ABSTRACT
The new year brought no signs of improvement in the international situation. In particular, events in Korea continued to give rise to anxiety and precipitated a major crisis in Anglo-American relations. In his next diary entry, dated 7 January 1951, Younger wrote:
…The international situation is peculiarly worrying and depressing at the moment. As I write, we have reached the point where the UN ‘Cease-fire group’1 have reported failure (though it is said that Rau is making a fresh proposal) & the Chinese have launched their expected second offensive2 below the 38th parallel. They are being pretty successful, so much so that we all doubt whether the U.S. military really intend to hold on in Korea at all. (Jimmy3 is out there with the 27th [Commonwealth] B[riga]de) & writes home in most scornful terms of the US troops around him). Whether we hold in Korea or not, the Americans want a [UN] resolution condemning China as an aggressor, to be followed by whatever sanctions are practicable, notably blockade, withdrawal of diplomatic representation, and possibly the promotion of subversive activity based upon the Nationalists in Formosa.4 H[is] M[ajesty’s] G[overnment] think this a futile programme, which will do virtually no harm to China, but may well precipitate serious trouble for us, both in the Far East (Hong Kong) and possibly in Europe. Moreover it will almost certainly not get the support of Asian countries, notably India[,] & will thus split both [the] UN and the Commonwealth.
