CHINESE FIGHT ON

Greymouth Evening Star, 29 July 1946, Page 5

CHINESE FIGHT ON

DEFENSIVE ACTION AGAINST

COMMUNISTS

NEW YORK, July 27

“The proposal by the Communist leader, General Chou En-lai, lor the unconditional cessation of the civil war in China was rejected by the Chinese Minister of Information, Mr. Peng Hsu Eh Pei, acting as Government spokesman at a press conference,” says the Shanghai correspondent of the New York Times. " “He declared that the Government could not be a party to the cessation of hostilities that would leave unsolved such vital questions as the control of Manchuria, the reorganisation of the Communist and Kuomintang armies, and the reopening of communications. ‘lgnoring these questions is just clamouring for the unconditional prolongation of the misery of the nation,’ he said. “Mr. Peng described the present Government offensive in the Yangtse valley in Shantung as a' defensive action against the Communist attacks. The Comfhunist aim in demanding the unconditional cessation lof hostilities was to prolong the economic strain and increase chaotxc I conditions in order to enhance the chances of staging a revolution.”