PACT FOR ASIA

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27408, 22 July 1954, Page 11

PACT FOR ASIA

Early Moves Expected (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 11 p.m.) WASHINGTON, July 20. Strong United States moves for an early formal conference of Western and Asian Powers to map a South-east Asian defence pact are expected to follow the Indo-China armistice settlement. Reuter’s diplomatic correspondent reported today that groundwork on such an alliance, which the United States had been urging even before the Geneva negotiations began, already had been done in military and political discussions in Washington by Britain, France and the Anzus Powers—Australia, New Zealand and the United States, he said.

Its purpose would be to safeguard the rest of South-east Asia from further Communist penetration, now that the partition plan agreed at Geneva had given. the Communists a bridgehead in the northern half of Vietnam and had placed them in a strong position to take over the rest of that country eventually. It was expected that one of the first acts of the United States, after the Geneva agreement, would be to issue a declaration of intention, serving •notice on the Communist bloc that a united defence system would be set up to safeguard the rest of South-east Asia from aggression or subversion. There would probably be similar declarations from Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Siam and the Philippines. Way Now Clear The Indo-China settlement was seen here as clearing away some of the uncertainties which were hindering rapid progress on plans for the proposed South-east Asian defence pact. These planning talks were concerned with various contingencies which would arise from the success or failure of the Geneva negotiations and the ways and means of coping with them. Until the results of the EastWest negotiations were made known through the armistice agreements, it had not been possible to define the geographic scope or the likely membership of the proposed defence alliance.

The United States had proposed an initial 10-nation alliance involving the three Anzus Powers, Britain, France, Siam, the Philippines and the three Associated States of Indo-China, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Under the armistice terms the three Associated States would be neutralised, meaning that they would not be parties to any Allied defence arrangement.

However, the United States would urge that the remaining nations should get together soon to draft and agree on the proposed security pact, modelled on the lines of the North Atlantic defence system, informed sources said. Siam and the Philippines were not brought into the British-American or Anzus planning discussions, but they were kept fully informed of developments in these meetings. Both countries have indicated their willingness to join the proposed alliance, and it was assumed they would be very responsive to an invitation to sit down soon with the other interested Powers to work out a security pact.

But the question which was troubling some highly-placed Washington officials was the attitude of Britain,. Reuter’s correspondent said. The British Government had agreed to press forward with the United States on South-east Asia defence plans, but now that the Communists had agreed to an Indo-China peace, it was thought that Britain might not share the United States sense of urgency in establishing such a pact, he added.