BURMA LOOKS LEFT & RIGHT: POLICY TRENDS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22665, 16 June 1948, Page 5

BURMA LOOKS LEFT & RIGHT: POLICY TRENDS

(10 a.m.) RANGOON, June 15. The Burmese Prime Minister, Mr. Thakin Nu, who, in a statement on Sunday said that his country would “follow Russia”, said also that he desired “unity with everyone else” provided they had good intentions. The official translation of Mr. Thakin Nu’s statement, shows that he made this additional point. He added that the Anglo-Burmese treaty was in the best interests of Burma. Its defence provisions in no way fettered the full freedom of the Burmese Government. “We must have a plan of national unity which must be such that no person of Leftist views can fail to accept it.” No Whole-hearted Plunge Mr. Thakin Nu said the plan represented the concerted efforts of the Socialists and Communists and other parties. Mr. Thakin Nu is apparently attempting to draw Burma closer to Russia while trying to crush with bullets the self-styled Communist guerrillas in Burma’s interior. Reuter’s correspondent in Rangoon says that political observers regard the Leftist unity programme which Mr. Thakin Nu outlined on Sunday as not necessarily meaning that Burma had plunged wholeheartedly into the Russian bloc. The new situation is regarded as a form of appeasement to the Communists whose insurrection in an upcountry district is already affecting the vital export drive. Several leading Burmese statesmen feel that Burma’s best policy is to keep clear of entanglements with either the Western Powers or the Soviet bloc. Concern Over State Control

British businessmen in Burma are more concerned at the Premier’s alleged intention to impose State controls on imports and exports than by the suggested link-up with the Soviet. The correspondent says that Mr. Thakin Nu’s proposed united Left Party has been accepted by the executive committee of the anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League, but rejected by the People’s Volunteer Organisation which, with the Socialists, forms the backbone of the league. Burma has two Communist Parties, first, the Red Flag Party which has been banned since January, 1947, and, secondly, the White Flag Party. Government quarters claim that two flags have joined forces in an attempt to overthrow the Government by force.