URGED ‘TO RECONSIDER CHINA. POLICY |
The debate in top circles of the ruling class in the United States ovér the advisability of finally recognizing the existence of the 700,000,000 péople in China and the: government they. put in power sevénteen years ago appears to have found.an echo in Japan. A threeday teach-in on the subject in the first part of May, under the auspices of the Liberal- Democratic party" s Afro-Asian Study Group, received considerable: publicity. ©
The ‘teach-in was ‘held atthe Dietmen' s Club House ‘of the en House of Representatives. It included lectures by twelve intellectuals, scholars and commentators followed by question-and-answer: sessions.
Public interest in the sessions was heightened by simultaneous reports in the press.on the results of surveys.on radioactive fallout from the recent test of a Chinese atom bomb that included thermonuclear materials.
The tene. of the: discussion was “set! by! former Health and - .Wel—~.. fare Minister Hideji Kawasaki, who criticized the. Sato administra- .., tion for "going too far to the right" in handling relations with Communist China. The concensus was: that Japan shonld adopt a more flexibie: approach,» particularly on. the question of bringing Peking. into’ the United Nations and on exchanging ‘personnel with; China, .:
"Never before has such open criticism ‘of Sato! s ‘China policy been voiced at a public meeting," said Kenji Arai and, Bhusuke Negashina, in ‘an article: in the. May 16 Japan’ Times. pags
Former Health and Welfare Minister: Yoshi Furui declared at. the teach-in that Japan's China policy was "all too evasive and passive to the point of being irresponsible." He was particularly impatient with the argument advanced by.ultrarightists and militarists in the United States that China could be brought to its: knees Simply by exerting pressure. ie
+ Tokuma’ Utsuonmiya,':a prominent figure in the Afro-Asian Study Group, asked: "What would happen to Japam's security should the cur= rent U.S. confrontation with Communist China.as its -hypothetical enemy lead to an open clash?"
His answer was that the current Japan-U.S. "security treaty" could hardly serve as.an adequate guarantee for Japan.
Moreover, he argued, it would be well for Japan to take the initiative ‘in bringing Communist: China into the United Nations.
Most of the’ speakers sounded more sympathetic - to the People! s Republic 6f China than otherwise: ‘Only a few clung’ ‘to a stand of blind opposition. ; was
Takeo Takagi, an.editorial writer of the. Yomiuri Shimbun, maintained that the "two Chinas" question Ties at the root of the present confrontation between the U. Ss. and Communist China.
‘Assistant Professor»Kanji: ‘Seki ‘of Kokugakuin University heldthat Washington is overconfident; But the U.S. is not regarded as "a patrol car”: by. many countries. The “domino theory," he maintained, is "a fallacious hypothesis. "
“He urged that the Japanese ‘government should seek to convince the U.S. that it should abandon its extremely dangerous balance-ofpower strategy. This could:.be done through frequent debates between Japanese and American 1 spokesmen over policy with regard to China, ae he said. :
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