Word: thien
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...Thien Pe is a young Burmese author who had no love for the British when they controlled his country, less for the Japs after they took Burma from the British. He remained in Burma for two months after its conquest by Japan, then escaped via India to Chungking. There he wrote a book, What Happened in Burma, and it was published last week in India...
...essence of his conclusions: Burma cannot be rewon by arms alone; the Burmese people must first be won, and they can only be won if British political strategy in the Far East is improved. Author Thien Pe addressed himself to the British and to Burma, but his premise applied as well to the U.S. and to all of Asia...
...They also fostered an underground Burma Independence Army and acquired the support of Dr. Ba Maw, a former Premier whom the British once imprisoned. Thirty-two nationalists were smuggled to Japan, there trained as pro-Japanese agitators. Inept British administrators did nothing effective to offset these preparations. "Meanwhile," wrote Thien Pe, "British imperialism was fighting on three fronts in Burma. It justly hated the pro-Jap elements. It openly disdained the freedom-loving neutrals, and it foolishly mistrusted the Communists." According to Thien Pe. Burmese Communists consistently opposed collaboration with Tokyo and could have helped the British...
...Allies Can Do It. The Japs soon disillusioned the Burmese. Jap soldiers looted and raped. The Japanese made Puppet Ba Maw the nominal dictator of a nominally independent Burma, but they broke many of their promises. Many Burmese, says Author Thien Pe, would now turn against the Japanese and fight with the British if London would give the Burmese people any real encouragement...
Certainly the British were not doing well in Burma last week; the preliminary campaign there had failed (see p. 32). Author Thien Pe's belief is that Allied armies never can do well without help from the Burmese. And, said he: "If Britain hopes to gain the active support of the Burmese she must capture their imagination...