ACTION AGAINST AGGRESSION

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27502, 9 November 1954, Page 12

ACTION AGAINST AGGRESSION

Mr Holland Outlines N.Z. Policy “SIX CARDINAL POINTS ” (New Zealand Press Association) AUCKLAND, November. 8. “New Zealand cannot afford to look at events in China, Indo-China, Malaya, and other parts of the Western Pacific as if they were happenings on another planet.” said the Prime Minister (Mr Holland) in an address to the Auckland Rotary Club today. “We must prepare, and„ are preparing, to counter possible aggression—to take action against a situation which could develop quickly. “The emphasis on world stability has now shifted from the Middle East to the Pacific,” said Mr Holland. “We are faced with island and territoryhopping infiltration, coupled with internal spying, against which there is no immediate and effective answer.

“The power of the British Crown holds us and them together,” he said. “Today we have full independence, but we still look to Britain. Even in these changed times there is no effective substitute for that.”

Mr Holland said there were six lessons learned from the Pacific problem, which must be cardinal points of New Zealand’s policy. They were:— “(1) The United Nations is our main hope for peace. “(2) We must keep our defences ready. “(3) We must increase the circle of our international friends.

“(4) We must be prepared to resist all aggression and infiltration.

“(5) We must raise the standards of other, less fortunate Pacific peoples, by such means as the Colombo Plan. “(6) We must keep strong and united, and always negotiate from strength. “In the international forum many disputes had been resolved, some inside and some outside the organisation. “There is no doubt the tension has eased, and the idea of peaceful coexistence is gaining ground,” he said. “But we have a long way to go before we can afford to rest or appear complacent.” Main World Problems The main world problems, including the many more local but equally explosive conflicts, were:—the West versus the Soviet bloc; the Saar; South Africa, including the dangerous segregation issue, Kenya, Korea, IndoChina, Malaya; the German and Austrian peace treaties; Morocco: Tunis; Cyprus; the Kashmir war between India and Pakistan; the China and Formosa incidents; the demands of Indonesia for Dutch New Guinea; and the Pajestine-Middle East situation. In these days we must remember the time element,’’ Mr Holland said. ‘We can’t wait for another nation to be overrun, as was the case in two world wars. We must get together with other nations beforehand." Of Japan, Mr Holland said: "She is only one-third larger than New Zealand, and she has 86,000,000 people. She must trade to live. She will trade with the West if she can, but with the East if she must. Where her trade goes so do her affinities in other matters.'