Gloom & Foreboding

The blows fell on Formosa, and on Chinese Nationalists everywhere, like hammer strokes. First there were the fall of Yikiang and the obvious threat to the Tachens, then the Dulles statement that the Tachens were not of strategic value and would not be protected by the U.S., then talk of a ceasefire, and the inference --quickly drawn by Asians--that Washington was headed toward neutralization of Formosa.

The reaction among the Nationalists was one of gloomy foreboding, frustration, resentment. Said a Taipei lawyer: "When are people going to realize that appeasement of the Communists does not pay?" A broadcasting official: "I feel numb when I think of what is happening." A merchant in Hong Kong: "I just can't wait to see the day America will be 'liberated' by the Communists. They haven't been hit hard enough to see what's coming for everybody." Formosa's new troubles lent added weight to a psychological campaign which the Reds have been waging against the Nationalists for months. The weapon: broadcasts by individuals on the Red ; mainland to individuals on Formosa, urging them to desert. General Huang Chi-chang, ex-Nationalist general who defected to Peking, addressed eight of his former colleagues by name in a recent broadcast: "Do you want to be America's slave, or do you want to be a great man? Do you want to follow Chiang to the death? [Formosa] is going to be liberated. Chiang can flee to South America, but where will you be? World war will not come. The Americans cannot protect you. So have courage. Get in touch with us. We will wait to the last minute. Please come ..." Up to last week, Nationalist leaders professed to be amused by these appeals, although they were more concerned about the effect among Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's armed forces (some of whom have received individual messages), and security measures were tightened. Now the Chinese Nationalists fear that, if the impression of U.S. feebleness and indecision spreads in Asia, the Red siren calls will be so much the stronger--and will fail on ever more receptive ears.

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