Edward Hunter

Red China must never be treated as

a normal part of the world

IFpeople
we sET OU*deliberately to make
in communist-terrorized
hot war is hammering into the
heads of its captive peoples. That
countries abandon any hope of re- is the line for today. The line yes-
sistance, we couldn’t improve on terday was that Mao Tse-tung was
what we’ve been doing. an agrarian reformer, and we were
This might not be how it looks very much exaggerating the men-
to an American or an Englishman ace, that we were becoming hys-
back home, but it is how it must terical.
appear to a hapless resident of Red Today, especially with brain-
China. washing purge following brain-
Imagine what must be going washing purge in Red China--in-
through the mind of a Chinese stu- terrupted only by the alxvays suc-
dent or professor, government em- cessful campaign of softness to
ploye or technician, when he sees coax the anti-communists to dis-
glib-speaking, fun-seeking Amero close themselves--and after the
~cans, Britons and other Free hoax of communist support by the
World citizens visiting his coun- masses had been tragically exposed
try, traveling through it on tourist in Hungary, a new line is needed.
or trade missions, making them- The red hierarchy can no longer
selves at home, just as if it were pose as the representative of the
home, just as if Red China were a people. It can only deprive the
normal part of the world. people of all hope of ridding them-
That is exactly the message that selves of the red incubus. That is
the whole communist propaganda the new obiective.
machine at this stage in the cold- In one form or another, every
117
118 THE: AMERICAN MERCUI~Y

statement and every action by the as true today as then. Only now it
Peking regime, through its dele- has become more patent.
gates such as Mao and Chou En- We should have known all this
lai, hammers home this one theme: by now, for we have been pre-
"Be wise to yourself, stop hitting sented by the reds witlh instance
your head against a stone wall, after instance. If I ~vere asked to
we’re here to stay and no other al- present a single incident that most
ternative is open to you except to graphically would mark the transi-
turn to us and get on the band- tion from default to betrayal, al-
wagon; the people you depend though it has actually been a grad-
upon to help you free yourselves ual process, I would select one that
have betrayed you! Look at them took place while I was in Asia
for yourselves, if you don’t believe gathering material for the book,
us. See how they run and squirm "Brainwashing: The Story of Men
for a measly sales contract. See how WhoDefied It."
they dance and sing to our tune. Heads of the British Labor
Abandon all hope, ye who have Party, the top layer that would
still clung to a little hope of help assume power if the Conservatives
from abroad, especially America. were defeated, made a tour of Red
They’re busy betraying you." China in 1954. Former Prime Min-
ister Attlee was there, and his
Of communist
T HE SURVIVAL tousled rival, Aneurin Bevan. They
China, or any Red nation, at xvere having a free junket and
this time of ferment within, de- most of them had juicy newspaper,
pends on the success of this psy- magazine, book and lecture con-
chological warfare drive. It’s a red tracts in their pockets.
campaign, but as has happened so Typical of their approach was
often in the past, the communists their visit to the so-called Model
are succeeding in making it a Free Reform Prison in Peking. "Re-
World campaign as well. form" is Orwellian Ne~vspeak lan-
Co-existence, under that name, guage for brainwashing. Brain-
and under a score of semantic syn- washing and experiments: in brain-
onyms, has been--along with changing took place there under
"unity", one of the oldest tricks in Russian guidance with a captive,
the red bag--brought forth anew international population. A num-
each time its past use has been al- ber of American men an,:l women,
lowed to slip from minds. So it is British subjects and many heroic
again. The lesson I learned years Chinese had been resisting for any-
ago, that communismis essentially where from one to three years in
weak, and can only survive with that hell of mental and physical
the help of its enemies, certainly is torture along Pavlovian lines.
 BETRAYAL IN ASIA 119
The British Embassy xvell knew washed victims ever to leave red
who was there, and I was reliably cells. Malcolm Bersohn, Harriet
informed that the British delega- Mills, and perhaps the most dra-
tion knew, too. Yet its foremost matic example ever presented of
members, Attlee and Bevan in- the obviously brainwashed, Austin
cluded, acceded to the scandalous and Adele Rickett, were shortly
demands of their conniving hosts, thereafter handed back to the Free
and agreed to walk through the World as adequately "cleansed."
corridors, but not to see or speak The visit to that brainwashing
to the inmates. institution under those circum-
In every institution in Red stances by persons of power from
China, the so-called "little group" London was possibly the lowest
and "discussion" meeting, as it was depth to xvhich representatives of
in the POWcamps in northern the Free World had yet descended
Korea, is the main overt channel in their betrayal of the principles
for the destruction and capture of which they themselves proclaimed.
minds. So-called topical subjects No pug in a ring ever struck a
are taken up, as handed down by meaner blow below the belt. That
the brainwashers, and "discussed" despicable junket was the symbol
within the controlled, Marxist- of betrayal. Instead of it being re-
Pavlovian franaework. So it was in membered as a horrible example
that "reform" institution in the to avoid, it has set the precedent.
days following this disgraceful I have rarely heard more
visit. bunkum poured out than in the
frenzied competition of American
T H~ ~VVECTof seeing such no- publishers and correspondents to
tables callously make an es- get a "scoop" by being allowed to
corted tour of their brainwashing accept Chou En-lai’s contrived
prison, ignoring the poor patients tours of the red Chinese mainland.
on whomthe treatment was being Significant of our blind, irresponsi-
inflicted, was the culminating piece ble attitude is the form that con-
of persuasion to give up all hope of troversy took. Not a sentence was
help from the outside; that they uttered to suggest--it entered no-
were being betrayed by those body’s head--that this was not
whomthey had trusted, and that merely something of consequence
their only escape lay in the arms of to ourselves, in the effect it would
the now smooth-talking commu- have on the Free World, but a
nists. decisive point in the brainwashing
Of course this was the decisive of the Chinese people, fitting neatly
mental blow, and it was followed into the dual line of "there’s no
by the most harrowing set of brain- hope, you’re being betrayed."
 120 THE A~X~ERICAN ~IE~cU:BY

trade barriers conference as proof that the xvhole

O with the
UR RELAXATION
Of
red Chinese is an- Asian and African ~vorlds had ac-
other example of contemptible be- cepted the communist regime as
trayal for which we shall pay very here to stay in China, and that
dearly one of these days, unless ~ve there could be no hope from that
are luckier than we deserve. Trade quarter. That was Nehru’s role,
with the Red nations can only be which he performed to the height
understood from the same ap- of his infinite capacity for circumlo-
proach. Zach Dean, an American cution and hypocrisy. Red China
Air Force captain, kno~vs it well was a settled, civilized rnember of
from personal experience when a world society, accepted as such by
prisoner of the Reds. "The Reds an enthusiastic populace, was the
brought you to the point of death constantly reiterated theme of
and then they revived you," Zach India’s Prime Minister, dinned into
told me. "Then again they brought the heads of the Chinese people.
you to death’s door, and xvhen The ultimate step in this betrayal
you were about to enter, they is now being subtly promoted,
pulled you back." the recognition of Red China by
After they did that a couple of the United Nations and the United
times, "you were thankful to them States. The American public is
for saving your life and forgot dead set against this. The Ameri-
that they were the ones who had can Congress in an unprecedented
almost killed you." series of votes has expressed itself
That, in capsule form, is the the same way. But powerful ele-
whole red strategy. They are in ments in government and press
trouble now with their people, so have accepted this as merely a situ-
by providing the oppressors with ation to be altered by the clandestine
the crust of bread with which to processes of psychological warfare
stave off revolutionary disaster, we ¯ developed in World War II, and
enable them to earn the gratitude now being used against the Ameri-
of their downtrodden population. can people.
That is the role this trade plays in A condition equivalent to rec-
their economy. ognition in everything except
Only by understanding this re- the formal announcement of it is
vised line can such developments being minutely created, looking
as the Bandung conference of forward to the day when the argu-
Asian-African countries fall into ment will be, "Whatdifference does
their proper place in the commu- it make? In effect, we are already
nist scheme of things. The whole recognizing Red China." That day
emphasis by Peking in its domestic maynot be far off, and it is being
propaganda was to present this advanced knowingly, as a tactic by
 BETI~YAL
the same elements that nearly per-
suaded the United States to shift
its recognition during World War
II from Peking to Yenan, which
succeeded then in. presenting the
Chinese Communists as a sort of
Chinese NewDeal, not at all com-
munist, and who are now talking
anti-communism where it doesn’t
really hurt the Reds, but continu-
ing to boycott information that
would truthfully disclose such
techniques as brainwashing and
especially howthey can be beaten.
They are softening up America on
the one side by trying to make it
appear that recognition of such an
outlaw government would not be
contrary to American historic pol-
icy, while simultaneously building
it up as a ]ait accompli.
Indeed, although the American
correspondents were unable to
make their much touted group
trip into the Chinese mainland, at
least for the time being, the pres-
entation of China news in these
papers could only soften up their
readers into acceptance of Peking
in the family of nations. The radio
has taken a shocking.role in this
campaign. Basic facts unpalatable
to the communists are hushed up,
as subjective and therefore biased,
but what is favorable to them is
presented as merely being objec-
tive. That is how neutralism works
out, and neutralism is the policy of
the main organs of communication
in America. The dice are loaded.
When such outright twisting of
IN ASIA 121
the truth is impossible, silence is
resorted to.
Bookshelves that used to be
loaded with pro-Red China liter-
ature have had these books in most
cases taken from the lists. But, in
adcordance with the new line, they
have not been replaced by books
telling the truth about Red China.
The gaps in the shelves are now
empty. The reader who wants to
find out what is happening in Red
China still cannot do so in the
USIS libraries, for example, as I
saw in my recent trip in Europe
and Asia. Previously, they were
fed pro-Mao pap. Now they are
deprived of anything at all in most
cases, sometimes allowed some neu-
tralist pap, so their minds remain
open to the pro-red drivel they
hear elsewhere. WhenI asked for
some books on China in the
USIS library in London, for in-
stance, ~vhere some years ago I
found the shelf loaded with pro-
red books, a librarian in clipped,
British accent, said to me, "This is
an American, not a Chinese li-
brary!" That is downright betrayal.
THAT, as well, is why Americans
are presented with the contin-
uing phenomenon of increasing
hate against us by people abroad
who to all intents and purposes
should be our friends.
People can fight an enemy, but
when they find they have to fight
their friends, too, they break and
give up. But, in the doing, they
 122 THE A_~IERICANMERCURY
transfer all their frustration and is concerned, it appeared to the
desperation, turned to hate, against Asian--I was in Asia at the timem
the friend who has let them down. from only one perspective. The
That is the basic fact of life in the Asian, of course, saw this from the
morale warfare around the world inside looking out. What he saw
today. was a pathetic individual, the Hun-
garian people, set upon by an
OTHERWISE, there could be no lit-
tle items, scattered on inside
armed thug, Moscow, and Uncle
Sam hastily sending out a cup of
pages in a few newspapers here and tea to the victim of the assault.
there, usually not even published, This reaction looked from Asia
like the Reuters dispatch of mid- like cold-bloodedbetrayal.
September from Vienna, revealing How else could it look to the
that Miklos Szabo, one of the reader of this article if he put him-
founders of the Hungarian Revo- self in the place of one of these
lutionary Council, was returning Asian observers? How else could
to Hungary. He did so, he said, all these various co-existence de-
because he had "reached the con- velopments look?
clusion that the Western powers Betrayal today; tomorrow, xve
have betrayed and sold us." pay--unless we change over fast,
So far as the Free World’s atti- and base our procedures on sim-
tude during the Hungarian revolt ple decency.
The American Mercury will send a /tee copy of Mr. Hunte;,"s valuable
book , Brainwashing: The Story of MenWhoDefied It, to any Mercury reader
who sends in promptly a two-year or three-year new or renewal subscription
at the regular price. Hurry, available copies/or your library are limited.

Unexpected
An elderly man, on trial for non-support of his wife, was told by the
ludge "as he had failed to take care of his good wife, I am granting her
$50.00 per month."
Replied the man,"Howkind of you Judge. I’ll try to give her a few dollars
now and then, too." ~EMMAPOTTINGER

A womanbounced into an art gallery and made a superficial tour of the

exhibits.
"Are these the masterpieces I have heard so muchabout?" she asked, with
a scornful tone of voice. "I don’t see anythingin them."
Quietly, the curator said, "Madam,don’t you wish you could?"
mM~s.Pa~:t. GOOOYEAR
 ~ ~~~~~~~~

i Do You Know ?
~~~~~~~~

I~ The Puerto Rican influx, politically used, population of NewYork

City has doubled during the past seven years. Old residents are moving
out,

I~ In our November,1956, issue, we had an important article--"The War

~. Against Our National Guard." "Captive" Ike is fronting for those now
warring on our great State Militiamen.
I~ WhenNapoleonwas shownthe compotmdinterest table, he said that
anyonewhodeals in it should be hanged.
I~ The "brotherhood"racket serves to veer Christians from their moor-
ings of sound doctrine and sets themadrift in a sea of "planned" con-
fusion. There are no unbelievers, no repudiators of Christ in the true
Christian brotherhood.
I~ The SupremeCourt decision was made under UNideologies which
often seemto control Federal acts in Washington.But the UNhasn’t yet
gained authority over our States. TheStates existed before the Federal
Government.The States can refuse to support tyrants. The Declaration
of Independencecan be as applicable against a waywardFederal Govern-
¯ menttoday as it was against KingGeorgeof England.
~" Money
is the life bloodof the international conspiracy.
~" Christ talked of Loveand Charity. The Babylonianmoneygroup talks
of Power,Fortune, Success and Fame.
~" The leaders of RedRussia are afraid of ~vhat their people will do to
them. Only whenthe Armygoes on active maneuvers are the soldiers
allowedseven roundsof live ammunition.
I~ Last year the expenditure for each man, womanand child in America
for alcoholic beverage was $60. (This represents more than the per
capita incomeof one-fourth the inhabitants of the earth.")
123
124 TItE AMERICANMERCUI~Y

I~ Damascus, the capital of Syria, is about as far fromBeirut, capital of

Lebanon, as Trenton, N. J., is from NewYork. Lebanon, largely a
Christian country surrounded by Moslems,isn’t muchbigger than Dela-
ware. Israel is the samesize as Massachusetts.Amman, capital of Jordan,
is muchcloser to Tel Aviv, Israel, than NewYorkis to Boston.
~" The average womanhas a smaller stock of words than the average
man,but the turnoveris greater.
I~The Guaranty Trust Survey of September pointed out that output
per manhour had risen 33.6~ from 1948 to 1956, while hourly wages
.hadrisen 46.70/0
l~The 27~%depletion alloxvance ~vas wisely created to encourage
domesticproduction of oil and gas. It was never intended to be used by
companies in foreign operations. Last year ARAMCO kept tax-free
$149,000,000 and Creole Petroleum Companykept tax-free $260,000,000.

"A Stitch in Time Saves--"

In this case a stitch in time may save forty-eight---our forty-eight states
from the minority who are trying to subvert :ill that our Republic stands
for and against. As we go into a new year, it’s time to take stock of our
blessings as well as our dangers. Welive in the most ~vonderful country
on earth, yet very few of us sit downand think about how~ve can preserve
what we have, in trust, inherited. Nowis the time for Americans to be
well informed and ready to take on the duties as well as the privileges of
being a citizen. Onewayyou can help is to provide friends with more facts.
We,therefore, are makinga special offer of our Constitution issue as a sam-
pie of the American Mercury’s facts and analyses which Mercury readers
obtain each month.
After reading "The Attacks on Our Constitution" by Dan Daniels, Past
Commanderof the American Legion, "The Real Purpose of Our Constitu-
tion" by Judge Edgar F. Smith, "To All NewCitizens" by Judge Clyde S.
Schumaker and "The American Ideal" by J. Edgar Hoover, we are sure your
friends will have a ,aew determination to safeguard our Republic. Wewill
mail copies to your friends.
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