A New Disarmament Approach
The reaction of the Soviet delegate to the proposals put forward in the Disarmament Commission by the British delegate, Sir Gladwyn Jebb, last week is characteristic, except that Mr. Malik does not reject the proposals out of hand, as he so frequently has similar proposals in the past. It was wise to make a new approach to the problem. The suggestion repeatedly put forward by the Russians that all armaments should be reduced on a pro rata basis is plainly unacceptabie. and can never be anything else, for its acceptance would simply mean stereotyping the complete predominance Russia has achieved by abstaining from reducing her armaments after the war when other countries reduced theirs. The new British plan, which rests on a numerical basis, providing that Russia, China and the United States should maintain armed forces of between 1,500,000 and 1,000,000 each, and Britain and France forces of between 900,000 and 800,000 each, was no doubt not intended to be final; figures can always be discussed reason- ably. But Mr. Malik has at once raised the question of what is meant by China—Peking or Formosa. No serious com- plaint can be made of that. The question is superficially relevant, and in many settings it would be actually relevant. But in this particular setting it is not. The proposal is that Chinese forces should be limited to the same total as Russian and American, whatever administration is in power in China. That .was put clearly by Sir Gladwyn Jebb. Russian accep- tance. or rejection of his explanation will indicate clearly the sincerity of her professed zeal for disarmament.
Previous page
