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About Herald and news. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1942-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 1960)
Lj. i 'hill Russia's premier started his Chinese' comrades making H-bombs; only too late, says this noted military analyst, did he realize that the U.S.S.R. might be their target some day by GEORGE FIELDING ELIOT ccompamea By Lh.nese leader Mao Tse-tung, Khrushchev inspects honor guard on Peiping visit. Whatt KHRUSHCHEV Fears When Russia's Premier Nikita Khrushchev was touring our country singing the praises of peace, few Americans believed he had come here to do us any good. He seemed anxious to quiet war talk all right, but most of us suspected he was only trying to win a breathing spell to deal with other worries. One of these worries was and is Red China. It gives Khrushchev nightmares to think about the not-too-distnnt day when his Communist comrades in Peiping will have a mod est stockpile of H-bombs. Khrush chev has already discovered for himself that the H-bomb is an ideal weapon for Communist blackmail and extortion. The Chinese Communists may find it even more attractive for such pur poses, since they can't be hurt by it nearly as much as they can hurt a rich neighbor. And their nearest and richest neighbor is the U.S.S.R. a neighbor from whom Peiping can ex tort far fatter payoffs than from any one else. The Communist bosses of the U.S.S.R., starting back in Stalin's time, have set themselves up for what could be a nasty fall. They deliber ately located new industrial centers "Pittsburghs" like Novosibirsk and Stalinsk in Siberia and Central Asia. Included are most of the key centers of their nuclear production, their missile and space programs. All these were stowed away deep in the heart of the Asian continent to make them hard to reach for American planes and missiles operating from Western Europe, from North Amer ica across the polar ice, or from float ing bases at sea. But look at the map and you'll see that in backing away from possible U.' S. attack, the Soviet planners backed right up against the Chinese frontier within easy reach of even medium-range missiles fired from Chinese launching pads. The best way to deal with a nuclear blackmailer is to keep him convinced that he can't attack you without be ing destroyed himself. That's how America has to deal with Rus sia, as I pointed out in a recent issue of FAMILY WEEKLY. But Russia can't rely on nuclear counterthreats against Red Chinese blackmail. The U.S.S.R. is much more vulnerable to H-bombs than China because it has so many attractive targets. If the heavy industrial concentra tions in Soviet Asia were wiped out, the Soviet economy might never re cover. As yet, Red China has only a few industrial concentrations. Most concentrated targets in China are cities full of people. China has plenty of people 3 Ms times as many as the Soviet Union, 650 million against 200 million. Not long ago, Chinese stu dents told a foreign visitor with laughter that even if the entire So viet H-bomb stockpile were expended against China's cities, there still would be 300 million Chinese alive. It's ironic that the Soviet leaders including Khrushchev have done so much to help the Chinese qualify for membership in the H-bomb club. China's two big nuclear reactors, sup posed to produce power for Chinese industry. Those plants are now train ing nuclear scientists to work on weapons research. The uranium mines in North China and Sinkiang were discovered by Soviet engineers, and the ore is being extracted by a joint Soviet-Chinese stock company with the Soviets putting up most of the cash, and the Chinese taking most of the ore. Khrushchev's intel ligence analysts must be able to fore cast with painful accuracy just when Peiping will be ready to explode its first test shot. Meanwhile, Khrushchev is beino squeezed by relentless Chinese pres sure for more and more Soviet eco nomic aid. The Reds in Peiping are in a hurry. They're in desperate need of a solid industrial base for their revolution and, meantime, there are 650 million mouths to be fed. Two years ago, Chinese boss Mao Tse tung went to Moscow to pay his re spects to the 40th anniversary of the Russian revolution. When Khrush chev went to Peiping, right after his recent visit to America, the occasion was the 10th anniversary of the Chi nese revolution. Those 30-odd years make all the difference. Chinese Red leaden must continue driving their people under the lash of terror for a long time. Russian leaders have reached the point where they have to depend on leadership ana persuasion rather than terror. To build their industrial base, they had to educate a whole generation of scientists, engineers, teachers, and technicians. This generation of Rus sians can neither be lied to nor ter rorized as easily as the last one. Also, thev know whnt mu.U. u' , . . . ..-wvai wai wuuia be like, and they're afraid of it. Khrushchev is far from ready to risk it, either, so he's compelled to go through the motions of cooling off war tensions and reducing the non nuclear parts of his arms budget. He really does need that breathing spell to let his people have a chance to appreciate the "great blessings" of Communism. But Peipirig's men-in-a-hurry need the specter of a foreign foe to keep their grip on their people. For Khrushchev to start buddying up with the "bloody American imperial ists" is embarrassing indeed. There's been no relaxation in the eternal scream of "Hate America" over the Chinese radio. No American tourists stroll the sidewalks of Chinese cities as they do in Moscow and Leningrad. Between America and China, there's no exchange of fairs, exhibits, agri cultural missions, or ballet troupes. American military prisoners still eat their hearts out in Chinese dungeons. it's significant that the men in the I Kremlin who still admire Stalin and distrust some of Khrushchev's "prac tical politics" are maintaining close relations with the Chinese Reds. Mikhail A. Suslov, who has Stalin's old job as Party secretary, is a leader of this group. Khrushchev is no all powerful dictator like Stalin; he has to consult, to make concessions. So he has to go on giving the Chinese ileus a certain amount of help. But he can't meet their insatiable de mands without loading up his own people with fresh economic burdens just as he's trying to ease, for a time, some of the heavy arms load they've carried so long. This is problem enough, but some of Khrushchev's military advisers surely are asking him what hap pens 20 years from now when there 10 Family Weekly. January 3t. 19$Q r China's first atomic plant was built with Russian oid, a gift which some day may boomerang. Most-IKED CHDNA will be a billion land-hungry Chinese ready to spill over from crowded China into the underpopulated farm lands of Soviet Asia. Backed by a strong industry and armed with nu clear weapons, such a China would be a far more dangerous threat to the Soviet Union than America is now, or will be then. We want nothing Russia has; we just want to make sure Russia doesn't attack us or our friends. An armed and land-hungry China would be a very different kind of enemy. Khrushchev perhaps may feel a temptation to take preventive meas ures while he has the chance. The grim infantry marshals who still boss the Soviet armed forces (Malinovsky, Konev, Sokolovsky, Grechko) may think of pushing out to occupy "buf fer areas" in the East as they already have done in the West. This would be the army's chance to reconsolidate its dominance of Soviet military af fairs against the encroachments of the space scientists and missile wizards. The missilemen, for their part, may suggest that just a few of their "birds," if used while the Chinese nuclear pro gram is still in the developmental stage, could strangle that dangerous infant in its cradle. Either of these meas ures would, however, bring into the open the spectacle of the great Com munist world revolution liquidating itself as an ideological force. To a con vinced and dedicated Communist like Khrushchev, such a spectacle must appear utterly repulsive. Chances are, then, that Khrushchev will stall for time while he seeks some other solution. Probably both Pei ping and Moscow will go along for a while paying lip service to each other and patching up differences. Such immediate advantage as we derive from their differences may take the form of slowly increasing confidence in democracy as the stabilizing force of the future on the part of free Asia. President Eisenhower's recent vis its to India, Pakistan, and other Asian lands were well-timed to help this confidence jell. Novosibirsk, Russian industrial city in Siberia, is potential target in war between Reds. Hill mil in i IM'uhh I 'flllltlltt et ill i j fi After your bath satinize every inch of skin 771 V fiilfeej 'f 'tssrfl No scratching or scraping with the Double Duty Tooth Brush yet it polishes teeth brighter Often before you're even aware of it hard-bristled tooth brushes scratch and damage your gums. Soft brushes have their drawbacks, too they can't polish teeth really bright. Only the new Pro Double Duty gives you "hard-brush" cleansing and gentle, safe gum massage in one! All nylon bristles, or nylon and natural. Child's size, too. Get a Double Duty for everyone in your family. THI INSIDI STORY is firm blue bristles that clean teeth better . polish brighter! A! I ilUV THC OUTSIDK STORY is genue wtiite ensues that massage your gums safely, automatically as you brush.