Peace Congress Favours Recognition Of China

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29051, 13 November 1959, Page 13

Peace Congress Favours Recognition Of China

(Rec. 10 p.m.) MELBOURNE, November 12. Four sections of the Melbourne Peace Congress reported today that they favoured recognition of Communist China, and its admission to the United Nations.

The sections were the church, youth, trade union and citizens’ sections.

There were two provisos with the decisions. The church section deplored China’s “breaches of international peace,” while a minority report from the youth section said that after China was admitted to the United Nations, the future of Formosa should be decided by a plebiscite of its citizones, under United Nation control. A quota of selected Asian migrants, should be admitted to Australia and New Zealand, the church conference declared today. This would show Asian neighbours that there was no discrimination on the basis of colour, it was said. . Fifty-four delegates from five States and New Zealand attended. The conference urged that nuclear weapon tests be stopped immediately, pending total disarmament. If all nations could not agree, then there should be unilateral disarmament. No effective way existed for policing international disarma-

ment, Sir Marcus Oliphant told congress last night The director of the School of Physical Research at Canberra National University said the best means of disarmament was creation of a climate of opinion that would allow serious discussion on the proposals. Total disarmament could work only if there were general trust between nations. “Then the technical methods of supervising disarmament would become very minor,” he said. Disarmament was only a necessary preliminary to peace, Sir Marcus Oliphant said. A proper basis for peace included agreement between nations, proper use of the world’s natural resources, exploration of space, free movement between nations, and the banishment of prejudices of race and creed. A prohibition of nuclear weapons was no good unless it was backed by the positive actions of the people. “This congress has been worth while, whoever organised it,” he said.