Dr. Lo's Feeling

Dr. Lo Lung-chi, information chief of China's bitterly anti-Kuomintang Democratic League, felt that he was being watched, and he had his reasons. One evening recently police knuckles rapped on the gates of the Democratic League headquarters. It was just a routine check on residence registration, they said. Police had long been interested in the building; it was the property (and had once been the headquarters) of the Communist Party of China.

"Ai Ya!"--the Box! After the police departed, Dr. Lo & friends burned confidential documents. Among the items tossed on the fire was a fairly complete list of Kuomintang secret agents. Interestingly enough, this document was retrieved from the flames at a favorable moment by another Kuomintang secret agent (his name obviously not on the list) who had wormed his way into the Democratic League and happened to be serving as a member of the burning party.

Early next morning a Democratic League man hopped into the green Chrysler sedan inherited last year from departing Communist Negotiator Chou Enlai, and drove to the Soviet Embassy. He entered the Embassy with an interesting box, came back to his car without it. Fledgling plainclothesmen got their ears scorched when they reported his visit. "Ai ya!" groaned a Chinese detective superintendent, "Why didn't you pretend a collision, yell, stop the car, claim, the box--anything to get it?"

Last week the Nanking Government finally outlawed the Democratic League, for "complicity with Chinese Communists in their armed rebellion against the state."

"Fellow-Traveling Rump?" What was the Democratic League? Even a good many Chinese were not sure. Once it had been the middle-party hope of a large number of Chinese liberals. Then the league's right wing (the Young China Party) had withdrawn, and the center (the Social Democrats) had been expelled. Chinese liberals now said that what was left looked like "a fellow-traveling rump."

Among the Government's charges against the league:

P: League Member Lo Pin-chi was directly helping Communist forces in Manchuria.

P: League members in Shensi, Szechwan and overseas had organized armed revolt.

P: In more than a year of politics, the league had consistently followed the Communist line. Examples: sponsoring "Anti-American Month" and "U.S. Troops Get Out of China Week."

Nervous Dr. Lo drove not to the Soviets but to the residence of U.S. Ambassador J. Leighton Stuart (followed, this time, by a jeepful of plainclothesmen). Lo received assurance that Ambassador Stuart had already spoken to the Government in behalf of moderate measures.

The Government decided against blanket arrest of league members. Instead, individuals charged with specific aid to the Communists would be arrested. At week's end, Dr. Lo was back at home, still with that feeling of being watched.

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