INDO CHINA CRISIS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27523, 18 October 1950, Page 7

INDO CHINA CRISIS

Full Debate In French Assembly PRESSURE BY DEPUTIES NZP A—Reuter—Copyright Rec. 10.10 p.m. PARIS, Oct. 17. Indo-China will be the first subject for debate when the French National Assembly reconvenes today after the summer recess. The Government wants consideration of Indo-China limited to a statement which the Premier, M. Rene Pleven, is due to make tomorrow, but the Deputies are expected to press for a full debate on the subject. Heated exchanges are expected at the opening session. Pressure by the press and public oninion is growing daily for full and frank information of Indo-China. The military censorship at Tonkin is being compared unfavourably with the lack of formal censorship in Korea. Official French sources yesterday reiterated that the defence of Hanoi and the surrounding rice delta was “ assured,” but public uneasiness has persisted. There seems no doubt that the majority of the Assembly will support the Government in sending more troops to Indo-China and generally in continuing the battle against the Communist advance in Asia. Vital Road Cut Viet Minh insurgents in Indo-China have cut the road between Langson, the main French stronghold on the frontier with Communist China, and Hanoi, 80 miles to the south-west, according to the latest unofficial reports received in Paris. The newspapers were today preparing an anxious public for the possible complete evacuation of Langson, the last French outpost on the western half of the border, which civilians have already been ordered to leave.