The United States and the Far East

Abstract

After its failure to penetrate western Europe after World War II, communism looked to the East. Like other developing areas, the countries of the Far East have many and diverse needs. Capital investment is essential; their economies are so poor that it is difficult for them to save. One advantage the Communists have is that they can enforce savings by keeping down consumption and using capital for industrial development. At the same time, Asians demand a better and fuller life. The task for the United States and the West is to show that our system of freedom not only provides for human dignity but also for food, housing, education, and other fruits of the twentieth century. Motivated, perhaps, by their own failures compared with the successes of the free coun tries in the Far East, the Communists have been on the march, especially in Southeast Asia. The United States can do much to assist freedom and prosperity in the Far East through liberal trade policies and by helping the people of the free countries to resist Communist aggression and, at the same time, to improve their living conditions. The Communist force is a reactionary one, denying the right of independence of thought, the dignity of the individual, values men have considered worth struggling for through the generations. The United States does not in tend to leave an open road for despotism. In this dangerous and exciting period, the American people must develop stamina to stay with the struggle as long as necessary to achieve the objectives of freedom throughout the world.—Ed.