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LONDON, FEBRUARY 26. A loan of about £20,000,000 was granted by Britain to the Burmese Government a few days ago and urgent shipments of arms are being dispatched to Burma.
It is reliably learnt that the Foreign Office has radically changed its attitude of indifference towards Burma. Among other factors which are responsible for this change of attitude is the increased anxiety expressed by the Eastern Dominions of possible repercussions of Burmese unrest on the food situation in Asian countries which are dependent upon that country's rice exports. A possible influx of refugees from Burma into neighbouring territories is also feared.
Responsible quarters here also believe that the Burmese unrest has contributed considerably to the present state of affairs in Malaya, since South-East Asia was deprived of pre-war rice from Burma.
The Burmese problem is therefore now receiving the close attention of the British Government and it is generally admitted here that it is one which cannot be torn out of the context of larger problems of South East Asia's stability and security.
Footnotes :
1. “In late March 1948, less than 12 weeks after Burma became independent, the CPB [Communist Party of Burma] led an armed rebellion against the government. They were joined by other communists, by irregular forces that had not been integrated into the PVO [the ruling AFPFL Party's militia], by mutinous ex-PBF Burma Army battalions [i.e. not ex-British Burma Army] and by disaffected Muslims in Arakan (Rohingyas). In August, the Union's paramilitary police (UMP) attacked Karenni National Organization headquarters and murdered a prominent Karenni nationalist, provoking the defection to the KNDO [Karen National Defence Organization] of Karen, Padaung and Pao policemen posted to the Shan State and an attack by the KNDO and Mon National Defence Organisation (MNDO) units on government positions in the Thaton-Moulmein area. On Christmas Eve, Burman territorials under Ne Win's general command hurled grenades into churches in Mergui District, killing 80 Karens and triggering the defection from Burma Army to the KNDO of Karen battalions and a battalion of the Kachin Rifles. A KNDO/MNDO offensive then began, which very nearly captured Rangoon.”
Burma—The Curse of Independence by Shelby Tucker, p.164
2. Winston Churchill, at this time Leader of the Opposition, opposed the arms shipments on the grounds of the Karens' wartime loyalty to Britain. [source: BBC documentary Forgotten Allies]
For a contrasting viewpoint to Churchill's, see article in The Nation (Rangoon)
3. The arms shipments included 20,000 rifles, 500 Bren light machine-guns, 300 2-inch mortars, 4 million rounds of .303" ammunition. [source: official document produced in Forgotten Allies]