Recognition Of Red China

Rouses Communist Fears In French Polynesia

The French Government’s decision to recognise Red China roused fears in Tahiti in January of Communist infiltration among French Polynesia’s 8,000-odd Chinese.

AS a result, both the local govem \ menO and the Territorial As embly sent telegrams to Paris “pro isting” against the possible appoint lent of a Communist Chinese consul ri Tahiti.

The Territorial Assembly’s tele jam also urged the French Govern nent to make it easier for the erritory’s Chinese to become laturalised French citizens.

At present, the Chinese are treated is aliens even if they, their parents, heir grandparents, and even their jeat-grandparents were born in the erritory.

To become French citizens, the Chinese have to go through the same formalities and comply with the same renditions as all adult foreigners vishing to be naturalised. The main renditions are that the applicants >peak French, are of good character, md have resided continuously in a French territory for five years.

Although most of French Poly lesia’s Chinese meet these conditions, Fewer than 1,000 of them have be come French citizens—either because the formalities are too troublesome, they see no advantage in becoming French, or because they still look to China as home and hope to re turn there one day.

At Disadvantage

As a result, most of the Chinese are debarred from becoming land owners, from taking part in politics, and from holding government jobs.

However, despite these disadvantages and because of their industry, fru gality and clanishness —and the lack of these attributes among the Tahi tians—the Chinese have major con trol of French Polynesia’s wealth.

The move by the Territorial As sembly to make it easier for the Chinese to become French citizens followed a debate in the Assembly over several days on a proposal put forward by Mr. J. B. Ceran- Jerusalemy on January 22.

This proposal was that the As sembly should draw up a list, before January 30, of all Chinese who

wished to become French citizens and that it should ask the Govern ment in Paris to grant citizenship to them.

Allegiance

Mr. Ceran-Jerusalemy’s object in setting January 30 as a deadline was that General de Gaulle was expected to announce his Government’s recog nition of Red China on the following day. Thus, any Chinese who said they wanted to be naturalised by that date would show that their first alle giance was to France rather than to China.

Mr. Ceran-Jerusalemy said that French Polynesia’s Chinese were divided into three groups: Those sym pathetic to the Kuo-Min-Tang (anti communists); those in favour of Communism; and those who were pro-French, with no desire to main tain links with the homeland of their ancestors.

Mr. Ceran-Jerusalemy claimed that the Nationalist Chinese consul in Tahiti was virtually useless to the territory’s Chinese. He added that with the recognition of Red China, a Communist Chinese consul would probably be appointed to Tahiti, and that his presence and backing would make the local Chinese “more de manding than they were before”.

In debating Mr. Ceran-Jerusalemy’s proposal, the Assembly considered almost as many alternative proposals as it has members. Most members felt that it was time something posi tive was done to “assimilate” the Chinese and so solve the “Chinese problem”, but they could not agree on what to do.

Finallv. all but one of the As sembly’s 25 members voted in favour of a resolution calling on the French Government to make naturalisation conditions easier for the Chinese, but the resolution did not suggest how this should be done.

By a vote of 13 to nine, with three abstentions and one member absent, the Assembly rejected a proposal that the French law on naturalisation should apply in French Polynesia.

This law, which did apply in the

;rritory from 1930 to 1935, gives Dreigners born on French soil the ight to opt for French citizenship on caching their majority.

The Assembly was unanimous in oting on the text of a telegram to e sent to General de Gaulle.

The telegram stated that the Aswas concerned at the consc iences that could arise from the re ognition of Communist China, and it respectfully insisted” that diplomatic rrangements should be made to pre erve French Polynesia from Com munist infiltration.

Nationalist Consul The telegram added that the As embly recommended the easing of onditions for the naturalisation of he Chinese, and that this could be facilitated” by maintaining the Nationalist Chinese consul in Tahiti.

Commenting next day on the result >f the Assembly’s deliberations, Le ournal de Tahiti said: “The debate vill, without doubt, eventually be :onsidered a red letter day in the listory of Tahiti.

"The Chinese problem has been ackled, but not solved. . . There has >een progress towards assimilation, )ut the human problem remains and he political problem is latent.”