The official China News Agency and the Chinese Communist Party both recently accused the United States of starting the Korean War in 1950 “as part of an American plan to invade China.” This lie makes even Hitler’s big lies shrink by comparison.
It is a matter of historical record that the Korean War was started on June 25, 1950 when the North Korean Communists launched a general attack on South Korea. The 38th parallel dividing line was crossed that day by 60,000 North Korean troops, spear headed by some 100 Soviet-built tanks.
Two days later, on June 27, the United Nations Security Council took action against this unprovoked aggression, demanded that the invaders withdraw to the 38th parallel, and called on UN members to help carry out that order.
The North Korean aggressors, however, continued to attack. They took the capital of South Korea, Seoul, on June 29. U.S. ground forces entered Korea on June 30. Within a short time the North Korean aggressors had the UN and American forces trapped at the southernmost tip of Korea at Pusan. Only the brilliant strategy of General MacArthur’s Inchon Landing saved our troops from being destroyed.
When the UN forces under General MacArthur had driven the North Korean Communists out of South Korea, the Chinese Communists attacked with hundreds of thousands of troops. The UN General Assembly on February 1, 1951 officially branded Red China as the aggressor in Korea.
By June of 1951, the Chinese armies in Korea were in deep trouble. They had a poor supply system, poor sanitation, and no anti-biotics. So many Chinese soldiers became ill that Red China invented the phony “germ warfare” charge. Many Chinese soldiers died; many more surrendered.
In the opinion of General James Van Fleet, who had defeated the Communist invaders of Greece, total victory was at hand. However, President Truman settled for a stalemate truce which left the Communists in control of North Korea and a constant threat to South Korea.
President Ford is already running hard for reelection in 1976. Instead of devoting himself to the duties of the office of the Presidency, he seems to prefer traveling despite the im mense problems of security that this poses after the several attempts on his life. Perhaps some justification can be made for his speaking trips in this country in terms of American political custom, but there is no argument for his forthcoming trip to Red China.
American honor demands that President Ford preserve the dig nity of his office by postponing his 9,000-mile trip until the Red Chinese apologize for falsely accusing the United States of being the aggressor in Korea. The UN’s finest hour was when it went to the aid of South Korea and declared Red China to be the aggressor.
