JAPAN: The Deal Is Off

Premier Nobusuke Kishi's tricky victory of the Chinese flags (TIME, April 21) did not last long. To make a $196 million barter deal with Red China, he had agreed to a Red Chinese trade mission in Tokyo, which would be allowed to fly Communist China's flag over their headquarters and on their cars. To mollify Nationalist China—which had slapped a protest boycott on Japanese goods—Kishi ruled that Red China's flag would not have diplomatic status in Tokyo, but would get police protection under the laws against damaging private property. Formosa was pacified, but the Communists were not. Last...