In Asia, one of the great crises in history was unfolding. A despairing Nationalist China continued to reach out its hands to its Western ally (see FOREIGN NEWS). This week, in Nanking, a woman boarded a U.S. Navy plane and started for Washington to make a woman's appeal.
Harry Truman had turned down the suggestion that Chiang Kai-shek be invited to the U.S., with the remark that he did not think Chiang should leave China at this time. But when Madame Chiang announced that she planned to come, the President had no choice but to acquiesce politely.
Administration officials looked forward...