Evening star., 1951-09-11
Our Pact With Tokyo

Like the peace treaty itself-which 48 nations
have signed with the JapaneSe-our special BIZ
lateral security pact with Tokyo has been branded
by the Kremlin as an alliance drawn up by
American "imperialistS" in preparation for un-
leashng a new war against Asia, specifically
against Red China and the Soviet Union
Conceivably, since they have repeated it so
often to themselves and the rest of the world
the Russians may half believe that this colossal
lie is gospel truth Whatever may be their real
thoughts, however, the simple and obvious fact
is that the security treaty has no other purpose
than to bulwark Japan against the threat of Red
aggression and thus lessen the likelihood of a
general Far Eastern eXplosion-an explosion that
could quickly lead to an all-out global war.
AS of today-and as will be the case for
months to come-the diSarmed Japanese, stand
ing alone are wholly incapable of defending
themselves against attack. They are merely
power vacuum whose postion-unleSS supported
from the outside during this dangerous transi-
tional period-Would be an open invitation to the
Red aggressor to move in and take over 1t is
for that reason, having in mind the grimness of
events in nearby Korea, that they have called
upon our country to provide them with post-occu-
patton protection until they can build up their
own defensive strength and work out collective
security arrangements through the United Nations
or some other international means. 1t is for that
reason, too, and only for that reason, that our
Government has joined with them in the new
biateral pact
The pact, like the multateral peace treaty
must be ratified by the Senate and put into
operation on the basis of administrative agree
mentS yet to be negotiated Designed to take
effect simultaneously with the peace treaty it
includes the following provisions among others:
Cd Tokyo grants, and the United States accepts,
f1A rsol@A
armed forces "in and about the home islands;
(2) without our prior consent, the same right
cannot be extended to third power; 90 if the
Japanese so request. our forces can be used to
help them put down "large-Scale internal riots
and disturbances caused by outside inStigation
or intervention: and a. Japan must "increas-
ingly assume responsibility for its own defense
always avoiding any armament which could
be offensive threat or serve other than to
promote peace and security in accofdance with
the purposes and principles of the United Nations
Charter"
Suggesting that there will be some kind of
limitation on Japan's air and naval power, the
last point presumably is meant to reassure not
only Red China and the Soviet Union, but also
countries like New Zealand Australia and the
Philippines. These latter countries, having been
victimized by it in the past fear resurgent Japa-
nese militarism. and that is one reason why we
have special security agreements with them too
agreements designed to be developed eventu-
ally, along with the Tokyo pact, into general
Pacific defensive network against the lawless.
AS for its duration, the American japanese
treaty is "provisional' or temporary in the sense
that it is to expire whenever our two countries
are satisfied that effective alternative arrange
ments exist for the maintenance of peace and
security in the Japan area. Despite their vicious
propaganda against it, Moscow and Peiping have
nothing whatever to fear from this pact
nothing that is, unless they answer it with new
crimes of aggression.