THE DRAGON'S SEED

Robert Elegant, Newsweek's correspondent to South East Asia, takes a long and incisive look on that area, and evaluates the situation there upon which so much of the modern world's destiny depends. A singularly vital spot, rich in resources and strategically located, its population is largely Chinese, who are subject to various appeals, the strangest of which comes from Communist China. The Chinese, with their long Imperial tradition and their intense feeling of nationalism, are peculiarly susceptible to the Communist bait, and Robert Elegant cites many instances in which fundamentally anti-Communist Chinese, businessmen, liberal journalists, etc., accept with resignation their subservient role to that force which so effectively has marked the scene of modern China. Ultimately, the author concludes that it is futile for the United States to refuse to recognize the Communist government of China or to court the very small and equally tyrannical Chiang government. Rather, he advocates that we face facts as they are and, wherever possible, try to neutralize the effects of Mao's China by encouraging the Hua-chiao (Chinese living abroad) to a greater interest and loyalty in their local governments. A thorough and realistic analysis which should be of interest to the serious student of foreign affairs.