Wallop & Pat

Having slugged Communist China in its Kalgan midsection with a military fist, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek last week completed his one-two offensive with a gentle psychological pat: an eight-point peace offer which included at least three genuine concessions.

The one-two worked. Communist Negotiator Chou Enlai, under intense pressure from the Democratic League and other "middle" parties, received a Government mission in Shanghai and agreed to return to Nanking and negotiations.

There was no more talk of the "total national split" Chou had threatened if Kalgan fell.

Chiang's eight points included proposals to leave ultimate military dispositions to a committee of three; to let the State Council decide questions of local administration; and to give all parties a whack at the final constitution draft before it reaches the National Assembly.

The Communists made a concession, too. They had demanded that troops on both sides return to the positions they held last Jan. 13. They stopped pressing this demand when Kuomintang liberal Shao Li-tse reminded Chou that such a reshuffle would include Communist withdrawal from Manchuria.

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