Evening star., 1953-02-10
Red Chinu's Latest

The Kremlin's Peiping puppets have re-
sponded in typically bellicose manner to
President EiSenhower's action ending the 7th
Fleets "neutralizing" role between FormoSa and
the mainland of Red China The response-put
out in the form Of statement by Premier Chou
En-lai-demands that the United States and
the United Nations Command either negotiate a
Korean armistice on Communist terms or face
a fight to the finish.
In Chou'S words, the Chinese and North
Korean Reds "are ready for an immediate cease
fire." and If the American directed U. N Com
mand has the will and desire for peace" it
should Internationally" resume the truce talks
at Panmunjom. Otherwise, If the Eisenhower
administration has no intention of doing 50,
If it continues to adhere to the policies followed
under former President Truman, and If it
further enlarges and extends the war; I'VE are
thoroughly prepared to fight it out with the
aggressors to the last"
Chou's demand, in substance is merely a
repetition of the Soviet proposal overwhelmingly
rejected by the U. N General Assembly last
December. Actually, in insisting that the truce
talks should be resumed Internationally" Mos
cows voice in Peiping has reaf1rmed the totally
unacceptable condition that the negotiations
can be resumed only on the basis of referring
the priSoner-of-war issue to a post-armistice
political conference made up Of II powers,
including Red China and RuSsia-an arrange
ment calculated to leave the matter up in the
air for an indefinite period during which the
Communists could be counted upon to con-
tinue calling for the forcible repatriation of all
Chinese and North Korean captives.
1t is primarily because Of this fact that
the Kremlins proposal suffered decisive defeat
in December. It is for the same reason, too
that the General Assembly at that time-by q
vote Of 81 to (the Soviet bloc alone dssenting)7
adopted India's compromise plan to insure
against forcible repatriation or indefinite cap
tivity of the kind that would almost certainly
result from Communist delaying tactics If the
prisoner issue were left to a post-armistice
conference. What the Moscow-Peiping -Pyong-
yang axis really wants, Of course, is a surrender
of principle by the U. N Commando surrender
under which every Chinese and North Korean
captive would be driven back, at bayonet point
II necessary, to Red control.
There are tens of thousands of such prison.
ers, all desperately afraid of being repatriated,
and all resolved to resist any effort to return
them. Accordingly for humanitarian and other
reasons, the U. N. Command has made clear
that it will never agree to force them back to
their homelands-a move that would expose
them to savage punishment, including death.
Yet, through Premier Chou, Red China-un-
doubtedly with the Kremlin's blessing-has
served notice 1t will continue the war Ito the
last" unless our side Internationally" resumes
the truce talks and barters with the lives of
these men.
This issue is supposed to be the only issue
blocking agreement on an armistice. But If
Chou's belligerent statement is to be taken at
face value (conceivably it may contain large
measure of bluff, the outlook for decent and
honorable settlement is DINNER now than at
any time since the Panmunjom negotiations
broke down. ...-