“Communist Threat To Whole of Asia”

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28987, 31 August 1959, Page 11

“Communist Threat To Whole of Asia”

(Rec. 10 p.m.) NEW DELHI, August 29. Indian newspapers today greeted Mr Nehru’s disclosure of Communist Chinese raids across the Tibetan border with huge headlines and declaratiofts that a firm stand was being taken. Several newspapers said the Chinese aggression appeared to be “part of a larger Communist design against the smaller nations of Asia.”

The “Statesman,” published in New Delhi and Calcutta, said: “nothing could be better calculated to fan fear and despondency in small countries bordering Tibet than the ‘fearless’ overwhelming by weight of numbers of small detachments of Indian police.” The “Indian Express,” published in three cities, said it was clear now that suppression of Tibet had brought the Communist threat to the whole of Asia and the democratic world. “The lesson is useful to our starry-eyed admirers of Peking, for Communist China’s aggression demonstrates that imperialism is not necessarily a European monopoly," it said. The “Hindustan Times” of New Delhi said India wanted nothing of China except “respect for territory which is indisputably India’s.”

American newspapers featured the border clashes today. The “Washington Post” said the border fighting between India and Communist China had created an immediate challenge to Indian sovereignty.

In a leading article, the newspaper said that while the fighting was serious, its meaning should not be over-emphasised. “There appears to be no Chinese ‘invasion’ or ‘strike’ as such. ’ What is certain is that the border fighting has created an immediate challenge to Indian sovereignty, and that the stern talk from New Delhi about the defence of Indian territory has an altogether different tone from that of several years ago. “Indeed, the evolution of a

harsher attitude in India toward Communist China is probably the most significant aspect of the affair so far.” The “New York Times” commented: “It may now be possible, at long last, to persuade some of the doubters that Communist China is still the predatory enemy of any free State that can come within the clutch of the Peking oligarchy. Red China, in Winston Churchill's words, is still the ‘unpurged aggressor.’ “The two latest blows that are reported, and that Mr Nehru confirms, are. more than a thousand miles apart, but they have a direct connexion with the slaughter of Tibet. “Mr Nehru’s realisation that India is actually under attack may help some others to realise that facts have to be faced. This is not exactly the appropriate time to talk about bringing Red China into the community of nations.” The New York “Herald-Tri-bune” said: “It remains to be seen whether the Red Chinese threat to Bhutan and S*kim and the incursions of Red troops into India are mere irritants or a substantial threat. In any case, however, they are a grave embarrassment to Premier Nehru. He is in the position of an established member of the community, in high repute, who has vouched for the integrity of a new neighbour and sought to win him membership in the local club and chamber of commerce—only to find the neighbour calling him names, brawling on his doorstep, teaching his children to swear and, finally, camping in his backyard.”