Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-09-12
No Pacific Munich

The President has made one thing
clear-he intends to fight if necessary
to prevent the Communists from taking
Quemoy and Matsu by assault. Mr..
Eisenhower stated the matter in these
words:
Today, the Chinese Communists an
nounce, repeatedly and of1cially, that
their military operations against Quemoy
are preliminary to attack on Formosa.
So it is clear that the Formosa Straits
resolution of 1855 applies to the present
situation.
If the present bombardment and har-
assment of Quemoy should be converted
into major assault, with which the local
defenders could not cope, then we would
be compelled to face precisely the situa-
ton that Congress visualized in 1855.
The FormoSa Resolution authorizes
the President to fight for Quemoy and
MatSu If he deems their retention essen
tial to the defense of Formosa. The
President said last night, or he seemed
to say, that he has made his decision
on this point-that we will fight to pre-
vent the Communists from taking the
coastal islands by assault.
He did not say, however, and the
distinction was quite pointed, that we
will fight to prevent the islands from
being rendered untenable and eventually
reduced by continued bombardment.
But if their retention by the Nationalist
forces Is essential to the defense of
FormoSa, what difference does it make
whether the islands are shelled into sub
mission or takoY, Ioxy ~ a ior a rco,,lf0 pra
sumably the difference is that Mr..
Eisenhower is willing to risk a war by
repelling an open assault but is not
willing to accept the risk of silencing
the Communist guns by bombing attacks
on the mainland gun positions. This
is an important distinction, but it is not
a logical one If Quemoy and Matsu really
are essential to the defense of FormoSa.
The President, however, did not rest
his entire case on the FormoSa aspect
of the situation. Adopting a thesis first
advanced by Secretary Dulles, he argued
that If the Chinese Communists and
the Russians have decided to risk a
war;" then our entire position in the
Western Pacific is threatened and our
vital interests are at stake In such a
situation, he said, there can be no APP
peaSement-no Pacific Munich" We
doubt the validity of the assumptions
on which this position is based The fact,
If it is fact, that the Communists have
decided to risk war for possession of
the coastal islands does not necessarily
mean that they have decided to risk a
war to drive us out of the Western
Pacific. We have decided, apparently,
to risk war for limited objective
to prevent the capture of the coastal
islands by major assault. Taking the
Presidents words at face value, how
ever, we have not decided to risk a war
by bombing the China mainland to pre-
vent reduction of the islands by sus-
tanned artillery fire. Is it not possible
that the Communist decision, whatever
its precise nature, is equally limited in
scope?
For our part, we hope there has been
no miscalculation by Mr.. Eisenhower or
Mr.. Dulles. This country faces the dan
ger, not necessarily of a little war, but Of
major war. This being so, we trust
that the military means of fighting
either kind of war are available, and that
there exists the will to use these means
as necessity may require. If the Presi-
dent has made his decision, he will need,
and we think he will have, the support
of the country. But this is not time
for blufing or for craftsmanship.
Finally, Mr.. Eisenhower spoke ear
nestly, almost fervently, of his hope
that the threat can be eased by diplo-
matte negotiations. AS things look now,
If war is to be averted, the only hope
lies in negotiated settlement Mr..
Eisenhower said that we would not be
party to any arrangements which would
prejudice the rights of our ally, the Re-
public of China" If this means that
Chang Kai-shek will not be required
to give up the coastal islands, it is
difficult to see how negotiations can
produce settlement. Still, since diplo-
macy seems to offer the only alternative
to war, we must make every conceivable
effort to pursue that alternative.