FOREIGN RELATIONS: A Light for Free Asians

The surrender this week of Luis Taruc, leader of the Philippine Communist guerrillas (see FOREIGN NEWS), flared like a match in a darkened amphitheater. For the past month anti-Communist forces in Asia had suffered defeat—defeat that culminated in, but has not necessarily ended at, Dienbienphu. In the gloom of Geneva, Britain, France and the U.S. have groped for a settlement with the Communists in Indo-China and Korea, and in their groping made the Communist position stronger. Taruc's personal surrender was a desperately needed light.

To would-be free governments in Asia the surrender said: the President of the Philippines, Ramon Magsaysay, knew there could be no freedom in his country until the Communists were defeated. He was not dissuaded or sidetracked by taunts that he was a U.S. puppet or a victim of colonialism. He fought with all the arms he could get—from the U.S. or anywhere else, and with a wise program of social and economic reform. Magsaysay won because he fought. He was not enchanted when the Reds pulled their standard ruse of asking for negotiation and coalition when they got in trouble. He made a personal—but no political—deal with Taruc. And Taruc, his forces beaten and scattered, gave himself up.

The compelling task for Geneva's Big Three diplomats, and for Paris, London and Washington, is to prove a determination to resist. Then they will prove to free Asians what Magsaysay's unrelenting determination long ago proved to Filipinos—that Communism can be beaten in Asia. With that guarantee, the free Asians can fight and act confidently in the name of nationalism and independence.