Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-09-09
BY FRED THERoUx

Are there indications that the
longtime American opposition to
the admitting of Red China to the
United Nations has been eased?
On September /, the United
States formally charged that Com
munist China had shot down
a Navy reconnaissance plane. The
big Martin Mercator. on routine pa
troll over the East China Sea of
Shanghai, carried a crew of is, all
of whom are presumed lost. Wreck
age and three bodies have been re-
covered.
The American statement was
fortnight In describing the at
tack on the plane as "unjusti-
fed" and insisted that the To-
cation Of wreckage indicated that
the aircraft was over international
waters when attacked.
But significantly, it was neither
blunt nor belligerent in tone. While
demanding compensation for the
loss of the plane and it's crew, it
admitted the possibility that the
patrol through possible errors in
navigation" may have ventured over
or near Chinese territory-the is
lands of the coast near the scene
of the attack.
And the Peiping government, for
its part, forsook the old pattern Of
insult and recrimination in its off,
cial reply to the British Foreign
Office on the incident. The Commu-
nists had insisted all along that the
plane shot down was "Chiang
Kai-shek aircraft" from Taiwan
(Formosa). In their note, they de-
clared that if the dONned plane
turned out not to be a Chinese
Nationalist plane but a United
States naval aircraft, we could not
but express great regret"
Break With the Post
Such restraint on both sides is a
surprising departure from the prac-
tice of the past. But State Depart
ment officials are emphatic that
the Softened tones mean only mu-
tual desire, for the present at least,
to avoid setting fire to the Far
East powder keg. United States OPP
position to the seating of Red
China in the United Nations, and
the determination to withhold rec
ignition from Peiping until that
regime has "cleansed" itself of
the stain Of aggression remains
adamant.
Rumors to the effect that WASH
ington was about to ease its poll
icies toward Red China have been
recurrent since the Korea truce.
Most of them follow a pattern:
Americas allies have recognized the
Peiping government: that govern
ment is stable and has effective
control Of all mainland China; the
Chinese Nationalist on Taiwan
are incapable Of challenging the
Red regime without about military
support from the United States;
considerations of cold reality must
eventually bring American recogni-
ton Of Peiping and an abandon
ment of our support Of the Chang
Kai-shek commandments.
Convincing Reasons
These rumors persist. But the
State Department insists there is
no basis whatever for them. And
officials cite convincing reasons why,
under present circumstances. they
cannot be credited. They point
out:
. Red China has been officially
condemned by the United Nations
as an aggressor in Korea. And
although the shooting there has
ceased under the terms of an arm
istice agreement. the Chinese Reds
continue to maintain an army of
$4,000 in North Korea. Further,
there is indisputable evidence that
Red China has repeatedly violated
the terms Of the armistice. They
have built new airflelds and have