BRITISH PRESS, COMMENT Negotiations With China Would Be Difficult

Greymouth Evening Star, 11 December 1950, Page 6

BRITISH PRESS, COMMENT Negotiations With China Would Be Difficult

** z * ’ LONDON, December 10.—National newspapers in leading articles today emphasised that any effort to negotiate with China would be difficult. China wanted membership of the United Nations -and wanted Formosa —which would be difficult fox' the United States to accept.

The Sunday Express suggested that China should be assured that the United Nations troops would not regroup and attack again if China agreed to halt at the 38th parallel. It added: “We have to face Chinese aspirations with a sense of realism and to put above every other objective the restoration of peace in' the East.” The Observer proposed that Chinese and United Nations troops could be simultaneously ’ withdrawn from Korea, leaving the United Nations Commission to preserve order. “In this way it would be possible to remove Chinese grievances ovei’ the presence of American troops neai’ the Chinese, frontier while achieving the declared United Nations aim to prepare Korea for free elections.”

"PrTmary Aim”

“The primary aim of the British Commonwealth must be to avert war with China,” the Sunday Times said. The world war against Communism had already begun and the possibility of any settlement in Korea should be considered from that standpoint.

An earlier message from New-York says India’s permanent United Nations delegate, Sir Benegal Rau, said today that the Chinese Communist delegates (Mr Wu Hsiu-chuan) had told him that the Peking Government desired to end the fighting in Korea as early as possible, but he did not say what were the terms Peking wanted.

Sir Benegal Rau made the statement after conferring with Mi- Wu and after he had reported the result of his talk to the 13 nations which on December 5 appealed to Peking not to cross the 38th parallel. Sir Benegal Rau said that Mr Wu told him that the appeal had been “carefully considered” by his Government. He also said that the Indian Am-

bassador in. Peking (Mi’ K. Pamkkar) was conducting concurrent peace negotiations with the Chinese Government. , Informed sources reported toaay that the Mao Tse-tung Government was prepared to attend a conference of the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain, and the Chinese People’s Republic for an overall settlement of all issues in the Far Eastern crisis, but insisted on “a footing of absolute equality.” . ; x . Reuter says that this insistence ot equality is interpreted by United Nations observers as an implied demand for membership of the United Nations for the Peking regime and would be a condition for negotiations.