The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-11-04
interpreting
The News
BY JAMES D. WHITE
ASSOCIATED Press Staff w.t.,

~
There is a timeless quality .ho,.
the redplastered walls .. the wi,
ter palace in Peiping.
Once inside, one doesn't ,o,,..
the misery and uproad outside w.,
those distractions subside be,o,.
the thousands Of years Of cbir...
history which take life in tbi, >,
most magic place.
The marble court is brillian, !.
the autumn sun. There is pert...
proportion and balance in evs,'
cave and massive pillar, tasbion.i
by long-dead architects. The NAV
is quiet, and one can tbjnt~os
dream.
General Ii Tsung-jen, one n
Chungking's top commanders "
topsy-turvy north China, has bis
headquarters in this muted palars
keAQlS,
and from its quiet perspective \,
spoke this week on the "ciyil w,rS
between his government and +.
Chinese communists.
Experienced
Gen. Ii spoke both as soldi..
who has fought his full share a,
civil wars himself, and as a politi.
cial who has used those wars =,
stepping stones to his present po,i'
ton.
He said calmly, as one saw,
things in that huge. hushed clust.,
Of buildings:
There may be small war nov
in China between the Central gov,
eminent and Chinese Communists,
but major differences can be de.
cided by negotiations"
He pointed out what everyons
knows but often forgets, that III.
communists are outnumbered Or
will be when American planes
ferry enough Central government
troops to the right places.-That
the communists are outgunned, b..
cause generally they have on'y
what they have captured from The
Japanese.-That they have no
planes.
General LIPS calmness is borne
out in private advice from shang.
hal which discounts the talk Of full.
scale civil war.
1t agrees with Lis prediction
that there E'may be a small war
in China now" but 1t seems to fell
in with his belief that this small
war" can be localized to a con-.
siderable extent which will not
erase the possibility Of a peaceful
settlement when all the military
chips are down.
This small war" is going on as
Central troops are flown back
into red-held areas. Chungking is
determined to keep on flying them
in, in American planes. The
Reds appear determined to resist,
but there is not yet anything on
the record to show that either side
wants the resulting local classic,
to spread seriously.
Why, then, are the communists
neutrality-suspicious. aggressively
it appears-when it seems obvious
that the cards would be stacked
against them in any all-out test
Of fighting strength?
The answer may be that in some
spots they are not yet outgunned
or outnumbered by Central troops
and that in the meantime they
seek to achieve every possible ad.
vantage in territory and geogra.
phic position for bargaining pur.
poses later on when the Central
governments military position be.
comes no longer contestable.
One phase of this effort appears
to show up in the field Of actual
fighting this week. The Central
government reported that strong
Red forces were making deter.
mined effort to occupy key points
in inner Mongolia before Central
troops could get there in force.
This suggests that the Reds, who
took a beating when Moscow sign
ed treaties Of friendship with
Chungking, may hope to ESTABLISH
themselves in inner Mongolia in
strength, the idea being that
geographic proximity to Soviet
dominated outer Mongolia might
make up for what seems to be the
complete lack of liaison between
the Chinese Reds and Soviet Rus
STA up to this time.
Russia's theaties with Caumgkirs
bind her to abstain from interior
ing with internal Chinese affairs
but the Chinese communists may
hope that in time they can change