NO TIME FOR DO-NOTHING GOVERNMENTS
I must write to correct the error made by Elsie Tu (South China Morning Post, January 18) that I said in my letter on January 13 that America single-handedly defeated Nazi Germany and imperial Japan.
I had a cousin who was killed when his Lancaster was shot down over France. My mother, after being made homeless during the bombing of Plymouth, helped to organise the defence of London against the Luftwaffe and my father served in the RAF fighting against the Japanese in Malaya (as it then was). As a child growing up in a devastated post-war Britain I am fully aware of the facts of World War II. Mrs Tu does herself no credit by dodging the issues and personalising the argument.
My point was not that America won the war on its own. My twofold point (carefully ignored by Mrs Tu because, I suspect, it would detract from her mission to promote her socialist 'do-nothing' policy) was that American power has, on many occasions, been used as a power for good and that the answer to the potential problems of having an unopposed superpower is not criticism, but positive and meaningful action by other countries in the diplomatic arena. So let us get back to the real point.
Can Mrs Tu really be serious in promoting a policy of 'letting nations develop in their own way' under any circumstances? Does she really think it was a good idea to let Nazi Germany 'develop in its own way'? Of course not. When countries acquire leaders such as Adolf Hitler (the Munich agreement), Saddam Hussein and Kim Jong-il, it must be the duty of others to try to help the people of those oppressed nations and to try to ensure the stability of the world for the good of all. We all know the adage that for evil to triumph it only requires that good people do nothing.
Mrs Tu's brand of American-hating is so typical of the left wing. They seek to condemn any action taken by America simply because it is American and ignore the fact that the US has one of the strongest democratic systems in the world and has used its genuine 'people power' to help the people of many nations and in doing so caused far more good for the world than socialist-communist dictatorships.
Standing by and following a policy of non-intervention will lead to the strengthening of the power of these terrible regimes.
Positive intervention is inevitable in certain situations and Mrs Tu should set about persuading do-nothing governments, such as that in China, to positively engage in sensible dialogue with America and the rest of the world to help resolve the problems, for the good of all.
ROY PROUSE, Tai Tam
