The Raw Nerve

In Taipei the strict military curfew ended, but a substratum of anger and resentment lingered on both sides, after Formosa's anti-American rioting (TIME, June 3). Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek called it "one of the most shocking and regrettable things to have happened in my 50 years of public life."

"I must openly admit that my leadership was at fault," said the 69-year-old Generalissimo. But he added that he "could well understand the indignation of the masses" at the court-martial verdict that completely cleared a U.S. Army master sergeant in the shooting of a Chinese "Peeping Tom" before his house.

Obviously neither the verdict nor the riots were made in Peking, but they were made to serve Peking's ends. Radio Peking* got busy with colorfully invented "U.S. atrocities against the Chinese people in Formosa." Samples: "In the first half of last year a total of 1,500 Chinese were killed or injured by speeding U.S. military cars . . . Americans love to let loose their big police dogs against the Chinese people ... In Keelung a U.S. soldier threw a child into the sea and drowned it . . ."

19th Century Memories. Actually, criminal offenses by the U.S. military on Formosa have been unusually low. There have been only five courts-martial in the past two years. On the other hand, many smaller crimes and misdemeanors go unreported, first because the Chinese, like people the world over, hesitate to get involved in the law's delay, and second because of a deep-rooted feeling on the part of many Chinese that they will not get justice even if they seek it. It was this raw nerve that the court-martial's acquittal of the sergeant touched to the quick.

Traditionally, the U.S., like other major powers, has tried to see that its citizens on duty in foreign countries are assured as nearly equal legal rights as they would have at home. This is relatively uncomplicated in European nations, where the "host-nation" juridical system usually has more of a common basis with Anglo-Saxon law, but it creates difficulties in the Far and Middle East, because the 19th century practice of extraterritoriality is identified with imperialism's toplofty ways.

Easier Sentences. The fact is that on the record, U.S. military abroad generally get lighter sentences when tried and convicted under local laws than under their own. In Germany last year, seven G.I.s were tried by a U.S. court-martial for rape. The Germans started to protest bitterly that they should try the case, fell silent when the court-martial sentenced four of the defendants to life imprisonment, the others to 40 years. The maximum sentence for first-offense rape under German law: three years.

Near the Athens airport last week, a U.S. military car driven by a U.S. airman struck two pedestrians, killing 66-year-old General Stefanos Sarafis, a member of Parliament and World War II guerrilla hero, and injuring his wife Marion. On orders from U.S. Ambassador George Allen, the airman was handed over immediately to Greek authorities, who charged him with negligent manslaughter, and said he had been drinking and speeding. Apprehensive lest there be a repetition of last fortnight's riots in Taipei, Greek authorities called out police to surround the U.S. embassy and the cathedral where General Sarafis' body lay in state. Thanks to Ambassador Allen's quick action, there were no anti-American demonstrations.

*For world press reaction to the riots, see PRESS.

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