Evening star., 1951-04-01
By Fred thompson and
Seymour Topping

a
By Fred thompson and
Seymour Topping
Three different governments
rule Hong Kong. Formosa and
Indo- China. But these areas have
something In common: They ali
|are veritable jutting chins, wide
open to Communist attack.
Hong Kong and For1nosa have
been exposed to action for such
Ia long time that they are develop
ing a tricky sense of immunity
They are somewhat like the movie
serial heroine. tied to the middle
railroad track with trains roaring
past on the right and left. She
begins to assume there never will
be a train down the middle track.
The third country, Indo-C China,
has been taking light punches,
global left jabs, but up to now
has been able to Withstand that.
She has no false sense Of Sc
curity.
The fate of these three soft spots
on the Red periphery is tied up
with many factors, including Eu-
rope and the chance of a third
world war. It also is tied up
with Korea, with American. Brit
ish and French foreign policy,
and with the internal success or
failure Of Red China.
Their fate Is certainly no more
than 20 per cent in their own
hands.
Colony Profitable
Their problems are different in
detail. but their danger is the
|same-Asiatic communism and
Moscow's influence on Asiatic
communism. They can all fight
back militarily. but left to them
selves, they cannot win. To some
extent-but not much-they can
lower the flash point of their
troubles by diplomatic maneuver-
ing.
Formosa, the big island fortress
of Chang Kai-shek, bases its hope
on the 90-mile strip of water that
separates it from Red China, the
half-million impatient Nationalist
soldiers who guard 1t, and on help
from abroad. Its danger is inva-
sion by Chinese Reds, which at
the moment seems unlikely. It's
ambition is counterinvasion Of the
China mainland. At the moment
that. also. seems unlikely.
Hong Kong is Britain's 'tfairest
jewel in the crown"-a geographic
cally magnificent and CONNER
cially overfed city on a 30-mile-
wide island of China's Kwang-
tung coast. It spills over onto the
Chinese mainland where it has
acquired Kowloon Peninsula and
a narrow Swath of mountains and
hills that rub Red China, some
times the wrong way.
The whole place is known as the
British Crown Colony of Hong
Kong, and If every section of the
empire paid of as handsomely as
Hong Kong, Britain at home
would not be troubled with aus
terity.
Indo China is a dumbbell-
shaped country just south Of China
on the South China Sea with an
extremely mixed-up set of politics.
It has a independent status
within the French Union, reyolu-
ton that is wearing the Kremlin
collar among others. and % mil
lion people who hate the French
but who would be gobbled up by
the Communists If it was not for
French military power.
It used to be an out-and-out
French colony but colonies had a
way of loosening their letters
after World War II. While the
natives of Indo-C China haven't
removed theirs entirely, they have
worked them so loose that it is
hard, at the moment, to tell who
lis running the country.
Frances war against Commu-
|nist-led guerrillas Is costing her q
pretty penny and has tied up a
Hot Of soldiers she needs at home
Indo-China was once worth a
lot in economic resources to
France. It is now a costly liza
bility.
Useful to Reds
A few months ago it looked as
though Hong Kong would not last
much longer in British hands.
Things were shaping up in Korea.
in the United Nations Qike tab
|bing the Chinese Communists as
|aggressors), in Europe (where
England was getting closer and
closer to America in the rearma-
|ment against communism pro-
gram. Then it seemed probable
Peiping might snatch Hong Kong
|as direct slap at Britain.
But the Reds did not move
Why? The Reds got badly begged
down in Korea and they had to
send in a lot more troops than
they at first expected. Then, while
Britain went along gingerly in
branding Chinese Reds as aggres-
sors she also used her influence to
stall off anything more drastic
like economic sanctions or U. N
blockade of Red China.
Another possible reason is this:
Internal resistance to the Chinese
Communists among their own peo-
Iple this winter and spring has be-
come so great the Reds have had
to resort to a firing squad purge
That added to the Korean mess
and made a movement against
Hong Kong less attractive.
Hong Kong is still worth more
to the Reds In British hands than
in Chinese. That's because Hong
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