MAY MEET IN LONDON

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXVI, Issue 27, 31 December 1945, Page 5

MAY MEET IN LONDON

MILITARY LEADERS

"BIG FIVE" POWERS (N.'Z. Press Association.—Copyright.) (9.30 a.m.] WASHINGTON, Dec. 30. The military leaders of the "Big Five" Powers may meet in Lonin January to discuss plans lor the international force in accordance with the charter of the United Nations Organisation. The New York Times correspondent reporting this says that an early meeting is considered important because all nations are at present considering the charact\r of their post-war military establishment and the major consideration of this will be the size of the forces contributed to the United Nations Organisation. Diplomats are already discussing plans for the meeting, on the initiative of Britain. The United States will send military representatives to Britain, Russia, France and China on the projected United Nations armed force to preserve peace. Announcing this, the State Department said that the military delegations would be joined by representatives of six non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council as soon as they were selected. The combined body would proceed as quickly as possible with the organisation of the United Nations military staff committee. General Eisenhower has chosen the United States commander in Italy, Lieut.-General M. Jtidgway, as his representative on the military staff 'committee of the United Nations Organisation, says Reuter's correspondent in Rome, General Ridgway will also be. military adviser to the American civil delegation. Lieut. General J. Lee, at present commander of the United States service forces in the European theatre, is succeeding General Ridgway in Italy. NEXT "BIG THREE" MEETING. The Secretary of State (Mr Byrnes) announced that M. Moiotov and Mr Bevin had agreed that the next quarterly meeting of the "Big Three" Foreign Ministers would be held in Washington, Mr Byrnes' s Press ' officer suggested that the date would be arranged when the three meet at the UniteU Nations' Organisation assembly in London in January. After conferring with President Truman and Mr Dean Acheson (Act-ing-Secretary of State), Senator Vandenberg (Republican) said he bad received an official interpretation of the * Moscow Agreement, making it clear that full security would surround each stage of dealing with the atomic energy problem. Furthermore, all phases would finally be subject to Congressional approval. '"I am advised by the State Department," he said, "that while the communique listed four separate objectives, with inspections and controls listed last, it is not intended that the objectives should be taken in the order indicated, but that the four should be read together and each should be accompanied by full security requirements. This hopefully clarifies the situation. "The problem cannot be handled by separate, unrelated States. I share the general Congressional opiuiou that any disclosures in regard to the atomic bomb should be part of a complete plan for adequate world-wide inspection and control." ; . RETAINING ATOMIC SECRETS. Mr Truman approved Senator Yaridenberg's statement before it was issued, and as a result it is construed as giving Congress Mr Truman's definite, though informal, assurance that no American atomic secret will be disclosed to any other nation, including Russia, until a system of security through inspection and control has been made effective, says the New York Times correspondent. Opposition appeared to be gathering to the Moscow communique, the correspondent adds. High circles within the Truman administration described, it "as a Munich Pact with Russia and bitterly criticised Mr Byrnes for backing down from the firm stand he had taken at the Potsdam and London Conferences . It was felt that the United ' Spates had lost its commanding position in the Far East, because it had abandoned the principle that American policy should prevail jn all issues in the case of a difference of opinv*a jn the Advisory Commas ion. Mr Byrnes reiterated recently that the United States would never abandon this principle, but the veto power is now shared in a limited degree by Britain, China, and Russia.