China ‘Will Also Abandon War'

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30592, 7 November 1964, Page 15

China ‘Will Also Abandon War '

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) LONDON, November 6. China will ultimately agree with Russia that war must be abandoned, Sir Alec Douglas-Home said today. Sir Alec Douglas-Home, now leading his party in opposition after his recent General Election defeat, was making a major review of foreign policy at the annual conference of the Institute of Directors.

He also said the interests of modern Russia may gradually lie with those of Britain and the United States “in a world which is stable, peaceful and rich.”

His reference to China came after he had repeated his election argument that Britain must retain her own deterrent—- “ Without it we will not be at the point of ultimate decision in a nuclear age.”

He said: “The day when the Soviet Union decided to drop force from her international policies was, I believe, the day when the historians will say the Great Powers began to turn their backs on war.” The former Prime Minister went on: “I do not mean that there will not be local conflicts in the world but that the Great Powers have concluded—and in this at the end of the day China will take the same course as Russia—that war must be abandoned. “But peace holds only so long as the nuclear balance is maintained —and that is why I want Britain, with her Christian attitude to peace, to be at the point of influence where her vote can be cast.” Sir Alec Douglas-Home said the time had not yet come where international peace would be guaranteed by the United Nations through a system of collective security. He said: “The balance of power in Asia is moving east with the vast expansion of Chinese numbers, poor and pressing for space. “We had a demonstration of it in the Chinese attack upon Tibet and India. It is evident in the way China is

using the Chinese minorities in South-east Asia.” “But the most significant factor in the longer term is that China is bulging against Russian territory over more than 4000 miles of land frontier and disputing the Soviet established right in Central Asia. “There are basic forces at work with wide repercussions including, I would think, Russia’s ability to disarm. There is the factor, too, that the countries of Eastern Europe are acquiring an independence of policy which is new. “In this situation the Soviet Union is caught at the cross-

roads and is in a classic dilemma about where to turn for her national security and how to interpret in her own interest the balance of power.” This situation, Sir Alec Douglas-Home said, led him to declare in Toronto a year ago that the logical conclusion would be for Russia to join Britain, American and other capitalist countries in providing the finance for the developing countries through the World Bank. Force had had its day and subversion, too, would have its day. “Gradually the interests of modern Russia may lie with those of the United Kingdom and the United States in a world which is stable, peaceful and rich.” But he said he would not attempt to interpret Russia’s relations with China in the immediate future. He said he had spoken of the shift of power, because peace depended on the balance of power being kept intact.