Though the British government last week had its mind on Formosa, it was also keeping uneasy watch on Malaya (pop. 7,000,000), its biggest strategic and economic stake in Southeast Asia. Against fewer than 6,000 Communist guerrillas, the British are currently deploying more than 250,000 troops, home guards and police. General Sir Gerald Templer's brilliant slash-and-starve campaign of two years ago drove the demoralized Communists into jungle lairs, but the Communist victories in nearby Indo-China have produced a new, hopeful rallying cry in the Malay jungles: "Father Mao Is Coming."
The situation, according to Malaya's Lieut. General Sir Geoffrey Bourne, is...
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