FORMOSA
Sttt,—Writing of Formosa in the Spectator of September 17, Strix says: ' . . . The only point I want to make is that anyone who tells you that the island is a vital link in the defences of the free world is talking through his hat.'
I wonder if he has read the editorial in the September 18 issue of the Saturday Evening
Post under the title ' If Reds get Formosa US will be in Peril.' In this we are reminded of the words of Generals Marshall, Bradley and MacArthur on the occasion of the hearing in May, 1951, on the dismissal of General MacArthur by President Truman. Marshall said that ' enemy control of Formosa would be a great danger to our position in the Western Pacific.' Bradley, then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, asserted ' it would seriously affect our line of defences if it [Formosa] fell into the hands of an unfriendly power.' MacArthur went further. Of the
effects of the loss of Formosa he said, The Philippines and Japan would be untenable. We practically lose the Patifics Ocean if we give up or lose Formosa." He thought the Chinese Communists would probably make Formosan bases available to the Russian sub- marine fleets and air fleets, and thereby eliminate Ameri- can airfields in both the Philippines and Japan. ' It just gives them the most strategic bastion at a point which would increase their striking capacity many many times.'
Even if other top US mili- tary leaders were more mode- rate in their estimates, they all agreed that Formosa was of vital importance to US de.. fences. Does Strix still hold that ' from a purely military point of view the situation in the Pacific would not be materially altered if they [the Chinese Communists] gained possession of Formosa' ?--• Yours faithfully.
[Strix writes: Yes.—Editor, Spectator.]
Previous page
