China Revolution Is Not Marxist, Expert Declares

"The present revolution in China is not a Marxian revolution but a sociological one," Wilburn T. Thomas, expert on Asia, told a meeting of the Appleton Club in the basement of Memorial Church last night.

East Asia's unrest, which World War II accentuated, would have developed even in the absence of Communism, he said, although the Communists have stepped into supply leadership.

One of the factors behind the current revolutions is the growth of nationalist spirit in the Far Eastern countries, Thomas pointed out. He feels that this nationalism which is at present aimed at ousting local and foreign oppressors, will give rise to the same sort of national enmities that at present divide Western Europe.

The pressures of population in the Far East are an important reason for the misery of the people and their discontent, Thomas said, and the problem of population control in these countries is a crucial one. The East's present great desire for mechanization will not succeed in raising standards of living unless the resulting population increase is curbed, he stated.

He added that the industrialization of East, Asia could pose a real threat to the standard of living of the Western nations.

Thomas, who is Reconstruction Secretary in Asia for the Would Student Christian Federation, has just returned from an extensive tour in Asia.