Evening star., 1953-09-15
Peipinq's Moneuyer

In typical trouble-making maneuver un-
doubtedly inspired by the Kremlin, the Chinese
Communists have called upon the United Ma
tionS General Assembly, which is just begin
ming its eighth annual session, to reconsider,
redebate and reverse its recent decision on the
makeup of the projected Korean political con-
ference
AS finally approved last month by an AS
sembly vote of 43 to (tte Soviet bloc alone
diSsenting), that decision upholds our official
American contention that the conference, in
stead of being a formidable" affair open to
relative "neutrals" like India, should be limited
to the following opposing groups Of participants:
Cd North Korea and Red China, plus the Soviet
Union if the Communists so desire, and (2) South
Korea and representatives to be chosen from
among the 16 nations allied under the U. N.
banner in actively. fighting on South Korea's
side.
However, despite the fact that this formula
has been agreed upon by an overwhelming
majority of the General Assembly-an agreeG
ment reached only after exhaustive debate at
last months special meeting-the Chinese Com
munists want the U. N. to argue the matter all
over again and do an about-face. Echoed by
their junior partners in North Korea, and in
sisting that they should be invited to New York
to state their case, they have come out for es-
sentialy the same proposal as the one already
defeated-the one advanced by Soviet Delegate
ViShinSky. That is to say, they have come out
in favor Of conference whose participants
would be made up not only of the belligerents
on "both sides" but also of neutral" Russia,
India, Pakistan, Burma and Indonesia.
In it's initial response to all this, our State
Department has indicated that our U. NJ dele
cation will do everything it can to dissuade
the Assembly from giving Peiping's proposal a
place on the agenda of the current session. But
the unfortunate fact is that Mr.. Vishinsky and
his collaborators in the Soviet bloc can be
counted upon to make the rafters ring with the
issue. And another unfortunate fact is that
more than a few of our friends in the free
World--notably Britain-are at heart out of
sympathy with us in this matter despite having
gone along with us, after preliminary dissent
in last months final 43-to-5 vote against in
viting India and other "neutrals" to participate
in the political conference on Korea.
So it seems clear enough that Peiping's
Soviet-inspired maneuver, even though it can
hardly win out in the Assembly, is likely to stir
up lot of noise and propaganda calculated
to embarrass the United States and aggravate
If possible, the divergencies existing between
us and a number of our friends and allies
abroad Certainly, at least as far as India is
concerned, our position has had much less than
the free worlds wholehearted support, and by
continuing to hammer away at it the Commu-
niSts can generate lot of i'll will against u.s.
especially in relation to public opinion in Asia
This probably is the prime purpose of Red
China's proposal. What remains to be seen is
whether the move also means that the Com
munists will boycott the political conference if
the General Assembly-as expected-refuses to
reverse itself. In any event, the effrontery of
their demand for such reversal is another
SOLDERING indication of why it is foolish to be
optimistic about negotiating with them for a
decent Korean peace.