Powder Keg

Last week the long-smoldering quarrel between Kuomintang and Communist Governments blew up in a shower of sparks. From the Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Chou En-lai came an ugly cry: "There is danger of civil war." In Chungking, Information Minister Liang Han-chao snapped back: "There is no danger of civil war."

After five years of armed truce, blockade and counter-blockade, the Kuomintang and Communist Governments last May began haggling over unity terms. Chungking offered to recognize the Communists as a legal party but demanded that they acknowledge Kuomintang suzerainty. Yenan (Communist capital) countered with sweeping proposals for national economic and political reform.

Negotiations continue, but, said a Chungking spokesman: "It is like a Hottentot talking to an Eskimo."

Meanwhile reports persisted that Chungking was shaky. A crisis, or a political reorientation, might be approaching. What role would astute Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek play? What would the Chinese Communists do?

These questions might be answered in the next few weeks or months. For the present, observers noted the curious fact that Chungking's tight censorship last week permitted the filing of a report that Communist China has grown impressively (see below).

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