Evening star., 1953-04-02
The Tone of co-operotion

While there is wide area of "no mans
land" between words and action, particularly
when the words are those of Soviet diplomacy,
there is a basis for encouragement in the pledge
of Russian Foreign Minister Molotov that his
government will give full assistance" to bring
ing about agreement on the Korean prisoner
of-war exchange and on the broader question
OF ending the war itself.
The "Springboard" used by Mr.. Molotov for
this conciliatory declaration was an earlier
conciliatory statement by Red China's Premier
Chou En-lai statement which indicated q
willingness to accept the principle of voluntary
repatriation of the war prisoners. The previous
adamant Communist stand that repatriation
must be complete, and forcible If need be, was
the issue that had deadlocked previous truce
negotiations
Although the Molotov pronouncement con-
tanned the familiar lavish words about Com
munist nobility and devotion to peace, there
seemed to be pointed and businesslike signifi-
canoe to his remark that his government is
confident that the present proposals will be
correctly understood by the Government of the
United States" The initial American reaction,
voiced by State Department spokesman, was
to express cautious encouragement while saying
I've are prepared to listen to any reasonable
proposal they put forward"
points" the Communists may seek to use was
Mr.. MolotovS reference to Chinese Communist
and North Korean membership in the United
Nations as one of the most urgent questions.
1t is hardly likely, however, If there is any
sincerity in the expressed Communist desire
to settle the Korean issue, that they would hold
out on that point.
Meanwhile, in the United Nations itself,
the Soviet Union came to its first major agree
ment with the Western powers in nearly two
years by accepting the nomination Of Dag
Hammarskjold Swedish Minister of State, to
succeed Trygve Lie as Secretary General of
the U. NJ In reaching this solution the Soviet
delegation did block the choice of several
candidates proposed earlier by the Western
nations, but the Swedish minister was placed
in nomination by one of the Western powers,
France. When the Russian delegate announced
that Mr.. HammarSkjold was the only one of
those mentioned who would not be vetoed by
the Soviet Union, his selection followed
promptly.
Actually, the extent to which this agree
ment represents really cooperative attitude
of the Russians is questionable. Sweden has
been following its traditional policies of neutral
ity and is not member of the Western defense
structure. 1t has occasionally been critical of
A1y6NC Lie, d 1dVOI1IC Nu0SAdA CdISCI, AAl CAAc
U. N. On the other hand, Mr.. Hammarskjold is
held in high regard by the Western powers
through his earlier service as head of the
Swedish delegation to the u N. and his liaison
work with the Council of Europe and the
Organization for European Economic Co-opera-
tion Also, Swedish-Russian relations have
often been strained during the coldwar years.
In any case the naming of new secretary
general who is currently acceptable to both the
Communist and non-Communist powers re-
moves one of the issues within the U. N. and
may ease the way for more effective func-
tioning of that organization.