POLICY IN INDO-CHINA

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27388, 13 May 1950, Page 6

POLICY IN INDO-CHINA

The announcement that tne united States has promised immediate military and economic aid to France and Indo-China for the defence of Indo-China against Communism is of importance primarily because it has now come to be recognised that the fate of all South-east Asia is bound up with the conflict in Viet Nam. It is also noteworthy as marking the clarification, in one respect, of American policy towards the lands that lie west of the Pacific. The line adopted by Mr Acheson is the one which it has been increasingly expected would be followed since the visit of Dr Philip Jessup to those regions last year, and the general principles of such a policy have indeed been enunciated by Mr Acheson. Appreciation of the situation in Indo-China as a matter for international concern has grown slowly. The spotlight was thrown much more strongly on the troubles in Indonesia; and France, the colonial Power involved in Indo-China, was not only content that this should be so but insisted that it was a matter to be settled internally. The realisation that the old colonial regime had ended with the Pacific war gradually came, and a policy of compromise was adopted, but it was not until the growing triumphs of Communism in China foreshadowed a new menace that France ■ came to the conclusion that the Western world had a responsibility in Viet Nam. In a recent survey of the situation, a writer in the Chatham House Review ended with the comment: “It now appears that Indo-China is to be the scene of a struggle which may have some parallels with that in Greece, with the significant exception that, initially, the Communist candidate appears to have strong nationalist support.” IndoChina is indeed in a similar position physically and the situation is even more highly-developed because of the two rival Governments—the French-sponsored Government with the Emperor Bao Dai as its head, and the Communist Government of Ho Chi-minh. And because the former has been so much the creation of the French, it has failed to meet the nationalist aspirations of many of the people. Early this year Russia and other Communist countries recognised Ho Chi-minh; Great Britain and the United States, and other Powers, have recognised Bao Dai. ■ This alignment of forces has clarified the local issues, and it is hoped that if Bao Dai can produce evidence that his State is truly independent and viable, nationalist support will fall away from the Communists. Any dependence of the latter on the Chinese Communists—such as has now been reported—is expected to ' have a similar effect. But it is essential that all traces of French overlordship should be removed. If this has not been made a condition of American aid, the point has almost certainly been clarified in the discussions which have just ended.