1950-06-13 — Page 1

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THE P.P.C.C. TO MEET

its Every revolution in dynamic stages involves' in- cessant and very often furious controversy. That

THE CHINA "MAIL, TUESDAY, JUNE 13, 1950.

RED BRIDGEHEAD AGAINST Trade takes

Is there much talk of war in Eastern Europe? How ready, for example, is Czechoslovakia, one of the "advanced" countries of Russia's Communist bloc?

THE WEST

By Eric Bourne

starting points for any encircle-ing schools in order to carry out ment of Yugoslavia and Austria | the Blandardisation of Czech in the event of war,

forces on Russian lines.

Russian strategy In the event of war this means

has

These are two questions which many people have asked me since I was expelled from Czecho- Meanwhile, Blovakia as a

everything "disturbing ele- been done to prepare the Czech ment" carlier this year. questions are not easily answer-

The Army for its role in Russian strategy. In the past 18 months It has been thoroughly purged, time and again.

cd.

For nearly two years I watch- ed the development of Com- munist

control over Czecho- slovakia within the strict frame- work of Soviet polky and Soviet needs. War-talk, in any form, is banned there-a factor res ponsible for the nervous specula- tion which so often runk ilke wildfire through the country.

As for

any discussion of the country's war potentials, the pos- session of the tiniest scrap of in- formation on this subject would be regarded as treason or esplan- age.

Already every "Western" of- eer who fought with the Czech troops attached to Britain's Army of Liberation has been removed. Only a few-a very few-remain in the Reserve.

of

Side by side with this purge there has been the intensive political indoctrination

the national service recruits and the formation of an exclusively Com munis! officers corps.

that the Czech forces would 'au- tomatically act as an integral

Only the Air Force,

need not

be taken seriously.

Beside her

army however, Czechoslovakia has placed second, perhaps even more im- portant weapon at the disposal of the Russians-the giant uranlum deposits at Jachymov in North Western Bahemla,

Since 1947 these deposits have

part of the Soviet Army-under the Russian High Command, ore being mined and

turn for

the Japs

By RICHARD HUGHES

British Interests are concern- ed at the success of Japan's-

been under Russian control with trade drive in Thailand, based on cheap textile and machinery huge quantities of the precious

sent to exports and unfair manipula- ing in the Czech forces is now Recrulls report that all train-

Russia, So averet was this, work tion of the exchange rate. that not a word about it appear. Under a trade agreement a total based on Soviet experience gained in the Czech Press for nearly of 90 million dollars in trade has

been agreed between the two. ed in the last war. To facilitate two years, this training much of the Czech

Now it is known that since the of rice, Japan wil ship out low- Mainly for Thailand's surplus war material is being brought Communists came to power in priced textiles, light machinery, February, 1948, hundreds Diesel engines and railway rolling "political unrollables-men with

stock munism-have been sent. to the the slightest aversion to Com- Jachymov mines to swell the original labour 10,000 German prisoners of war, 3,000 Czech miners and a mali army of Soviet technicians.

into line with Russian ments.

arma-

At present the Czechs are be- lleved to have a standing army of between 150,000 and 200,000 men. It is impossible to estimate the annual intake of trainees but, with their heavily-armed Securi- ty Police divisions and. Workers' Militia (equipped with tammy-

force of some

The threat to Britain lies in rice supplies to Malaya rather than the loss of a competitive market,

British interests have

placed att order, for 484,000 tons of rice from Thailand this year on a cosh basis, mainly for Malaya,

Soviet military advisers have gurts and rifles) it is believed supplies-as in everything else able surplus of more than one

played a big part in

could this re- they

mobilise anything organisation of the Czech Army, from 280,000 to 400,000 well- armed and well-trained men at

The country's armed forces and remains and the cost of their upkeep are been to Russia's military train-short notice.

high Czech officers have subjects never discussed openly la Parliament, even in the most general terms.

over a million

men

and

was

in the question of uranium Czechoslovakia is being exploit- ed so that she becomes merely n

in cog

the Moscow-controlled Communist machine.

true whether the arena is a public forum or a private group. No details have ever leaked out of the fury of de- Before the war, however, the bate in the preparatory dis- Czechs were regarded as having cussions that preceded the full one of the best-equipped armies session of the People's Politi-in Europe. It could mobilise well

No African wants to see the Put these points to the Intense cal Consultative Conference backed by last autumn. There was only biggest arms centres-the great say: "We need you to show statesman calibre and high Inte one of the world's.British go-yet. The majority Nationalists and they aver that

there are enough Afrleans

of Skoda works at Pilsen. That us how to do things for an-grity Mr. Chou En-lai's revealing

run the countries, given was. surrendered without 0 reference to "flerce demands

other 10 to 20 years." and contradictions within the people's democratic unit- ed front which can and must be reconciled."

Marking time on freedom

chance to show its fighting mettic

was no fault of the Army.

Useful adjunct

could not or would not-mebl Tony the Czech Communists ise so big a force, but, neverthe less, what they might be able to raise would be a useful adjunct

to the Soviet Army.

In view

some

The sharp switch in the direction of policy, and in policy itself, which occurred during the absence of Mao Tse-tung and Chou En-lai in Moscow led to a reckless

of this, big efforts Sovietization of economic | have been made in the last two

in

with machinery. This

turn years apparently

considerable success-to put the produced stability and suf-

entire army on wheels and carry focation. Private industry out the complete mechanisation was brought to a standstill and large-scale re-equipment of and threatened with extinc-

its most important fighting bran- ches. tion by blockade, merciless levics, and severe deflation. This "mechanisation" has been There must have been a tre- achieved partly by the Czechs mendous amount of mutter-sections of these works have been own efforis at Skoda (more vital ing and gnashing of teeth moved East Into the remoteness, among the victims. No doubt of Slovakia

the Russian it was reflected, too, among the ruling class, both civil and military,

nenr

of considerable

is

vital for three reasons:

of

soy

The intense Nationalists the same, adding: "But we want control now, with British omeinis serving under African Ministers and executives."

They are all actually aware of the strategic developments, mili- tury, naval, and air, that are go- ing on in West Africa, and say of them: "Go ahead so long as they are concerned with general Com- monwealth defence plans, which we believe they are."

What they say They observe the developments Britons are now planning, to build ore roads, rollways, dams, and to improve farming yields, and say: "The British owe us all this. They should have done It years ago, and over the years they've made plenty of money out of us to pay for it."

7

the chance.

They go on that Africa's great need is for education, for free educntion (most Africans have to

-By- John Hall

pay for their schooling), and that Britain has failed in this matter. More schools are urgently needed. For years there were office jobs for all who went through elemen- uny African to find a desk seat if tary school. Now it is hard for he has not gone expensive

to the more higher school reached school

and certificate stan- dard.

So around the towns there are thousands of young men who have been to elementary schools, but no farther, and who cannot get the office jobs they hoped for. They drift almlessly, bitterly, They are ripe materini for the ogitators.

had

Few people in Britain realise hypersensitive are the how people of West Africa who have have regular contact with Europeans. Racial discrimination is a phoblu, almost a mania; they are always on the watch for it, always ready to misconstrue the lightest word or gesture, regis- ter it as a deep ractul rebuff,

Old man's view

This

complex underlies and

Thailand will have an export- million tons of rice this year, but British buyers fear that Japan's growing demands for rice and in- creasing command of the Thailand market will gravely reduce the surplus of rice and cut back the amount available for Malaya next year. Shortage of rice supplies in this troubled State, it is pain- led out, might have profound social and political repercusions.

United States traders, in com- mon with British traders in Tokyo, complain that Japanese exporters are openly operating on the free market rate of 23 Thaill- cals to the US. dollar, while they tion directive to the official rate are restrleted severely by occupa- of 20 to one.

Locomotive price

Americans insist also that they' cannot compete with Japanese

undermines much of the daily prices for textiles or machinery. contact between European and One U.S. engineer in Tokyo suid African in the areas where there that the Japanese quote for a are mixed populations. I dis- locomotive for Thailand was less cussed it with a wise old Africon. than 45,000 dollars or only one- It is our burden," he said, third the lowest price he could "and it will take years to cradí quote for a comparative locomo- cate, though I must say that our five, contact with the British in our homelands rarely helps.

"We can never forget that once we were the world's slaves. From these shores

our forefathers were herded and roped together and shipped into bondage. This has been the Land of Nothing quite Right for a very long time."

A robot lightship

A new

Then you switch back to local order) and partly by the supply

politics and are told that the talk | quantltes heavy material in use by the of full self-government now is

safety-Arst device robot lightship will soon guide Soviet Army at the end of the nonsense, because there are notį

enough Africans of Ministerial or The very decision to call war.

transatlantic liners automatically executive calibre to run either Should more Africans be sent into New York harbour.. the national economic con- From a military point of view, the country or the Gold Coast; to Britain for their education ?

News of the robot lightship is ference last month, and to Czechoslovakia important because there are too many in- The answer here is sharp. "Not given by correspondent Rodacy

of almost vital to Russia. She is ternal differences between the unless they can stay for several Campbell who reports include representatives

that for peoples of both nations; private trade and industry,

too years, and far better to have more years the United States Coast imany tribal and religious ob- schools here, especially, more implied both political and

en-Guard Service has been planning technical schools to train economic decisions in favour and

ship-controlled from gineers, atters, and

craftsmen." Both Nigeria and the Gold Many of the bitterest critics are lighthouses on shore. Now the of private enterprise. After

Coast are made up of many dif- Africans who have spent years rst model is being built in a all, it is hardly possible to (2) Czechoslovakia's value as

ferent peoples.

in Britain.

Maryland shipyard. In Acera there is back-track in State economics an armaments centre and a place

Packed with the frail, persuasive Mrs. Renner.

hundreds of elec- into which

Here in Northern Nigeria, Russian without a political corollary. d'armes

Southern fringe of

Her husband, now in jail for sedi-tronic Instruments the ship will There can be little doubt that over the Soviet border into East-Sahara, la the greatest of the intense Nationalists and is one of one man who may never have

troops could be poured directly

tion, is one of the leaders of the be controlled automatically by during this fortnight the ern Slovakia and thence to the inter-racial problems, for here delegates wasted little time West.

(1)

The declsive strategical stacles. position geographical Czechoslovakia,

of

in passing round bouquets. (3) Czechoslovakia is impor-

arn Germany.

uranium-

There must have been some tant as a source of very plain speaking by the re- basic raw material needed in

atomic energy development. presentatives of private enter. prise, who h been driven

Czechoslovakia today is Rus- almost to di pair and des- sia's key bridgehead against the peration by the ruthless West. To the North, Stalin's High sweep and flerce pace of Command has Poland and East- In the South lie Sovietization. They pointed

and Rumania the out, perhaps, that the essen- tial problem of China is to produce more, to create new industries and to get existing factories going again at full speed.

Hungary

the conference decided to re- turn to the letter and spirit of the Common Programme, to co-ordinate State and pri- Instead of creating new vate economy and to give wealth, through greater pro- private interests of the fav duction, for the nation, theoured variety a new lease Government has been simply of life.

the

on the

are the proud Hausa-speaking prople.

the

Then she came home met and

such

system will

the few avowed Communists. even been on board. A connect-

Mrs. Renner is an ardent dis- ing remote control eiple and ex-member of the Com-use radio waves to transmit or munist Party, but how, she says, ders from the shore operator to Moslem majority lapsed. She was sent to Britain the lightship and signals return

at the age of eight, went to a ed by the electronie gadgets will More than half the population preparatory school at Hove, and tell the shore operator how the of Nigeria lives in this Northern then on to Cheltenham Ladies' ship's light, radio and fog signals province, and a large majority are | College.

are working. Moslems. Only a few of the two Old girls of the CLC. may re- Soon an experimental robat main peoples in Southern Nigeria, member the coffee-coloured. Miss lightship will go through a 2- the Ibes and the Yorubus, are: Olabisi Alakija, who was with month operational trial in New Moslems.

them at school just before and in York's harbour. Just in case all The Northerners, who mistrust the early years of the war.

docs not go well with the robot's the Southerners, oppose provi- After Cheltenham she started electronic world, however, en sional plans which would give the studying medicine, switched to other lightship will stand by- South more M.Ps in the planned law, and became a barrister of fully manned."

Middle Temple, did social Nigerian "House of Commons."

And while the Southerners work, and, after the war, toured say: *It essential we have a Europe. majority and help the North- arners escape from their back married Renner, a young African wardness and some of the effects politician. Now, at 25, she has of the feudalism of the emirates,' two children, lives in Acera, and the Northerners reply: "No, we is a leading member of her have a larger population than the husband's party,

and they abell nol Her creed: "I am against in- South, ** dominate us.”

justice. I drat saw it of Chelten- Meanwhile, all over British ham-I saw snobbery and how west Africa tamity loyalties be- scholarship girls were often made get nepotism. Few Africans are unhappy by other. girls from choose the best man for a job End End of London, and I deter- free enough from these ties to wealthy familles-I saw it in the when a brother or uncle waits mined to return to West Africa expectantly.

and fight for my people." the economic front with Concomitant of that is graft. similar move on the political Daily, the Africans rage against front, possibly as a prelude to the launching of a Five Year Plan and the announcement of measures in regard to al People's Congress.

graft in their midst.

For most Africans who have

Justice Hes in the colour problem:

been to Britain the sense of In-

'Ware bombs!

taking the livelihood from It may be supposed that whole classes — industrialist, the second session of the merchant, labourer and shop- P.P.C.C., which is to meet in keeper.

Industries created a day or two-probably after by private foreign and Chin-intensive preparatory debates ese enterprise lay idle, and will also decide tó accom- 'he unemployed and their pany the strategic retreat on dependents ran well into six figures, yet the energies of the new regime were direct- ed less to the creation of new wealth than to the trans- formation of mechanism, and institutions. In some cases State retail shops were sell- Actually it has not yet

Unexploded below wholesale been stated what the Con- weapons, now rare in Britain, 43 wounded. ing even

bombs and war of the squad have been killed and Occasionally the prices-presumably with no ference will discuss, and the are still an ever-present danger squad arrives at the danger zone other aim than to crush the agenda may not be known in Austria, C

only to discover that some un- been private retailer. No doubt till the preparatory talks are

suspecting civilians have Writing from Vienna, corres killed or seriously infüred. Such the officials also said their over. It is premature to jump pondent Richie McEwen reports casualties are far more frequent piece no less vehemently, to any sharp conclusions that during the past 5 years in the Russian than in the Wes- with caustic criticism of the about absentees, such

over 1,500 Austrians have been term zone for the Germans or- 0.3 killed and over 2,000 wounded ganised their main defences for economy of inflation, its General Lin. Pino and Mme. by mines, hand-grenades and to the East of the present des fevers and abuses, and its Sun Yat-sen from the ban- booby traps left by the retreat-marcation line. shocking disregard for the quet given by Chairman Mao ng Germans in the closing stages welfare of the people.

One of the worst danger spots of the war. Tse-tung, though there did

For nearly 5 years, a 63-man in Austela is the great Pummer- But the delegates of private seem a preponderance of the bomb disposal squad has been dorf wood near St. Poelten. The industry could point to the "Long March" veterans' over working in the Russian Occupa- Germans transformed the wood Common Programme, with the newer Cominform men. ton Zone discovering and ren- into one of their most ingenious its air of sweet reasonable But the conference is very minellelds sown right across Aus aliye" with

dering harmless some OF the vast minefields and today it is, still hundreds of anti- ness, and its guarantees to important, and its decisions tria from the Czech frontier to tank and anti-personnel mines. protect the economie interests are not likely to be set aside the borders of Yugodlavia. So By the end of the year, howαvcp▾ and private property of all, quite so swiftly and easily as far, this one squad bas, exploded the demolitions, squad will have including the petty and na- were some of the main de fons and mines and not with zone will have been made harm- more than 12,000 tons of muni- done its work and another,dangar tional bourgeoisie.. In the end Icisions of the first Conference, our counties. Fourteen members logs.

Japan's big trade bid in Thaf- land is undercutting Sovlet as well as British and American operations.

The giant Czech industrial con- corn, Kove Ltd, sponsored by the Soviet trade mission in Bangkok, has vigorously, but so far vainly challenged Japan for the major share of Thailand's rice surplus.

In addition to cheap textiles and rolling stock, the Japanese are having great success in Thal- land and South East Asia goner- ally with their choup Diesel en- gines and agricultural machinery. The price of the Japanese Diesel engine has been cut to bed- rock by rationalisation, by simplification remorseless industrial of design and improvement appearance.

05 Burma, according to Japanese Government

has also agreed to exchange unif of its surplus of 800,000 tons of rice for Japanese agricultural machinery and diesel engines.

nsاماء

A Japanese trade and agricul from an international rice con- tural delegation has just returned... ference and industrial exhibition at Rangoon. All delegates sald that they were delighted at the friendliness of the Burmese 10- wards them-in sharp contradis tinction to the hostile feeling of the Malayan people,

Great relief

"We were not permitted to leave our hotel at Singapore at night because the authorities sald they could not guarantee our per- sonnt safety," one delegate com- plained.

(Continued an Page 8).

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