“CONSTRUCTIVE MOVE”

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27567, 8 December 1950, Page 7

“CONSTRUCTIVE MOVE”

13-Nation Appeal To Communists HALTING KOREAN WAR Ree. 6 p.m. LONDON, Dec. 6. A British Foreign Office spokesman said today that the appeal last night by 13 Asian and Middle Eastern nations to the Chinese Communist and North Korean authorities to halt their forces at the thirty-eighth parallel was “ at first sight a most helpful and constructive proposal.” He added that the text of the proposal was being studied in London. The appeal was made by India, Pakistan, Burma, the Philippines, Egypt, Persia, Iraq, the Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen, Indonesia, and Afghanistan, and was delivered to the chief Chinese. Communist representative at the United Nations, Wu Hsuichuan, in New York. India’s permanent delegate to the United Nations, Sir Benegal Rau, said today that he had not received any assurances from Communist Chinese sources that the forces opposing, the unified command in Korea would stop at thfe thirty-eighth parallel. He added that he had sent a copy of the 13national appeal to the Chinese Communist representative, Wu Hsui-chuan, last night, but had not spoken with him or heard from him since then. Reuter says that diplomatic quarters regard the appeal as the most constructive recent move toward halting the war in the Far East. It is considered to be in line with the known British wish for a cessation of hostilities to be followed by negotiations. It is considered that China’s response to the appeal may well determine whether or not the world is to be plunged into a fresh war. Observers said that if the Chinese halted at the thirty-eighth parallel in response to the appeal the bargaining position of the Western Governments would obviously be less strong in subsequent negotiations than if the Chinese advance had been halted by force of arms. This may be the factor to appeal to opinion in Peking. The observers said it was in any case one which will have to be reckoned with in Washington since, for the moment, there appears to be no chance of restoring the bargaining position of the Western Powers by force of arms. In Paris official quarters reported that France fully supported the appeal and also a Canadian call for a ceasefire at the thirty-eighth parallel to be followed by negotiations to limit repercussions of the Korean war.