AMERICAN AID FOR VIETNAM

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26039, 16 February 1950, Page 5

AMERICAN AID FOR VIETNAM

146,000,000 Dollars To Be Sought CAMPAIGN AGAINST

REBELS (N.Z. Pres: Association—Copyright)

(Rec. 8 p.m.) SAIGON, February 15. The Vietnam Government could defeat Dr. Ho Chi-minh’s Communist forces in six months if it received American military and economic aid, said the Vietnam Prime Minister (Nguyen Phan-long) to-day, According to the Associated Press, Nguyen Phan-long said that his Government sought dollars from the United States. It needed 6,000,000 dollars urgently to build up the number of its troops from 2500 to 6800 in Vietnam, and a further 40.000,000 dollars to create a Vietnamese National Army of 200,000 men. Nguyen Phan-long said his Government also hoped for an economic loan of 100,000,000 dollars from the United States. “We can pay this back in three instalments within 16 to 18 months, because of our large rubber and rice* exports in normal times,” he added. The Prime Minister said the creation of a Vietnamese National Army was the keystone of the war effort against the Communist Vietminh forces. Popular sentiment demanded that Vietnamese troops should occupy rebel region immediately after French forces had seized it from Vietminh control. The French are expected to clear the Communists from the densely-populated Red river delta region in northern Vietnam in two months. , ■

Nguyen Phan-long said that Vietminh nationalist partisans in southern Vietnam had recently been defecting to Bao Dai’s Vietnam Government. The situation in central Vietnam, however, was unsatisfactory. French and Vitnamese forces would extend their campaign against the Communists there after they had cleared out the guerrillas -in northern and southen Vietnam. .Nguyen Phan-long said he was convinced that Dr. Ho Chi-minh’s forces had been receiving aid from the Chinese Communists. This had been shown m a radio message from Dr. Ho Chiminh to Mr Stalin six months ago. This message, Nguyen Phen-long said, acknowledged the receipt of a shipment of machine-guns through the Chinese Communists.