MAILS The Gisborne Herald. IN WHICH IS INCORPORATED "THE TIMES." GISBORNE, FRIDAY, MAY 20, 1949 REVOLUTION IN ASIA: FRIENDS OR FOES?

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 22951, 20 May 1949, Page 4

MAILS

The Gisborne Herald. IN WHICH IS INCORPORATED "THE TIMES." GISBORNE, FRIDAY, MAY 20, 1949 REVOLUTION IN ASIA: FRIENDS OR FOES?

rjMIE Commissioner-General of South-East Asia, Mr. Macdonald, has encouraging news from Malaya of progress in the establishment: of law and order, but in the light, of events in China and elsewhere it would be unwise to allow it to weigh too heavily in an assessment of the general situation. Troops in Malaya have driven the rebels deep into the jungle in which they have sought refuge with morale shaken but not broken. By sheer military force the wave of terrorism has been thrown back and tension relieved. The first round has been won, but the battle is likely to be long and may flare up again at any time

Events in Malaya, however, cannot be isolated. They must be considered in conjunction with revolutionary movements, Communist inspired, throughout Asia. All are inter-related and extend from China through Burma and Malaya to Indonesia and IndoChina and the Philippines. ' The effects are world-wide. Burma’s chaos directly affects India, whose people rely to a great extent on Burmese rice. Continued strife in Malaya and Indonesia hampers Western European recovery by restrictions on essential raw materials, and the weakening of reconstruction in Western Europe affects outpost defences of the United States. Such is the plan and its ramifications.

Just as the Communists in Asia aim to undermine existing Governments the counter, it seems, is to burrow into the foundations of revolutionary movements. Military measures alone are not the full answer. In most countries the Communists exercise an influence far disproportionate to their numbers. They have taken advantage of national aspirations stimulated by war, fanned them into flame and, where necessary, press gangs and terrorism have done the rest. Caught up in the whirlpool, terrified, whole district populations have followed.

But it is the excesses of Communist administrations arid soldiery are the weak link in their armour. Japanese excesses during the war produced exactly the same. result. At heart an increasingly large number of Asiatics are realising that orderly government must be the basis of self-government, and the aim of the anti-Communist forces must be to rally those people. An obstacle to be faced and overcome is the inability of many to govern themselves at present. When the British left India there were educated local inhabitants —Indians —to conduct the Government, the civil service, the social services and business. That would not be so in Malaya, for example; it might be even less true elsewhere in many regions of the Far Bast. Honest attempts have been made to raise the standard of life of the Malayans, but the benefits too often have gone to Asiatic immigrants. The answer must lie in raising the standards of the peasants, to spread the benefit of contact with the West far more widely among the indigenous inhabitants. The gradual transfer of political power will follow. The alternative is to keep a large standing army in Malaya indefinitely and its justification in world councils. In China it is too late to adopt such measures to prevent the spread of communism, and there is now only one course open. Present indications are that before long the whole of that country will be in Communist hands. The feeling in Britain is that there is no use crying over spilt milk. In some circles it is also felt that if there is no sense in trying to stop the downfall of General Chiang Kai-shek, there is also no need publicly to quarrel with his successor. Britain does not expect to find the Communists friendly, but it does not wish to force them to regard Russia as their only and closest associate. Although the American Secretary of State, Mr. Acheson, has denied a report that Britain and the United States are co-ordinating their policies towards the eventual recognition of the new Chinese regime, experts in London consider that recognition should be granted as soon as possible. Nothing less than a declaratiori of war and large-scale operations are likely to remove the Communists from China, and there is much to be said for the attitude of realists that both Britain and the United States would do well to make the best of the position. If they do not they should start writing off their vast interests in China, and Britain as w T ell will be face to face with the great problem of holding Hong Ivong.