Evening star., 1950-11-18
The Nub of 1t

It is doubtful in the extreme that the ChlneSe
Communists have intervened in Korea because
they really believe that our American and allied
United Nations troops intend to carry hostll1tleS
across the Yalu River into Manchuria. But if Mao
Tse-tung and his regime actually have been mo-
tivated by that fear, if it is in fact the chief
reason for their dangerous decision to resort to
armed action against the U. MS anti-aggression
forces, then the solemn assurances voiced by
President Truman ought certainly to make them
think long, hard thoughts before they commit
themselves rrevocably to course that could lead
quickly to general war
For the President has stated in the most un-
equivocal language that the United States is act
ing strictly within the limits of United Nations
policy in Korea, that 1t has never at any time
entertained any intention" to strike against
Chinese territory, and that it will take every
honorable step to prevent any extension of the
hostiliteS in the Far East" In short as Mr.. Tru-
man has emphasized, the American Government
is 100 per cent in accord with the significant
guarantees contained in the resolution now pend
ing before the Security Council. Introduced
jointly by Cuba, Ecuador, France, Norway, the
United Kingdom and our own country, the reso-
luton, while calling upon Red China to get out
OF Korea. emphatically reaffirms that the U. N.
is intent upon keeping the Manchurian border
inviolate, that Peipngs legitimate interests in
the frontier region will be fully protected, and
that all of the U. MS Korean forces will be with
drawn just as soon as the country has been
stabilized under unified, independent and
democratic government.
In the Presidents words, eff the Chinese Com
munist authorities or people believe otherwise it
can only be because they are being deceived by
those whose advantage it is to prolong and
extend hostilities in the Far East The word
those" of course, refers to the men of the
Kremlin, whose delegate to the Security Council
jacob Mallk-haS just served advance notice
that the Soviet veto will be used to frustrate any
Council effort to adopt the resolution offering
Red China firm assurances and asking it to with
draw from Korea. This threatened veto-which
indicates that the General Assembly will have
to act on the issue-strongly suggests that the
Russians are likely to keep on prodding Mao to
stay in the battle despite the fact that the u MS
anti-aggression action has the support of no
fewer than So of the 60 members belonging to
the world organization. Assuming that Macs
status is that of an obedient puppet, what this
means Is that there may be protracted warfare
OF sort making action against Manchuria i'm
perative.
In any event, in his statement reassuring the
Chinese Communists, the President has stressed
that they are now attacking the United Nations
from the safety of their privileged sanctuary" in
Manchuria, and he has plainly implied that that
sanctuary Is not likely to remain privileged If
they spurn our offer to take every honorable
step to keep hostilities from spreading As he
has put it, if the desire for peace is to be effec
tive it must be shared by all concerned and if
Mao and his regime honestly share it, they will
stop what they are doing in Korea Otherwise
ii they continue to wage war against the U. N.
at the Kremlin's bidding, they will be asking for
military counter-measures against their own ter
ritory-a development that could set off a general
armed conflict. Whether or not that will happen
depends primarily on whether or not Peiping
and Moscow want it to happen That is the nub
of the present grave situation.