‘N. Vietnam Confident Of Victory'

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30933, 14 December 1965, Page 21

‘N. Vietnam Confident Of Victory '

(N.Z. Preu A«sn.— Copyright) LONDON, Dec. 13.

A writer, Felix Greene, who arrived in Britain recently after a visit to North Vietnam, where he interviewed the Premier, Ho Chi Minh, has declared that the bombing of their country has united the North Vietnamese as nothing else could have done. “If there were formerly differences between the men at the top in Hanoi, and there was some evidence that there were, the bombing has effectively ended them,” he said. “Today, as far as I could discern, the people are solidly together.” Greene, writing in the “Observer" said that while in North Vietnam he had talked with “peasants and professors. with film stars and the military, with shop assistants and fishermen and with Ho Chi Minh himself.”

‘The North Vietnamese, in their present mood, will accept nothing less than the withdrawal of all American forces from Vietnam. In the meantime they treat questions such as who should attend a conference and how reunification should be achieved as academic,” he said. “Hanoi itself has not yet been bombed, but no one who lives there believes that it will be spared for long. It is difficult to judge how far the bombing has affected the economy.

T saw no food queues or signs of hunger, though cereals and meat are rationed. Some food is even exported. “This small, backward country of 17 million people is pitting itself agaiust the richest and most powerfill . ■

nation in the world, yet is utterly confident of ultimate victory. Sustaining the Vietnamese is the knowledge that they have done it before. “Their victory over the French plays an enormous part in their assessment of their chances against the United States. “There has been speculation in the Western press about the power and health of Ho Chi Minh—he is 75, but I found him neither senile nor ill. As he came into the room, he gave me a strong impression of gentleness and power,” Greene said. “From our. two-hour conversation I gained the impression that, although he probably delegates much of the routine work, he is still the leader in function as well as in name. “I asked Ho Chi Minh whether he was giving military aid to the Viet Cong and

about the North Vietnamese divisions the Americans say they have identified in the south. He said the United States was slandering North Vietnam to cover up American aggression. “But he added: ’As children of the same Fatherland, our people in the north are bound to extend support to our people in the south, just as they would help the north.* “Relations with China, he said, was as close as between lips and teeth. He said China’s support was valuable and effective.” Greene added that while in Vietnam he “gained a strong impression” that the Chinese believed the next United States move would be to bomb major Chinese cities. He remarked: “It seemed to me that the Peking Government was in many ways preparing the . country for • major confrontation.”