dated November 25, 1950: Peace moves in Korea

A tense situation prevailed in most of the battle-scarred 250- mile Korean front on November 23, amid reports from opposite sides of the world that negotiations were under way to end the five-month war. From both London and Washington word had come that a British diplomat in Peking was trying to persuade top Chinese Communists to get their troops out of Korea. Washington believed the diplomat was having scant success.

The British Foreign Office announced in London that Mr. J. C. Hutchinson, Charge d'Affaires in Peking had handed a note to the Chinese Communist Government on November 21, assuring China that the United Nations ``would in no way endanger legitimate Chinese interests in the area.''

Tokyo was jittery and the silence of the battlefield was uneasy. Rumours spread through the city. Officials gave little of quotable information. Tokyo informants said an American General had contacted the Chinese Reds with the approval of General MacArthur after wounded American prisoners of the Chinese were released and was said to be conducting battle-field negotiations on the north-west front, but it was not clear exactly what the negotiations were about.

The State Department officials said in Washington on November 23, that they knew of no negotiations with the Chinese Communists for a prompt peace settlement on the Korean front. In official circles, there was a strong tendency to discount reports from Tokyo and Korea of the possibility of an impending negotiated settlement of the Korean conflict.

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