UNCERTAINTY IN MOSCOW

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32016, 17 June 1969, Page 15

UNCERTAINTY IN MOSCOW

(N Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) MOSCOW, June 16. The 75-nation world Communist summit will begin what is expected to be its final week today. Doubt surrounds its ultimate result.

Eleven delegations—or almost one-fifth of those that have spoken so far—have indicated that they might not sign the main conference document, and there were reports that no attempt would be made to secure formal approval by a vote. According to some of the 11 dissenting delegations—including the British and the Mexican—the principle that each party is fully sovereign makes a vote unacceptable. They feel that a document approved by a majority over their objections would infringe on their internal affairs and views. The alternative they suggest is for a general endorsement of Communist principles, without specifically spelling out those principles. China, which was supposed to have been avoided at the conference, has in fact dominated it, despite the objections of the Rumanian delegation, which felt that the summit meeting should not condemn individual parties. But observers feel that the conference as a whole will not rule Chairman Mao Tse-tung out of the world movement, even though he has been attacked in speech after speech for splitting the system. The Hungarian party leader, Mr Janos Kadar, gave what seems to be the predominant view when he said, in response to a press conference question on whether he still regarded the Chinese as Communists: “In my speech I spoke of 14 Socialist countries, and I meant China as one of them.”

Even so, at least two parties. East Pakistan and Costa Rica, have called for a formal condemnation of Peking. Observers would hot rule out the suggestion that a group of parties—probably those most hurt by proPeking splinter groups within their countries—might issue a separate condemnation.