A DOCUMENTED STUDY OF CHINA UNDER COMMUNISM

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 28008, 30 June 1956, Page 5

A DOCUMENTED STUDY OF CHI NA UNDER COMMUNISM

_ j.r Communism. The First, niiß PrXs EV Richard L. Walker.! ‘ and Unwin. 418 pp. interest in Communist ?c-® D1 \ been stimulated by the reel® 3 b® o{ a group of New Zeatert '"t that country. Since some of i® sighed impressions of these the E* have been less than critical. o f this detailed and carette study of a professor Yale University may .< ®s»ry a a usefu i corrective to r-o« t? JYed ideas on a conducted W’rTuSe. friends of the Comtout- «JSne in China can point out BifflSt te?f any statement on this ftd.BEmanating from America in must be viewed witn | tne=e all’ r bile ’heir fears may jusUScation in the prohart® articles which appear in paS?»’ riodicals. they will, m this various "-pr'ous difficulties in reiut-cot*-.‘“'Thames levelled against the jag tne “ p ro fessor Walker since Coir® un "S nart he uses documentary for th? “®r jde(j bv the Communists natenai o(her wor a s , this is an them®"’- the technique which the themselves love to emCarh 1 ®;;',- the us e of quotations and fto.’-'Et tom the statements of their iedudK®-’ p Urpose o f indicating ece E?hJw devilish are their practices this time it is erajTarainst ’the Communists by an f?S?nrofessor who has made a proP study of Chinese Communist covered in this book is the year in which Mao Tsefjotn w. men car ried their revolutun« “ successful conclusion on the mainland, until the end of Shrwhich time Maos government "srmlv established and the nature ‘?rsino4 Communism had been made ’lwmtly clear- The first chapter is historical survey. It ” the position of China in 1949. was divided and involved in S'wSr and therefore of no great mt in the councils of the world. 5 » <rf the same country in 1954. Xn it was united under one rule Stad become a world power. While Satin? most strongly how ruthless Qmmunists have been m dealing Jrthanopposition and how drastically changed the lives of the bible. Professor Walker stresses that Chinese Communist government has Droved its ability to organise and control human beings -The Mao regime has demonstrated that it has a nian for China, and to date that plan fas proved workable.” “All of these achievements are a testimonial to the amazing energy of Mao. Chou, and their colleagues. They have accomplished what they successfully prevented the Nationalist government from doing. They have extended one effective rule over almost 600,000.000 people, more than have ever been coni trolled by one government in the I history of the world." I in separate chapters. Professor Walker deals in considerable detail with “How China is ruled” and with “Psydiological Control.” “Economic Control,” peasants and industrial workers, intellectuals, and the degree to which “the terror of a police state” has been responsible for securing uniformity of political behaviour and the unchallenged stability of the regime. The care with which he has analysed Communist claims and other observers’ reports is manifest. The soundness of some of his conclusions is shown by the degree to which he anticipated some of the points made bv Chou En-lai in bis “Report on the Question of Intellectuals” presented to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in January of this year, some months after Walker’s book had gone to press. Chou refers to the “rich experience in remoulding intellectuals” possessed by the Communists: Walker describes how psychological mass coercion and special cadre training courses have produced a rigid pattern of conformity and unity.

In concentrating attention on a few aspects of life m China. Professor Walker has neglected some of the positive achievements of the Communists in the material sphere but this is simply because he has been concerned with people rather than with things. On occasion he shows himself over-anxious to quote critical observers such as Raja Hutheesing. Nehru’s brother-in-law. who after a visit to Peking wrote: “New China is dogmatic, harsh and cruel.” But the facts concerning the removal of opponents and potential opponents which he presents speak for themselves. Of course, the assessment of the total number executed by the Communists has been more difficult since they stooped reporting the numbers liquidated in various areas when they found that the figures were being used against them on the world propaganda front. But whether the execu ted should be only < wO,OOO or more than double that as 501116 writers have suggested, rne important thing to remember is eS u fisures are not simply Inr- out represent human beings. and fathers, wives and z.”S 6rs ’ w ho were living with their until the Terror struck. On zrl.subject, it is perhaps worth re°rting that Guy Wint’s “Spotlight on Cr 3, . Penguin Special which will zy.JJbin the reach of many more Walker’s book, quotes far an d Communist Ministers hi-n iSr®® 6 conservative figure of *° Mons executed in 1951. But that “W S feel d v« hted by the C ° m ’ Chinas’ ™Wnin.the world, “The Conduct Relations." “China and the sSE.Union- “China and the United “ conclusion. “The Chal- ® Communist China." Whi'e adraSL al ker has not had the condiS first-hand experience of OeSS" 8 ‘1 China and has had to ire/., J® Communist published statecusinsnS refu gees’ reports when disha. S 6 internal conditions, he polievk„»u to judge Chinese foreign robiXtESby the literature on the Th e b ? its fruits. formation contained in these

£r« P /; erS * s - mos t enlightening as to the wo^ ld power centre in China which can have powerful effects on the rest of Asia. Although Pekin* soft-peda.s its contempt for neutrals when the policy of India or some other PFearS h hely to serve the ComMc n « S ii cause ’ . ln . th e main, Mao and his colleagues insist that there can be no neutrality m the Marxist worldwide class struggle in which they insist all peoples must take sides. In this respect, of course, the Chinese Communists are being thoroughlv Marxist as they also are in indentifymg internal enemies as agents and tools of imperialism. In other words the Chinese rulers of today are thorough-going Communists: their Policy can only be understood in the fight of Marxist-Leninist teachings. The goal of the Communists is clear, i s JI* ways been clear, ever since and Friedrich Engels fished the Communist Manifesto in 1848. when they told the workers of the world to unite as they had a world to win. That goal remains world domination, and the extension of Communist influence throughout Asia is an impoftaht step towards the realisation of that goal. So far as the Chinese Communists are concerned, the two main pillars of their foreign policy are wholehearted support for the Soviet Union and equally wholehearted enmity for the United States of America. To these two important aspects of Chinese policy, Professor Walker devotes separate chapters which unfortunately go a long way towards confirming the impression that American policy readily lends itself to exploitation by Mao. Professor Walker recognises the strength and stability of the Communist regime. He insists that “Given the structure and nature of the Mao regime, it is difficult to envisage its early collapse from internal causes.” That leaves the alternative of an allout war which he discards as too costly. This makes his conclusion somewhat illogical and weak: “The costs of war today make this an almost impossible choice. There is therefore heavy obligation placed upon statesmen, scholars, and thoughful citizens to comprehend the nature of the new Communist despotism and to discover if possible those weaknesses which can make its powei disintegrate internally."

But this conclusion contradicts some of his own earlier findings because he has clearly shown that any weaknesses in the regime may serve to create suffering and poverty for millions but will not necessarily mean any loss of nower or control to the Communists. He plays into the hands of the Com munists so far as their anti-American propaganda in Asia is concerned by insisting on continued on-recognition of the Communist government and on the retention of Taiwan (Formosa) as “a symbol which will keep alive the hopes of those within the iron curtain and serve as a rallying point for those outside it.” Although there is much to be said for his conclusion on a highly controversial point, it would appear from the material contained in his own book that he is keener on following official American policy than on making a realist appraisal of the situation he has described as existing today. Nevertheless, despite a conclusion which does not appear to be very logically based, this book can be warmly recommended to those interested in one of the most important international questions of our day.