The Press SATURDAY, MARCH 9, 1957. S.E.A.T.O. Stocktaking

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28222, 9 March 1957, Page 10

The Press SATURDAY, MARCH 9, 1957. S.E.A.T.O. Stocktaking

The chief value of the South-! east Asia Treaty Organisation has been its assurance to Asian nations of Western (and particularly American) support in countering Communist expansion, overt or underground. Only three Asian nations still accept this protection—the Philippines, Thailand, and Pakistan. Laos and Cambodia have preferred the uncertainties of neutralism. Since the organisation was formed three years ago no area of the world has been more peaceful than Southeast Asia. How much this is a result of the organisation’s existence is arguable, though the military exercises last year demonstrated that S.E.A.T.O. had a deterrent force to be reckoned with. Another influence has been the Brndung conference, which confirmed India’s leadership in the independent part of Asia and apparently encouraged the Chinese Government to pursue its objectives through peaceful policies. Whatever the reason, the S.E.A.T.O. conference in Canberra will have principally political questions to discuss, grouped broadly under the heading of “ subversion ”, which las rather a technical sense in this case. It covers such things as the recent disturbances in Bangkok, which were probably no more than political manoeuvring designed to maintain the ruling party in office, and President Sukarno’s troubles in Indonesia, where communism is only one of the issues. No doubt the delegates'will be able to give some non-military help to the Asian members; but the fact is that S.E.A.T.O. is not well placed to handle political questions, partly because of its limited membership and partly becatise it has little opportunity of using economic arguments. S.E.A.T.O. could not, by its very nature, supplant such economic programmes as the Colombo Plan and United Nations aid. It cannot do much more than help Asian members stand the financial strain of meeting their defence commitments unc’?r the treaty.

Presumably the subject most in delegates’ minds as they assemble in Canberra is the possibility that the Communists will take over Indonesia, thus splitting S.E.A.T.O.’s defensive

position right down the middle. It will be useful for the organisation to discuss such an eventuality and how it should alter its plans to deal with a new situation. A more important matter still will not be publicly considered, but it can hardly fail to be the subject of private discussions. This is the possibility of some arrangement between the United States and China. The Royal Institute of International Affairs recently published a survey of S.E.A.T.O. This argued that “if the “ military arrangements of the “ treaty are not to be politically “ disastrous ” they should be accompanied “by a vigorous “ effort to reach a modus vivendi “with China which the South- “ east Asian nations approve Such an effort would not easily be made by the United States, where opinion is still firmly against diplomatic recognition of China. Nevertheless, while delegates have Mr Dulles in the calm atmosphere of Canberra, they should take the chance of reviewing their attitude to China. They should also consider another question raised by the institute’s survey—the association of India, China, and the Western Powers in a guarantee of the neutrality of Burma, Laos, and other countries bordering *~’hina. Though this might be even more difficult because of India’s disinclination to accept such commitments, it is worth thinking about.

New Zealanders, who are more directly interested in the future of South-east Asia, tend to over-estimate Americans’ enthusiasm for S.E.A.T.O. Although Mr Dulles appears to prize it greatly, others are more doubtful. “Is S.E.A.T.O. really “ necessary ”? asked A. T. Steele, in the New York “ Herald Tribune ” recently. “Do its practical advantages “ outweigh the antagonism it “ has provoked among countries “ we would like to count as our “friends”? If the conference meets in the questioning mood suggested by the institute’s survey and Mr Steele’s article, it may find some road toward the important goal of winning new friends in Asia without impairing the defence of Australia, New Zealand, and their allies.