Acheson Advocates Recognition, Seat in UN for Communist China

Dean Acheson last night advocated eventual termination of American support of the government of Chiang Kai-Shek and acceptance of the Red Chinese government in the United Nations. He said that "a possible loss of prestige accompanying this action should not inhibit a policy change if continuation of the policy is likely to involve an even greater loss."

The former Secretary of State made the statement in the last of a series of three William L. Clayton Lectures delivered at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts.

In a press conference before his first lecture, Acheson took the same stand on recognition of Red China and its admission to the United Nations. Last night he said that fixed positions of foreign policy determined by domestic political pressures, such as the China lobby, had too often forced America into inflexible and unrealistic positions.

Acheson, who had formerly defended the Truman Administration's policy of non-recognition, commented that America, which had once thought of China only in romantic terms, now saw it "as a more powerful and dangerous enemy than it really is."

In his third lecture, Acheson set down three rules on which to base our conduct towards our allies. Unifying loyalty and candid discussion as a precedent to common action, he said, are two essentials of a strong coalition. The third rule, he concluded, is never to join forces with the enemy of another ally. He charged that the Administration had broken all of these precepts in its conduct of the Suez crisis.

Acheson also stated that we must not allow "Nehru's and Krishna Menon's talent for annoyance" to blind us to the importance of India. Commenting that their most "trying statements" were for domestic consumption, he supported a plan of "capital assistance on a loan basis." He further suggested that in Asia generally we "use imports of food to help countries through the agricultural stage by freeing farmers for industrial work."

In our relations with France he said that we should be prepared to stand by as a "helpful friend" while France experiences the inevitable pain of "adjustment to loss of power" in Algeria. He sharply criticized as "naive" Sen. John Kennedy's proposal that the U.S. work through the U.N. to achieve Algerian independence.