Evening star., 1947-09-14

alreaQy kIlOWH. ne 1UIllo COllu4tloAIf
in areas dominated by the Kuo-
mintang to be deplorable. But the
vital part of the report, which is
likely to be kept secret for some
time, will be his recommendation
regarding the policies this country
should pursue in China.
In some political and diplomatic
quarters in Washington the send
ing of Gen. Wedemeyer to the
Nanking controlled portions OF
China was interpreted as an effort
to justify Secretary of State Mar
shalls belief that nothing could be
done to salvage the corrupt Kuo-
mintang government.
Government Stood by L. S.
In these quarters it was said
that Gen. Wedemeyer was ordered
to lay a wreath on the grave which
Gen. Marshall had dug for Gen.
eralissimo Chang Kai-shek's re-
gime. Gen. Wedemeyer's public
statement on the eve of his de-
parture from Marking confirmed
the belief of this limited number OF
observers.
Those who are fully acquainted
with Gen. Wedemeyer's mission
doubt that his recommendations will
give the kiss of death to our sup
port for the only Chinese govern
ment which is recognized by ali the
world powers and which stood by
the United States during the dark
est days of the war in the Pacific
These observers recognize that
the chaotic conditions in that
Asiatic area are due to the ina
bility of the government to handle
the situation. But, they add, the
confusion created by Communist
forces under Mao Tse-tung is at
least partly responsible for present
conditions. No country, no matter
how capable and honest its leaders
may be-and Chinese leaders on the
whole are not counted in that cat
egory-can reorganize a government
when a civil war is in progress.
When we place the question OF
whether we should or should not
help China on an theological basis
we are far out on limb. We know
about Kuomintang corruption, but
nothing is said about what happens
in areas administered by the Com
munists. American observers on duty
with the Chinese Communists have
had glimpses which indicate that
the situation is as bad-if not worse
in Red-held territory as in Nam
king-controlled areas. To the age
honored institution of graft must
be added political persecution in
the best MoscoW-approVed style.
PHILOSOPHERS Similar
Fundamentally there is little diff
ference between the political philos-
ophies of the Kuomintang and the
Communists. Both stem from the
same organization which was born
under Chinas greatest political
philosopher, Sun Yat-sen. 1t was
a Soviet representative, Borooin by
name later known as Gen. Ilya
Bluecher), who helped him put into
effect the doctrine of Lenin.
After the death of DR.. Sun there
was a split, when Gen. Chang die
not want the Soviet general to mix
in his country's affairs. Eventually
after the advent of Stain to power
the faction under the intellectual
Mao TSe-tung accepted Moscow
domination and the autonomous
Communist parties belonging to the
Third International became the
tools of the Moscow Politbureau.
Mao decided that by linking his
fate to that of Joseph Stain he
would have a better chance of sur
viving. During the early part OF
the Sino-Japanese war the Com
munist forces threw their support to
Gen. Chang on Moscow's instruc-
tions with the purpose of weakening
Japan's military forces. But this
was only a superficial reconciliation
which lasted a very short time
Gen. Chang. who inherited the
leadership of the Kuomintang. stub
bornly refused to become a tool OF
the Politbureau, and the gulf be-
tween him and Macs Communists
became unbridgeable But neither
the Kuomintang nor the Communist
areas are democratic in the Ameri-
can sense of the word 1t may take
many years before a liberal form OF
government, free of graft and cor
ruption, can be established In that
country.
Cornerstone of War
The chronic ills of the Chinese
government are we'll known in
Washington. Yet when the Japa-
nese invaded Manchuria, allegedly
to put an end to the corrupt gov
ernment which existed there, we
took up the cudgels for the Chinese
Secretary of State Stimson's dec
laration in 1882 that this country
would not recognize the puppet en-
pire of Manchukuo and would stand
up for Chinese rights on the Asiatic
mainland was actually the corner
stone on which the war with Japan
was built.
According to those who know some
of the unpublicized secrets of the
State Department, if the American
Government had acted before 194l
in the same manner that it has
acted recently toward the Soviet
created satellites, it is probable that
the japanese would have been salts
fed with their new conquests and
would not hova rIIrSnd the hitter