin, was born and raised in China...
...But from the moment of its independence Burma has exerted its greatest efforts to avoid provoking China and to develop friendly relations with this giant neighbor which alone threatens her existence...
...The recent barter agreements are far more valuable to China than to Burma...
...My commission expires Jan...
...The law permits them free access for a depth of 25 miles without entry papers...
...Since the departure of the British in 1948, Burma has kept its close tie with Britain and the West and has worked to build good relations and trade with the Communist powers (even while fighting the Communist Party within Burma...
...To reporters' demands for confirmation of later invasions, U Ba Swe admits only to "a coming in and out" of Chinese in "certain areas of Northern Burma...
...This is accompanied by a propaganda barrage that the Chinese are coming to "liberate" the people from their aggressors...
...25, 1959) steady flow of Chinese moves into the country...
...It is impossible to approach Thailand from China without crossing first through Burma or Laos...
...Masses of unarmed Chinese civilians have swarmed into lightly populated Burma, apparently on orders from Peking...
...What alarms them today is the evidence of a well organized flow of advance agents—the "stooges of foreign powers" cited by U Nu in the April elections...
...MILDRED LOHFF Notary Public, Dane County, Wis...
...Almost singlehandedly, the independent Rangoon Nation, Burma's leading daily, has waged a militant crusade to arouse the public to the fact of Chinese aggression...
...What steps are being taken . . . ? A. My information is that the entry is in smaller numbers, say in tens...
...What has not been well known outside Burma, or until recently within Burma, is the extent of the Chinese threat...
...This was the first evidence of Red Chinese troops in Burma...
...On crossing the border they are quickly "lost" in the jungles or villages, drift into the towns and cities, and open businesses with the help of established Chinese firms...
...China has been permitted to open a consulate in Lashio, railhead for the Burma Road, which, except for a small British installation in Maymyo, is the only consulate outside of Rangoon...
...The invasions of the Chinese are neither new nor accidental, but are as old as Burmese history...
...The triumphal tour of Khrushchev and Bulganin through Burma last December was closely followed by an identical tour for Burma's last British colonial governor, Sir Hubert Ranee, who, along with Lord Ogmore, formerly Laborite undersecretary of the Colonial Office, was decorated by the government...
...Tito was feted throughout the country and decorated...
...Its indignant editorials of the past two months, supported by a flood of well-documented news stories, photographs, and eyewitness accounts of Chinese troop movements have brought the news to foreign attention and have finally forced Burma's prime minister, U Ba Swe, to respond to reporters' questions on the situation...
...Since independence there has been no time when Burma could spare more than three brigades to man the whole 1,500-mile border...
...The Russians were not...
...In addition to the negotiations between Rangoon and Peking, U Nu, invoking his role as moral leader or elder spokesman of Burma, has appealed personally through Nehru and Madame Soong, Sun Yat Sen's widow, to Chou En-lai...
...Therefore, may I disagree with the estimate of tens and twenties...
...A change in customs, adoption of the language, and minor modification of the name complete the shift...
...Officially all that is admitted is that Chinese troops have established themselves in the Wa State and that negotiations are in progress for their withdrawal...
...This would mean better than a 230 per cent increase in the past eight years, compared with a population increase of approximately 10 per cent for the whole of Burma...
...Unless world public opinion, so far markedly apathetic, becomes aroused or unless Chou En-lai turns over an unexpected page of Communist conciliation in Rangoon in December, Burma appears doomed to be cut down "slice by slice, until it becomes a satellite or vassal state" of China...
...It is less a pattern of invasion than of incursions—intentionally limited and spotty...
...Despite the accepted generality that Chinese do not assimilate into other cultures, the pattern in Burma, at least while immigration was reasonably limited, has been one of easy assimilation...
...this fall, Thailand will support Burma's case and "take any action, including military measures, to be decided on by the United Nations...
...Further, when Chinese troops had crossed the border into Indian territory, the Indian government had not protested, because "India and China were friends...
...When the Communists captured control of China, some of Chiang's Kuomintang troops again crossed, ostensibly seeking refuge, and remained on Burmese soil—a threat to the government and a: provocation to Communist China...
...On each of the annual Flag Marches since that year they have had the same experience...
...Ethically, the Shans are Thais and, while the "Free Thai" movement of Pridi Banudharm, former Thai prime minister, is aimed primarily at Thailand, it disturbs the Burmese to know it is operating out of Yunnan...
...I am here on orders and cannot withdraw...
...The military odds against Burma are overwhelming...
...2. The owner is: (if owned by a corporation, its name and address must be stated and also immediately thereunder the names and addresses of stockholders owning or holding one per cent or more of total amount of stock...
...After the engagement the Burmese commanding officer wrote his Chinese opponent, asking that he withdraw his troops from Burmese soil...
...U Nu, on his visit to Peking in 1954, was assured that the Communists had no association with him...
...Today Chinese caught near the border and escorted back to China are readily accepted on the Chinese side without question and reappear in Burma within a few weeks—a sharp contrast to the time when the first illegal immigrants were returned after the Communists took over and 30 were shot out of hand as Kuomin-tang agents...
...The reward today for Burma's efforts is disappointing...
...These orders have been carried out and clashes have been few...
...4. Paragraphs 2 and 3 include, in cases where the stockholder or security holder appears upon the books of the company as trustee or in any other fiduciary relation, the name of the person or corporation for whom such trustee is acting...
...The Communist invasion has had two prongs: military action and large scale peaceful infiltration, both backed by continuous diplomatic and political pressures...
...Earlier, after the first reports of the Chinese moves Songgram issued a statement, widely publicized by the Communist Hsin Hwa news agency, that he did believe China had committed aggression...
...Songgram's statement," comments the Rangoon Nation, "leaves us cold . . . He is not exactly a tower of strength...
...The "Free Kachin" movement of Naw Seng, former insurgent leader, is likewise based in China...
...Burma can buy peaceful co-existence, but it is "a most expensive luxury" and China sets the price...
...In the light of the preponderant power of the Chinese, the standard military operation in these invasions is at least unusual...
...Known facts about the military action are few...
...U Nu visited the capitals of East and West to sell his message of mutual understanding and welcomed visiting heads of state to Rangoon...
...As the Rangoon Nation says: "The Five Principles Love Affair between Burma and China has proved to be a sadly one-sided business...
...If owned by a partnership or other unincorporated firm, its name and address, as well as that of each individual member, must be given...
...action in Korea and contributed 400 tons of rice to Korean relief...
...The Chinese, on the other hand, have deployed units from five different army divisions, stationed in Yunnan Province, for operations along the border...
...6. The average number of copies of each issue of this publication sold or distributed, through the mails or otherwise, to paid subscribers during the 2 months preceding the date shown above was (This information is required from daily, weekly, semi-weekly, and tri-weekly newspapers only...
...In the U. N. Burma has consistently favored seating Red China and voted against pinning the aggressor label on her, though with considerable courage it supported the U.N...
...Again, at the present time, from Was who have made their way back to Burma, it is reported that the Chinese are organizing a "Free Wa" movement, recruiting Was from the Burma side of the border...
...In the contemporary period Chinese troops have often ignored the border...
...Genuinely neutral, and independent, Burma deserves a better fate— especially at the hands of Red China, which parades as the champion of peaceful co-existence and the liberator of Asians oppressed by imperialism...
...If we take the sum total I shall not quarrel with your figure of "thousands.,'' The discussion was then skillfully diverted to less loaded topics of foreign policy, such as private foreign investment and the 40-year $25 million U. S. loan...
...Prior to Communist rule, China allowed the same privileges to the Burmese border people, but its frontier is now closed even to them...
...Faced with this situation, the Burmese government issued orders to its border forces to establish positions and hold as much territory as possible without offensive action against the Chinese...
...To this the Chinese government replied in May 1956 that it was not ready to take up the border dispute and the troops would remain where they were...
...More often it has been two...
...Nehru, Nasser, and Chou En-lai were festively drenched in Burma's water celebration on their way to Bandung, and Dulles and Eden were given warm welcome on their overnight visits from the Bangkok conference of SEATO...
...In 1946 Nationalist troops crossed into Burma but were withdrawn in response to British protests to Chiang Kai-shek...
...Cultural missions have been exchanged...
...And to Earl Mountbatten went Burma's highest award...
...The Chinese invasion of Burma's border territory in the Wa, Shan, and Kachin States is now a well-established fact...
...MORRIS H. RUBIN, Editor Sworn to and subscribed before me this 26th day of September, 1956...
...Ba Swe is bargaining from a perilous position...
...In 1953, Burmese government forces entered the Wa State on a Flag March (used to demonstrate Burmese authority in the unadminis-tered areas) and were fired upon by Chinese Communist forces...
...agricultural surpluses in Burma for kyats—the proceeds from both to go for technical assistance...
...China is selling Burmese rice acquired through barter to Indonesia under the Burmese market price and has reportedly poured money through its embassy in Rangoon to the Communist-dominated political opposition...
...The Burmese ambassador has been recalled from Peking for consultation, and Chinese Premier Chou En-lai is expected in Rangoon for talks in December...
...So far," according to the Nation, "only Indonesia has measured up to our expectations...
...Surprise raids by Burmese officials in the Myitkyina District during July and August netted more than 60 a week, including uniformed Chinese Army officers, educated middle-class women, and individuals dressed as Kachins but unable to speak a word of Jingpaw, the Kachin dialect...
...He rested Burma's case on its consistent practice of neutralism, which U Nu had developed as the basic plank of Burma's foreign policy...
...To the Burmese protest citing the 1941 Sino-British Treaty, which defined the border, Peking replied that the treaty was not binding, for it was "imposed upon the Nationalist regime by the British at an opportune moment...
...Along with infiltrating their people into the country, the Chinese have worked to stir up rebellion against Rangoon among the Shans, Kachins, and Was who live on both sides of the border...
...The United States is purchasing with dollars 10,000 tons of Burmese rice to be used for Pakistan relief and is selling U.S...
...The Progressive, Inc., Madison 3, Wisconsin, a non-profit corporation consisting of more than 5,000 members, none of whom holds 1 per cent of the stock...
...From the limited nature of their incursions and from the wildness and inaccessibility of the areas they have penetrated, one is forced to wonder what the objective of their moves may be...
...Captured insignia and documents proved that the troops belonged to the Red Army...
...Troops of Kublai Khan captured the Burmese capital in the Thirteenth Century, and it was only as recently as the 1890's that the British stopped Mandalay from sending tribute missions to Peking...
...There is no question about the identity of the Chinese...
...Burma has shown itself willing to make concession after concession...
...agents of Chiang Kai-shek...
...When "Kyagyi" (Big Tiger) Ba Swe took over the premiership from U Nu in June after the latter resigned, he was expected, on the basis of his reputation for forthrightness, to bring new qualities of bluntness and force to the office...
...But currently Naw Seng is reported training a band of 800 men at Paoshan, the first important town in China on the Burma Road...
...They are generally well accepted by the Burmese...
...There is no alternative for the leader of a small nation of 19 million, new to independence and still torn with insurgency, when it is confronted by a nation of 600,000,000-odd people unified by iron totalitarian rule...
...Despite the best efforts to round up illegal immigrants, a STATEMENT OF THE OWNERSHIP...
...While Herbert Hoover at the San Francisco convention of the Republican Party denounced neutralism as one of the world's "evil ideas," Burma, in China's shadow, has chosen it as her only hope for survival...
...The delicate maneuvering throughout the interview is remarkable coming from Ba Swe...
...Chinese troops, now estimated at 5,200, have crossed the border on an extended front from the almost-inaccessible jungles of the wild Wa State at the southeastern end of the border to the equally inaccessible mountains of the Putao area in the extreme north of the Kachin State along the Tibetan frontier...
...Burmese observance of the niceties of international law has been punctilious in the extreme: before returning fire the Burmese unfurled their flag and shouted that they were Burmese government forces on Burmese territory...
...This is especially true when the 1,-500-mile border with its gigantic expansionist neighbor to the north is sparsely patroled and has never been defined to China's satisfaction...
...Burma, which had got on well with Nanking, was the first non-Communist country to recognize the present Peking government...
...The total immigration staff for all of Burma consists of 45 inspectors and 50 sub-inspectors...
...also the statements in the two paragraphs show the affiant's full knowledge and belief as to the circumstances and conditions under which stockholders and security holders who do not appear upon the books of the company as trustees, hold stock and securities in a capacity other than that of a bonafide owner...
...No Burmese government official has charged the Chinese with any of these actions, and when pressed to confirm reports of them in the Rangoon papers, the Prime Minister and his deputies minimize the dangers, beg for "restraint," and shift the subject...
...Fortunately, in an attempt to offset Russia's agreement to take 400,000 tons of Burmese rice annually in return for industrial goods, the United States has come up with two programs to make its technical assistance again available to Burma, this time on a paying basis...
...3. The known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders owning or holding one per cent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other securities are: (If there are none, so state...
...A. I said ten and twenty at a time...
...At his latest press conference, Premier U Ba Swe again kept close guard of details and of passions...
...Burma's next proposal was that the troops be withdrawn pending a new boundary survey by an international commission...
...The pattern seems to be one of crossing the border in limited depth, destroying boundary markers, impressing local labor to build roads connecting the area with China, and establishing permanent facilities and implacements...
...The illegal immigration which has been going on for years is quite possibly even more dangerous to Burmese integrity than the military operations...
...1. The names and addresses of the publisher, editor, managing editor, and business managers are: Publisher, The Progressive, Inc., Madison, Wisconsin...
...None...
...U Nu sponsored Chou En-lai's invitation to Bandung and served as go-between for delegates from other countries who wished to meet him...
...Most recently, three editors of Chinese-language newspapers in Rangoon were arrested for slighting references they made to Madame Soong while she was on a good will tour in Burma...
...As the firing continued and increased, the Burmese returned fire...
...The fact of Chinese migration into Burma is not in itself disturbing...
...A Kunming-Rangoon airline has been established, though Burma has neither planes nor passengers for the northern trip...
...The 41-year-old veteran president of the Burmese Socialists has made his reputation as a skillful organizer and shrewd leader but is considered "diplomatically impossible" by the Nation, which is socialist oriented but independent...
...In December 1954, following the first clash, U Nu appealed to Peking to have the troops withdrawn and, as a gesture of friendship, the Chinese fell back into Chinese territory...
...While the Chinese side is tightly guarded, the Burmese can scarcely man all the points of legal entry, to say nothing of the unofficial crossings...
...The answer is reported: "You are a soldier like me...
...And in 1956 the Rangoon Nation, which has a record of accuracy, places the total at "no less than one million...
...Meanwhile, a race is on between China and Burma to plant flags, making territorial claims a fait accompli before a diplomatic conference can be held...
...Burma has made no direct political commitment to China, as it makes none to any country, but it has seized on every opportunity to make joint statements of understanding, the most notable being the Five Principles of peaceful co-existence, and has given widest circulation to every friendly statement from Peking...
...However, where Chinese have been apprehended in the larger, cities, like Rangoon or Mandalay, the Chinese embassy has been extremely careful before accepting their return to China, taking as much as two years to establish that they are not...
...Many of them are found to have valid Chinese exit papers but no Burmese entry permits...
...The Burmese borderland is as wide open for immigration from China as it is for military invasion...
...As the Rangoon Nation points out, there is nothing to prevent the Chinese from occupying the Shan States east of the Sal-ween and, militarily, little to prevent them from overrunning the country...
...Associate Editor, Mary Sheridan, Madison, Wisconsin...
...You know we have to obey orders from higher up...
...In 1952 they made a sudden retreat south from the Wa border area after having run into Chinese Communist detachments...
...Q. We have information of Chinese settlements, and regular lines of communications from every pass to the interior...
...Further, the traditional tendency of overseas Chinese to avoid local politics and adapt to local authority has stood the Chinese in Burma in good stead...
...He served with the OSS in China during the war and recently spent nearly a year in Burma on a grant from the Ford Foundation...
...The latest reports from the negotiations over the border attacks is that the Chinese will agree to withdraw from Burmese territory in the Wa State if the Burmese will give up their own unquestioned rights to the northern Kachin State...
...All have been identified by Burmese sources...
...Reports from both areas have had to be brought by men who measure their travels in stages, or day's marches, through roadless and undeveloped country...
...In November 1955, with both China and Burma publicly dedicated at the Bandung Conference to the "Five Principles" of peaceful co-existence, a Burmese Flag March in the Wa State was again fired upon by Chinese...
...If not owned by a corporation, the names and addresses of the individual owners must be given...
...Yet this has not been their method...
...In 1931, the last complete census for Burma, Chinese numbered 198,594, a 30 per cent increase over 1921...
...The migration path they follow has brought the ancestors of all of Burma's contemporary peoples—the Karens, Bur-mans, Shans, Chins, and Kachins— in successive waves from eastern Tibet or western Yunnan Province...
...Only Nixon was frozen with cold correctness when he arrived in 1953 at the height of tensions over the Kuomintang invaders...
...MANAGEMENT, AND CIRCULATION REQUIRED by THE ACT OF CONGRESS OF AUGUST 24, 1912, AS AMENDED BY THE ACTS OF MARCH 3. 1933, AND JULY 2, 1946, Title 39, United States Code, Section 233) Of The Progressive, published monthly at Madison 3, Wisconsin, for October 1, 1956...
...Business Manager, Gordon Sinykin, Madison, Wisconsin...
Vol. 20 • November 1956 • No. 11
