Crucial S.E.A.T.O. Talks Next Week

Press, Volume C, Issue 29469, 22 March 1961, Page 20

Crucial S.E.A.T.O. Talks Next Week

(Special Correspondent N.Z.P.A.)

BANGKOK. Observers believe next week’s meeting of the S.E.A.T.O. Council of Ministers could be the most crucial since the eight-nation alliance was formed in Manila in 1954. In the eyes of its three Asian members—the Philippines, Thailand and Pakistan —S.E.A.T.O. is on trial. “If S.E.A.T.O. will not carry out its commitment (to Laos) it might as well pack up,” the Thai Ambassador to the Philippines, Prince Apakorn, said as fighting raged in Laos last year. Thailand and the Philippines, particularly, felt S.E.A.T.O. failed because it hesitated to take firm action in Laos. Some Thai and Filipino politicians now appear to be more sympathetic to the view of most non-Asian S.E.A.T.O. members that efforts should be made to find a political rather than a military solution in Laos. But diplomats in Bangkok still predict some sharp differences between Asian and non-Asian members at next week’s meeting. The still critical situation in Laos and S.E.A.T.O.’s responsibilities in the area underline the decision of the United States Secretary of State. Mr Dean Rusk, to attend the meeting—his first overseas visit since the Kennedy Administration took office. Though the United States is firmly committed to supporting the Boun Oum Government in Laos, there have been some changes in American policy under the new administration and American diplomats have been working by “quiet diplomacy” in Bangkok and Vientiane to find some sort of political solution in Laos. Attitude of N.Z. New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Mr Holyoake, will bring to his first S.EA.T.O. council meeting first-hand impressions of the war-torn kingdom of Laos. He met many of the Laotian political leaders when he was in Vientiane on his Asian factfinding tour as Leader of the Opposition last year. Mr Holyoake is expected to give strong support to S.EA.T.O.’s decision to act cautiously in Laos. Though both Mr Holyoake and the former Prime Minister, Mr Nash, expressed concern at the build-up of Russian aid to the Pathet Lao rebels. New Zealand has taken the view that no outside aggression against Laos has been clearly established and that it would be disastrous for S.EA.T.O. to intervene militarily while the situation there remains so confused and while a political solution is still possible. But Mr Holyoake will also make it clear that if aggression is established and the Government seeks S.EA.T.O aid. New Zealand will stand firmly by her commitments to the alliance. “Red Warning Light” Despite criticism of S.EA.T.O. as a “toothless paper tiger,” Npw Zealand’s view is that SXA.T.O.'i military planning would be highly effective if the treaty provisions to protect an Asian country against aggression are invoked. New Zeasupports the view Mr Duncan Sandys, the British Secretary of State for

Commonwealth Affairs, expressed in Wellington at the 1®» SJEA.T.O. meeting that S / EA.T.O. had acted as a

“red warning light” against open Communist aggression in South-east Asia. At the same time, New Zealand is well aware of the possibly greater threat of subversion in the area and Mr Holyoake is expected to support stronger measures to deal with subversion. New Zealand is also likely to urge greater efforts by S.E.A.T.O. economic experts to help Asian members meet Communist Chinese economic penetration in South-east Asia. Training Technicians Mr Holyoake will promise continued New Zealand assistance to the S.E.A.T.O. graduate School of Engineering in Bangkok and is also expected to continue New Zealand’s offer to train technicians from Asian member countries. Most observers think S.E.A.T.O. will emerge from this meeting without too many scars from the differences between Asian and nonAsian members over Laos. Diplomats discount any suggestion that Thailand or the Philippines would pull out of S.E.A.T.O. and form some other alliance with other anti-Communist countries like South Vietnam, South Korea, and Formosa. There have been grumblings among the Asian members of S.E.A.T.O. for some time, particularly because they felt they were not getting enough economic assistance through S.EA.T.O. But they still seem to feel that the advantage, of belonging to the alliance outweigh what they consider its shortcomings.