INDO-CHINA

Evening Star, Issue 24056, 1 December 1941, Page 9

INDO-CHINA

A SEVERE BLOW TO FRANCE n The surrender of Indo-China to Japan has done more than anything else to destroy the, confidence of the French in the Retain Government (says ‘ News .From France ’).- However the Nnzieontrolled newspapers may try to disguise the fact, every Frenchman knpws it is a- complete surrender, and that Vichy has handed over to Japan its greatest Far Eastern possession. Indo-China means so much more to the French than Syria, which was merely a mandated territory, whereas Indo-China is an important part of the colonial empire of Wdiich every Frenchman was so justly proud. As : a child he had read its history iu (Aery schoolbook, and he does not forget that associated with the destiny of this colony were Joffre, Gallieui, and Lyautey, and the two Presidents of the Republic, Doumer and Doumergue. It was a French priest, pore Alexandre de Rhodes, horn at Avignon, who first visited Indo-China in 1625, and from then to the present time IndoChina has. been ever closely connected with "France. . Indo-China was the; first country in the Far East to use the_ Latin alphabet, for it was French missionaries who put the language of Indo-China into writing and composed its first grammars. In recent times the population of Indo-China has risen from' 16 million, in 1901, to 25 million, in 1940. Europeans number about 35,000. There are 700 medical centres set up entirely by the French, making it impossible for any sick person to he more than a. few hours from a hospital or clinic where he can receive attention. The French medical service in Indo-China is so well organised that, in 1939, when there was a threat of a cholera epidemic, 245,000 persons were vaccinated against it within 48 hours. As in Africa, the French have given every encouragement to native arts and crafts, many of which have been saved from extinction. Educational centres have been set up, with institutions for higher education _ where the same programme of studies as in France has been followed, and diplomas similar to those iu France awarded to successful students. Also to their credit, the French have carried out very fine irrigation work, and everywhere have introduced in agriculture the most modern methods. French archaeological associations have preserved the ancient monuments of Indo-China, among them the famous immense ancient temple of Angkor, one of the wonderVof the Far East. French administration has been on sound and just lines, and the economic situation of Indo-China has been one of the soundest.