More for Mao

Ever since the Korean war the U.S. has maintained an embargo on Red China trade and pressured allies into limiting their business with the Reds. The embargo has been effective; the pressure has drawn frequent complaints, notably from Britain and Japan. Mindful of the complaints, newsmen pricked up their ears at President Eisenhower's press conference last week when Ike launched on a sympathetic defense of the Japanese viewpoint.

To the President, the idea of double-damning Japan by limiting exports to the U.S. and preventing trade with "any of the great area" (i.e., Red China) close by across the China Sea seemed foolish. "You just block them, and they have no place to go except in the arms of somebody where we don't want them to go." Ike's reasoning invited a second question: Was the U.S. preparing to bring China trade controls in line with less stringent controls on trade with the Soviet sphere of Europe? Always unwilling to announce policy shifts by way of off-the-cuff press-conference remarks, the President hedged. But behind a noncommital answer lay a surprising yes.

Since 1950 Western trade with the Communist orbit has been supervised by the Consultative Group, a 15-nation organization whose working committees COCOM and CHINCOM, maintain lists of items that can be marketed to the Soviet European bloc or to Red China, and in what amounts. The U.S. is prepared to negotiate off the stricter Chinese list such items as its fellow members, particularly Britain and Japan, want to remove. As a quid pro quo, and to help narrow the gap between the two sets of controls, some additional items may be added to the list covering the Soviet European bloc.

The Administration hopes that even such stout defenders of Nationalist China as California's Senator William Knowland and New Hampshire's Senator Styles Bridges can be persuaded to go along. To win approval, one important point in U.S. policy had to be re-emphasized. The move is being made only to help other Consultative Group nations ease their economic problems", but the U.S., which enforces a complete embargo on U.S. trade with Red China, will continue that embargo.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.