Explosions of Opinion

New Zealand Listener, Volume 31, Issue 786, 13 August 1954, Page 4

Explosions of Opinion

T is interesting, though a little alarming, to watch the evolution of an international quarrel. An incident is reported, is discussed in editorials, becomes the subject of an interchange of notes by diplomats, is mentioned in Parliaments; and a sort of chain reaction is set off which leaves world opinion in a highly explosive condition. The most depressing feature of all such affairs is the recklessness with which summary judgments are made in public places. It has seldom been ‘revealed more plainly than in the case of the British airliner which was shot down by Chinese fighters near the island of Hainan. The event itself was a tragedy oppressive to think about. British and American people were shocked by the story of that unarmed plane and of its pilot’s vain and heroic effort to shake off the pursuers. And they were stirred to anger. At this point it seemed unfortunate that overseas newspapers

felt obliged to give an immediate lead to public opinion. If comment were thought to be necessary while the news was hot, it should have been influenced by some obvious considerations. The bare facts, as cabled from Hong Kong, were bad enough; but they were used to support allegations which went far beyond the event, and which should not have been even hinted until full official statements had come from both sides. As it happened, the Chinese People’s Government gave its explanation with welcome promptness. Moreover, in accepting responsibility for the tragedy, and in promising to take "appropriate ‘measures," the Chinese behaved very differently from Communist spokesmen in similar circum- | stances elsewhere. Yet so quick and sharp was the reaction of the British and American Press that | editorial comments were cabled -|to New Zealand with reports of '|China’s apology. They did not make pretty reading. As usual, the violence of opinion increased with the size of the cir-

culation. Millions of people in the United Kingdom, already shocked and angry, had their feelings roused still further by highly emotional phrases. It is true that some newspapers could not believe that the action was sanctioned by Peking; but this did not stop them from speaking as if an entire nation-the largest on earthshared the guilt of two triggerhappy airmen. "How much confidence," asked the Daily Express, "can there be in a truce that is so quickly followed by treachery?" The Daily Sketch went further, saying that the public would not criticise a step "calculated to teach the Reds a powerful lesson." In the United States, where the reaction was even sharper, the tragedy was used as an excuse for questioning the value of the IndoChinese settlement. Not surprisingly, the attitude of both sides became stiffer, and further incidents occurred which prolonged the tension.

If issues of war and peace are to be shaped by mass emotion, deliberately stimulated, the negotiations of men like Mr. Anthony Eden cannot have any lasting success. It is a natural impulse to hit back at an aggressor, to be angry at the mere rumour of barbarism; but people who interpret the news are trained to look closely at the facts -at all the facts- before they publish an opinion, and nowadays they are doing this less frequently. The instrument that is played upon by the use of words is very powerful. Human passions are easily aroused, and every time the public is pricked into hatred it becomes harder for reasonable argument to be heard and understood. Explosions of opinion make an emotional climate in which a single tragedy -terrible enough while it stands alone-can become the beginning of a catastrophe. Every person who writes on foreign affairs should have before him a photograph of the mushroom cloud over Bikini. And he should look at it long and hard before a word is written. .