SECURITY IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
Part 8 of the pamphlet, "OUR FOREIGN POLICY 1952"
SECURITY IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
THE principle of independence has seized the imagination of the peoples of the Far East. Here are lands rich in resources, Here are ancient cultures, old when the culture of the West was still in its cradle. These people make up about two-thirds of the human race. They demand a role in world affairs worthy of their potential contribution.
The unrest in the East is economic, political, and ideological. It is a revolution against misery and poverty and against foreign domination. 37 The problems of the people in these areas are of great concern to us. As President Truman has said, "We in the United States respect and support many new free and independent nations in the Pacific area and Asia. We want to see them grow and prosper, as equal partners in the community of independent nations of both East and West." The Japanese peace treaty is a link in the security chain in the Pacific. Forty-nine nations, gathered at San Francisco, signed the treaty September 8, 1951. The Allied Powers confirmed that they would be guided by the principles of the United Nations Charter in their relations with Japan and recognized that Japan has the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense. On their part the Japanese people declared their in-tention to accept the basic obligations of a U.N. mem-ber – to refrain from aggression, to settle disputes peacefully, and to support the United Nations in its efforts to maintain world peace. The President said in his opening address at the San Francisco Conference for the Conclusion and Signature of the Treaty of Peace with Japan : "I would also like to pay tribute to the impressive effort put forward by the people of Japan in this period. They have fully com-lied with the surrender terms. They have cooperated fully in carrying out the purposes of the occupation. The result has been a remarkable and unprecedented period of progress in Japanese history." Immediately after the signing of the peace treaty the United States and Japan signed a security pact. The 38 pact recognizes that the Japanese, at this time, cannot defend themselves and grants the United States the right to maintain "in and about Japan" land, sea, and air forces. The historic friendship between the United States and the Philippines has been recognized in a mutual-defense treaty signed August 30, 1951. Under this agreement the two Republics bind themselves, separately and jointly, to develop their individual and collective capacity to resist attacks from the outside. The treaty re-affirms their joint faith in the purposes and principles of the United Nations. The treaty signed by the United States, Australia, and New Zealand on September 1, 1951, pledges these three nations to a program of collective security. Said Sir Carl Berendsen, New Zealand Ambassador to the United States, at the time the treaty was signed, ". . . this pact will formally record what so clearly and happily exists today –– the close relation between the in-terests of the parties in the Pacific, the warmth of the regard of their peoples one for the other, their common desire for peace, and their common intention to resist aggression." The Indo-Pakistan subcontinent has a population equal to that of Communist China, as well as important natural resources. The people of India and Pakistan are proud of their newly-won independence and are de-termined to defend themselves against external agres-sion. They make up a large portion of the free peoples of the world, and the subcontinent forms a link be- 39 tween Southeast Asia and the Near East. We must not forget that the ability of the people of India and Paki-stan to resist subversion or repel invasion will depend oon the success of their efforts to build up their national economies and their political strength. The immediate danger in Asia is unmistakably clear. The mainland of China, for the time being, is lost to the free world. Korea is under attack. Communist guer-rilla warfare is raging in Indochina. In Burma, Malaya, the Philippines, and other places, communist-inspired groups are stirring up internal disorder. In all coun-tries, they exploit conditions brought about by poverty, illiteracy, and disease. This campaign threatens to deprive those struggling millions of all hope of freedom, to sell them into slav-ery. It threatens to absorb the manpower and vital re-sources of the East into the Soviet design for world con-quest. It threatens to deprive the free nations of their chance to buy certain vitally needed raw materials. It threatens to turn the peaceful millions of the East into armies to be used as pawns by the Kremlin. Where the governments of these countries are striv-ing to consolidate free and stable political institutions, to build up their military defenses, and to raise their standard of living, we can and should help them. The Mutual Security Program is supplying arms and economic strength to various countries in the Far East that are standing up under threat of communist aggression. On the military side the Program is fur-nishing these countries items of military equipment 40 and the training they need for their defense forces. On the economic side it is providing some of the most urgently needed machinery and tools, with technical advice in agriculture, industry, health, and governmental administration. The fall of China underlines the fact that the United States alone cannot guarantee the freedom of all Asia. In the long run, it is the peoples of Asia who will have to build the institutions of their own freedom, with the help and good will of the rest of the free world. The policy of the United States is to help the growth of free, independent, and responsible governments in Asia that can take their place in the family of nations as equal partners in the enterprise of building world peace.
The unrest in the East is economic, political, and ideological. It is a revolution against misery and poverty and against foreign domination. 37 The problems of the people in these areas are of great concern to us. As President Truman has said, "We in the United States respect and support many new free and independent nations in the Pacific area and Asia. We want to see them grow and prosper, as equal partners in the community of independent nations of both East and West." The Japanese peace treaty is a link in the security chain in the Pacific. Forty-nine nations, gathered at San Francisco, signed the treaty September 8, 1951. The Allied Powers confirmed that they would be guided by the principles of the United Nations Charter in their relations with Japan and recognized that Japan has the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense. On their part the Japanese people declared their in-tention to accept the basic obligations of a U.N. mem-ber – to refrain from aggression, to settle disputes peacefully, and to support the United Nations in its efforts to maintain world peace. The President said in his opening address at the San Francisco Conference for the Conclusion and Signature of the Treaty of Peace with Japan : "I would also like to pay tribute to the impressive effort put forward by the people of Japan in this period. They have fully com-lied with the surrender terms. They have cooperated fully in carrying out the purposes of the occupation. The result has been a remarkable and unprecedented period of progress in Japanese history." Immediately after the signing of the peace treaty the United States and Japan signed a security pact. The 38 pact recognizes that the Japanese, at this time, cannot defend themselves and grants the United States the right to maintain "in and about Japan" land, sea, and air forces. The historic friendship between the United States and the Philippines has been recognized in a mutual-defense treaty signed August 30, 1951. Under this agreement the two Republics bind themselves, separately and jointly, to develop their individual and collective capacity to resist attacks from the outside. The treaty re-affirms their joint faith in the purposes and principles of the United Nations. The treaty signed by the United States, Australia, and New Zealand on September 1, 1951, pledges these three nations to a program of collective security. Said Sir Carl Berendsen, New Zealand Ambassador to the United States, at the time the treaty was signed, ". . . this pact will formally record what so clearly and happily exists today –– the close relation between the in-terests of the parties in the Pacific, the warmth of the regard of their peoples one for the other, their common desire for peace, and their common intention to resist aggression." The Indo-Pakistan subcontinent has a population equal to that of Communist China, as well as important natural resources. The people of India and Pakistan are proud of their newly-won independence and are de-termined to defend themselves against external agres-sion. They make up a large portion of the free peoples of the world, and the subcontinent forms a link be- 39 tween Southeast Asia and the Near East. We must not forget that the ability of the people of India and Paki-stan to resist subversion or repel invasion will depend oon the success of their efforts to build up their national economies and their political strength. The immediate danger in Asia is unmistakably clear. The mainland of China, for the time being, is lost to the free world. Korea is under attack. Communist guer-rilla warfare is raging in Indochina. In Burma, Malaya, the Philippines, and other places, communist-inspired groups are stirring up internal disorder. In all coun-tries, they exploit conditions brought about by poverty, illiteracy, and disease. This campaign threatens to deprive those struggling millions of all hope of freedom, to sell them into slav-ery. It threatens to absorb the manpower and vital re-sources of the East into the Soviet design for world con-quest. It threatens to deprive the free nations of their chance to buy certain vitally needed raw materials. It threatens to turn the peaceful millions of the East into armies to be used as pawns by the Kremlin. Where the governments of these countries are striv-ing to consolidate free and stable political institutions, to build up their military defenses, and to raise their standard of living, we can and should help them. The Mutual Security Program is supplying arms and economic strength to various countries in the Far East that are standing up under threat of communist aggression. On the military side the Program is fur-nishing these countries items of military equipment 40 and the training they need for their defense forces. On the economic side it is providing some of the most urgently needed machinery and tools, with technical advice in agriculture, industry, health, and governmental administration. The fall of China underlines the fact that the United States alone cannot guarantee the freedom of all Asia. In the long run, it is the peoples of Asia who will have to build the institutions of their own freedom, with the help and good will of the rest of the free world. The policy of the United States is to help the growth of free, independent, and responsible governments in Asia that can take their place in the family of nations as equal partners in the enterprise of building world peace.
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