BLOCKADE OF CHINA

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 26969, 19 February 1953, Page 9

BLOCKADE OF CHINA

No Consideration By Eisenhower WASHINGTON, February 17. President Eisenhower said today that he personally was not considering a naval bldckade or embargo against Communist China, but he supposed that such steps were being looked into by several Government departments. The possibility of new moves against the Chinese Communists was brought up several times during Mr Eisenhower’s first press conference since he became Presidfent. On the first occasion the President was asked whether he was giving any consideration to the imposition of either an embargo or a naval blockade. He replied, that the matter had not been discussed with him except—.as he put it —in the newspapers. Did the President mean that neither a blockade nor an embargo had been discussed at all? a reporter asked. Mr Eisenhower said that such steps had not been brought up officially to him. Another reporter asked whether the President personally had given no consideration to such action.

The President replied that that was right—no consideration by him. Then •he added that he supposed the subject had been under consideration by several departments. He did not specify the departments. Reminded- that the recently-retired United Nations commander, General James van Fleet, had said that an Allied offensive in Korea could succeed, the President remarked quietly that the responsibility for matters affecting the broad policy did not rest with a field commander. He added that General van Fleet would visit him in Washington when he returned to the United States. Soviet Atom Bomb There were 258 correspondents present for the conference. Mr Eisenhower departed from the usual custom by announcing on arrival that he haa subjects he wished to talk about. He then made the following points:— He was -convinced that the Soviet Union had the atomic bomb. The United Nations forces could not be pulled out of Korea while a dangerous situation continued to exist in the country, _but the South Koreans should replace other Allied troops in the fighting line: He would ask Congress to nullify any sections ’of secret agreements which have permitted the free peoples to become enslaved, but he did not feel there should be any repudiation of- agreements such as the Yalta Pact as a whole. Any reduction in taxes should be held up until a balanced Budget was in sight. • He had no intention at present of seeking standby wage and price controls, but if the necessity arose, he would call on Congress for authority to meet the situation. The President said he agreed with Mr Gordon Dean, the retiring chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, that the Russians had exploded three atomic weapons. Making his statement on the reduc-, tion of taxes in relation to a balanced budget, he said he had never promised to reduce taxes. All he had said was that it was very necessary eventually to reduce taxes in order not to destroy private incentive. Price Support Programme Mr Eisenhower quoted figures to show that the prices for beef and other primarv products had been falling for two years. He said the removal of controls by his Administration would help narrow the gap between the comparatively small price the farmer received for hjs products and the large price the consumer paid in the shops. He estimated that there were now more than 1,000,000,000 dollars worth of farm products in storage because farmers could not sell them at the minimum price under the price support programme. These stocks would be vastly increased if the United States had not subsidised the export of wheat. His Administration would abide by the present farm price support law. The President answered all questions put to him during the conference without a single “no comment.” He again departed from precedent by announcing that the conference was over. In the past, the senior White House correspondent always ended the conference.