Chapter 570 Results of the Kuala Lumpur Conference
The participating countries in this conference's plan to support the Asian economy and development are the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, India, Ceylon and Burma, New Zealand plus British Malaya, a total of seven countries plus the Malayan colony. Also
There are two countries that are not members of the Commonwealth, namely Portugal and the Netherlands, which have colonies in the region.
In fact, without any instructions from the Foreign Secretary, Alan Wilson knew clearly that the core was the British pound, and most of the participating countries were also Commonwealth countries.
In the following days, representatives from participating countries arrived one after another. After all, except for British Malaya, they were all former British colonies. This meeting had a strong Commonwealth flavor and was probably equivalent to a historical variant of the Colombo Plan.
After all, South and Southeast Asian countries have become independent, and the interests of each country are not consistent. Members of the British delegation arriving in Kuala Lumpur also understand that it will not be like the glorious era, where the British can say whatever they want, and must go through long-term discussions and compromises.
Even the relationship between Burma, India and Ceylon is enough to embarrass the host. For example, Britain and Burma have a defense agreement. However, what is particularly interesting is that most British officials believe that Burma is not crucial to British defense.
It's important.
Therefore, it is not appropriate to provide military aid to Myanmar, lest Yangon use it to suppress the Karen people who have long maintained friendly relations with Britain. Similarly, Britain is in financial difficulties and should prevent other countries with internal turmoil from following Myanmar's example and asking for help from Britain.
Alan Wilson came to Malaya on his own and always promised that he would not ask for a penny from the Ministry of Finance. He almost spent his own money to develop this place. Fortunately, he had achieved a little success by practicing reverse magic. Malaya was so vast and sparsely populated.
He stabilized the situation with a land distribution bill.
As for the source of funds, I bought stocks all by asking Pamela Mountbatten, and even went to Canberra to ask for Australia's support. Even he didn't dare to ask London for money, let alone Myanmar.
When Myanmar did not get what it wanted from London, it turned to the surrounding Commonwealth countries. Yangon approached Indian Prime Minister Nehru and proposed to sign a defense and economic agreement with India, Pakistan and Ceylon. But Nehru believed that because of Kashmir
Question, India-Pakistan relations are currently very tense. Moreover, it is impossible for Ceylon to participate in such an arrangement. From this perspective, it is temporarily difficult to implement Myanmar’s idea.
As for relations with the north, Myanmar and the Commonwealth countries in Asia have similar attitudes to the United Kingdom. They are in a swinging stage. After confirming that the United Kingdom has no intention of severing relations, Myanmar has taken the lead in establishing diplomatic relations.
Not only is this the case in Myanmar, independent Ceylon and India have also shown vacillation, just like the current Britain, facing different objects and saying different words.
The first day of the meeting was almost spent talking to oneself, and the ongoing war was even discussed.
"India opposes the United States' risky expansion of the Korean War. New Delhi and London agree on this. Prime Minister Nehru believes that the current military actions are dragging the entire world into war."
Listening to the righteous words of the Indians, Alan Wilson glanced at the representatives of other countries and reached out to scratch his scalp. If it was normal, he might not be able to help but connotate the famous and powerful country.
But on this matter, the current reactions of India and the UK are consistent, and the person who returned to London specifically to submit an analysis report was none other than Alan Wilson, so whether it was national interests or personal interests, he
None can object.
"Prime Minister Nehru's demeanor is very awe-inspiring." As soon as the Indians finished speaking, Alan Wilson applauded and agreed, "The world needs different voices. After independence, India has already had extensive international influence."
Since Nehru said it, it represents the attitude of the country of India, because Nehru is not only the Prime Minister of India, but also currently the Minister of Foreign Affairs of India. Nehru's words are India's foreign policy.
After the war broke out, India only approved of US intervention at the first United Nations General Assembly, and then continued to oppose it. Now in the eyes of Washington, Nehru is an out-and-out pro-Soviet element.
Although at the meeting, Alan Wilson, as the local chief executive of Malaya, once again found the feeling of being in British India and praised India's self-reliance and self-reliance in all aspects.
But that doesn't mean that's what he thinks. In addition to India, the leading non-aligned countries include Egypt, Yugoslavia and Indonesia. Egypt is the current base of British operations in the Middle East. Yugoslavia has become a die-hard ally of the Soviet Union, and Indonesia
It was directly divided and conquered. The theoretical land area of two million was directly divided into half, and it was surrounded on four sides by the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Portugal and Australia.
If India wants to lead the Non-Aligned Movement, it must find a suitable country to assist it.
"New Delhi doesn't think that its northern neighbor will be a good assistant, right?" Amid the applause for India, Alan Wilson suddenly thought, if other countries may not be so confident, as for India? It's very possible!
But having said that, Alan Wilson did remember that during the entire war, Nehru did continue to campaign for it, making the United States very angry several times. At the same time, Nehru also praised the Soviet Union a lot when he was young and was found out.
It left an impression on Washington that favored the Soviet Union.
"Peace is the mainstream in the world at present!" Alan Wilson began to try to end the discussion of war at the signal of Foreign Secretary Morrison. "The United Kingdom very much hopes that India will exert a major influence on Asian affairs. It is worried about the behavior of the United States. London
Expressing understanding, it is also important to be committed to local economic development, and London hopes that India can play a major role."
Everyone knows the relationship between India and the United States at this time. After the British contracted, Nehru had a five-year plan on the one hand and one that did not exclude socialism on the other. This made the United States, which was preparing to fill the vacuum, doubtful. In addition, Britain traditionally had a hoe.
The United States naturally follows the diplomatic tradition of the strong supporting the weak and focuses on supporting Pakistan.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! This makes the big and powerful countries very dissatisfied. For various reasons, the relationship between India and the United States cannot get better.
At this Kuala Lumpur meeting, there were Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom, countries with the same language and culture. India once again expressed its position.
It took great difficulty for Alan Wilson to bring the direction of the conference back, otherwise it would have become a denunciation meeting of a powerful country criticizing US imperialism.
Although Britain did not intervene in the war, India's statement also showed that it was consistent with Britain's attitude towards the war. However, both Canada and Australia participated in the war.
It is necessary to show that the UK is not alone in its move not to intervene, but to always say it undermines the unity of the Commonwealth.
Therefore, Alan Wilson's attitude is to affirm India's important influence on international affairs and at the same time bring back the theme of the conference.
The historical Colombo Plan was full of political connotations from the beginning. In fact, the purpose of this plan was to counter the expansion of power of the United States and the Soviet Union in East Asia and to continue to maintain the influence of the Commonwealth in Southeast Asia.
The purpose of the Kuala Lumpur Conference this time was similar, still to maintain the influence of the British Empire.
With the support of Canada and Australia, and in the name of the Commonwealth, Britain is preparing to spend 16 million pounds to support British Malaya, Burma and Ceylon.
The Netherlands and Portugal provided military protection due to the previous five-nation joint defense, and the purpose of inviting India was not to support India, but to express transparency to India and express that this meeting did not mean to exclude India.
Compared with the historical result that the British spent eight million pounds, which was then washed away by the United States with hundreds of millions of dollars, this meeting is more concrete.
Especially before, Alan Wilson had already dealt with Australia, not only getting Canberra to lift the iron ore ban, but also getting a promise of 10 million pounds. It was not included in the 16 million pounds of Commonwealth funding. Plus the United States
Currently, there is no military force in Southeast Asia, but we can still put up a fight.
To put it simply, the theme of this Kuala Lumpur meeting is that the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand will provide financial support and military protection to British Malaya, including Ceylon and Myanmar. However, military protection was not included in the previous five-nation joint defense.
There are specific embodiments above.
This is not the result of Alan Wilson opening his mouth to London, but London itself wants to do this.
After several days of discussion, while the U.S. military continued to move north, the Kuala Lumpur meeting generally came up with a consensus, which was just waiting for signature.
"Alan, who do you think is the main opponent of British Malaya?" Foreign Secretary Morrison asked the local chief executive on the eve of the completion.
"The US dollar, Japan or the Philippines. The former is a financial hijack by the United States, and the latter two are pro-American countries nearby. There may also be Thailand. If I were the United States, I would try to include non-Commonwealth countries in this meeting.
, diluting the Commonwealth color of this organization.”
Alan Wilson told the truth that this was also the response strategy of the United States in history. He asked for help, "The European market must open a back door for Malayan products. In fact, I have some ideas."
With the financial support, Alan Wilson's purpose is to do everything possible to increase the importance of British Malaya to the United Kingdom. In other words, all the foundations for the rapid development of British Malaya are already in place. He wants to
Get ahead of Japan in production.
On October 1, the U.S.-South Korean coalition forces cleared away the regular armed forces in South Korea and began to cross the pre-war dividing line. On the same day, the Kuala Lumpur Conference concluded.
Major newspapers in British Malaya disclosed the specific details of the meeting, believing that Malaya's good days were at hand.