New Bait

Just when it looked as if the armistice talks were about to break off, and General Harrison, the U.N. senior delegate, had warned the enemy that "time in these discussions is fast running out," the Communists resorted to an old and reliable maneuver. They threw in some bait, in the form of an ostensible concession, to keep the negotiations going.

What they tendered was a new, eight-point plan, the crucial feature of which is a provision that the prisoners who refuse to return to Communist hands should stay in Korea, under the supervision of a five-nation "repatriation commission," until their "apprehensions" are "eliminated." Originally, the Communists had insisted that the 48,000 balky prisoners be transported to a neutral nation, which the U.N. rejected as completely impractical. The five "neutral" nations proposed by the Reds: Poland. Czechoslovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, India.

The new Communist proposal, which Sir Winston Churchill found promising (see FOREIGN NEWS), contained several boobytraps. Item: with two Communist-controlled members (Poland and Czechoslovakia) and one other nation (India) which inclines to share Red China's view of the war, the commission's membership would be loaded against the allies. Item: the U.N. Command was appalled at. the prospect of Polish and Czechoslovak troops (i.e., Communists) forming 40% of the strength of the "neutral" guard protecting the rights of the prisoners who do not want to return to Communist control. Item: the Communists still insisted that any prisoners who fail to succumb to Communist persuasion would be left to the mercies of a political conference, which would follow a truce at some indefinite time in the future.

In short, an atmosphere was building in which it would be made difficult, rather than easy, for a prisoner to refuse to go home. Churchill didn't seem to mind. Just how the U.S. feels has not yet been made clear. It did not reject the Red proposals out of hand, but contented itself with asking the Reds some pertinent questions about details.

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