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MAO 'SEEKING UNITY
FROM DESTRUCTION'
NEW YORK, Wed
nesday (AAP-Reuter).
- The New York
Times suggested today
; that Mao Tse-tung
I might be seeking the
destruction of the
Crown Colony of
Hong Kong as a means
of reuniting his people
and alleviating the
convulsion caused by
the cultural revolution.
In an editorial headed
Showdown Over Hong
Kong, the newspaper
i said:
"The crucial questions
! about (he Hong Kong
i crisis must be these: Are
Peking's Communist lead
ers any longer capable of
rational behaviour? Is
China still a functioning
country?"
The New York Times
continued, "What is
Mao's game? Or- is Mao
really in charge, calling
the shots that not only
have provoked crisis with
Britain but strained rela
tions with Moscow almost
to the breaking point?
"When the demonstra
tions began, Western ex
perts believed Peking's
goal was to wrest from
the British as many as
nossible of the concessions
it had earlier extorted
from the Portuguese Gov
ernment of Macao.
"Now the question
must bo asked whether
'he Chinese objective is
iot the destruction of the
Crown Colony.
"An aging Mao might
see in this drastic act a
means of reuniting Chin
ese and alleviating the in
ternal convulsion caused
by the cultural revolu
tion".
The London Financial
Times said in an editorial:
"The Chinese Charge
d'AfTaires in London will
undoubtedly receive an
other dressing down for
the way his opposite
numbers have been
treated.
"But it is hard to see
what, apart from this,
Britain can do about the
incident.
"The Chinese have
shown that they no longer
respect normal diploma
tic conventions, and
there, presumably, the
matter will have to be
allowed to rest . .
Rogue
nation
The Daily Sketch said
in a leading article:
"Red China is the
rogue nation of the world
today. Wild, alone and"
dangerous. Now Chair
man Mao has got his
teeth into Britain".
It added that the
odds were that Peking
was bluffing - however
brutally.
"For the present, Brit
ain should nerve herself
to sit tight in Hong ?
Kong", the Sketch said.
The Daily Telegraph
said in an editorial that
Mao Tse-tung was un
likely to challenge
America and risk destruc
tion of his embryo nuc
lear strength, despite the
temptation of risking war
to re-unite his country.
The Daily Express said
that Britain's reaction
should be clear and
immediate.
"The British Govern
ment should demand an
immediate safe conduct
out of China for the en
tire British mission in
Peking", the newspaper
said.
"Until that is granted
the whole official Chin
ese community in Lon
don should be held".
The Liberal Paris
newspaper, Combat, de
scribed the burning of
the British mission' and
the molesting of British
citizens as "a form of
Nazi barbarism".
"China is charging
head down towards an
archy, war and disaster",
said Combat.
The Nationalist Chinese
Central Daily News hailed
Britain's determined atti
tude in ignoring Peking's
48-hour ultimatum.
"Instead of bowing
down to the Communist
threat, the British Gov
ernment gave a warning
to the Communist
Chinese Charge d'Affaires
in London that Peking
be responsible for the sec
urity and safety of all
British diplomats and
citizens in Red China,
and wisely continued to
take firm anti-Commun
ist measures in Hong
Kong", said the official
Taiwan newspaper.
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