Heartening Signs in Malaya
There is ground for some optimism regarding Malaya. In the past fortnight there have been more instances of terrorist leaders being, killed or surrendering. During his recent visit to this country the High Commissioner, General Templer, referred to earlier instances of the same sort as " a heartening sign," but he also warned that there was " no speedy solution " in sight, although he was confident of the ultimate outcome of the struggle. It seems fairly certain that these recent achievements represent a success for the' tactics which General Templer his resolutely pursued; they imply that there has been a real improvement in the security forces' intelligence services, and intelligence has always hitherto been the weakest link in the campaign against the terrorists. The improvement in intelli- gence can in turn only have been secured by a general improve- ment in the morale of the ordinary villager, and that this should have become evident in such a comparatively short time after his appointment is a considerable tribute to the personality and initiative of General Templer himself. It is reasonable to suppose that a rise in the morale of the law-abiding majority in Malaya must be balanced by a lowering in the morale of the terrorists, but too little is still known of their plans and organisation to make this more than conjecture. It may well be that the terrorists are passing through one of the pauses for recuperation and " self-criticism " which are a familiar feature of Communist movements. If this is the case, some new development may be expected before long. Some signs would seem to point to this being either the appearance of Chinese aid on more than a token scale, or an attempt by the Com- munist rebels in Burma and Siam to form a co-ordinated campaign with those in Malaya.
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