Evening star., 1950-10-19
Reported Agreement
On Formosa Reopens
Question Of u. 5. Aims
tcontinued From First Page.)

~UV1AAVhh vi Va ~ EAbHtHS
tcontinued From First Page.)
form of handing Formosa over to
the Chinese Reds.
That is. the reported agreement
may have taken the form of an
assurance by MIR. Truman to Gen.
Macarthur that his policies. de-
veloping within the U. N, are
aimed at permanently neutralizing
the, island.
High Pentagon officials who re-
ported anonymously yesterday
that the two men had agreed on
the Formosa issue did not say how
or in what degree the differences,
as they formerly appeared on the
record, had been resolved.
These officials stipulated that
they not be named. This brought
q prompt protest from Senator
Knowland, Republican, of Cali
fornia, about "second-hand leaks" !"
In statement distributed by the
Republican National Committee,
Senator Knowland said these
partial facts may or may not ex-
press accurately the understand
ing" about Formosa.
He demanded that the full text
of the anonymous news confer
ence notes be cabled to Gen.
Macarthur, presumably for check
ing against his understanding.
Senator Knowland noted that the
officials who gave out word of
the reported Formosa agreement
were not actually present at the
time, since they said Mr.. Truman
and the general discussed the is
sue when they were alone.
Macarthur Hasn't Changed Views.
In Tokyo, informed sources said
Gen. Macarthur has not altered
his views. They said Formosa
was not involved in any policy
discussions at Wake.
Gen. MacArthur's view of the
islands importance to American
security in the Pacific was stated
in his famous Suppressed" mes
sage to the Veterans of Foreign
Wars meeting in Chicago August
%. Gen. Macarthur withdrew
that message on orders from the
President, but it was published
anyway since it already had been
widely distributed.
Gen. Macarthur said American
security in the Pacific is based on
an island chain running from the
Aleutians to the Mariannas, and
utilization of Formosa by a mill
tary power hostile to the United
States may either counter-balance
or overshadow the strategic i'm
portance of the central and south
ern flanks of the United States
front line position"
The import of this statement
was that Gen. Macarthur consid-
cred it essential to keep Formosa
ip friendly hands: otherwise the
whole United States defense line
would be gravely endangered.
Truman Indorses U. N. Study.
Mr.. Truman's most recent pub
lie action on the issue was taken
August 81 when he wrote his am
bassador at the United Nations,
Warren R. Austin, indorsing Mr..
Ay1ctiy3'c rnno,,a do+ +;oy, %loo+ &ha
q. N. Security Council study the
Formosa problem.
It is understood that this move
actually is part of a diplomatic
plan directed at keeping the whole
Formosa question tied UP indef1-
nitely in the U. N. If the Chinese
Reds attacked it during this
period they would be assaulting
a: place under U. N. consideration
and therefore, the United States
could argue, under y. N. protec-
tion.
In the meantime, however, the
American 7th Fleet still has the
task of neutralizing the island.
The naturalization policy was laid
down by the President on June
~, two days after the Korean war
broke out.
SuperSedes Truman Policy.
The June statement superseded
q. policy the President had adopt
ed last January. He had said
then the fight between the two
Chinese factions was a civil war
and the United States would not
intervene.
Thus after six months the Pres
ident appeared to have changed
his policy to meet new conditions
created by the Korean war. One
question which then arose was
this: When peace had been re-
stored to Korea, would Mr.. Tru-
man withdraw the 7th Fleet and
again leave open the Communist
invasion route?
The answer to that now seems
to lie in the commitment of the
whole issue to the U. N. But that
action in turn opened another
question: Since such U. N. men,