Evening star., 1953-12-01
Truce for Indo-Chinu?

Premier Laniel and his government have
responded with proper caution to the Swedish
news story quoting Ho Chi Minh-who appar-
emily still leads the Communist rebel forces
as being ready for truce negotiations in Indo-
China even though American imperialism is
pushing French colonialism to carry on and
extend the war of reconquest in Wet Man,"
This story, published in the Stockholm
newspaper Expressen, has been promptly fol-
lowed by Chinese Communist radio broadcast
declaring that all the "peace-loving" peoples
of the world demand that such negotiations
take place. Hence, since Peiping-in concert
with Moscow-haS been the chief armorer of
Hos guerrilla troops, there can be virtually no
doubt that the rebel leaders bid for armiStice
talks, far from being his own idea voiced in an
off-the-cuff manner to the press, has been
made in keeping with instructions from on
high. Which means that it represents ma
neuver agreed upon by Red China and the
Soviet Union
The first official American and French re-
action to this development is one of great skep-
ticism and suspicion. And certainly, considering
the bleak history of the Korean truce and the
consistent bad faith of Communist peace"
moves throughout the world, great skepticism
and suspicion are fully justified Only the most
wishful and naive will think otherwise. For
Hos offer, instead of rejecting real desire for
a genuine armiStice, is almost certainly de-
signed for divisive propaganda purposes-par
ticularly to increase the difficulties of the Lanel
government by holding out counterfeit olive
branch to those large numbers of people in
France who are sick of the -year-old Indo-
Chinese war and who have been demanding
that it be brought to speedy end.
So Mr. Lanel must reckon with the fact
that Hos bid-especially if Peiping and Moscow
f0 boo lot IF fnY1d fo ipto ncif
his domestic political troubles and further
weaken Frances determination to pursue the
present struggle to point where sound truce
might be possible. And he must reckon also
with two other important facts. The first Of
these is that with Britain'S concurrence the
United States-whch Is extending an immense
amount of aid to the French-led forceS-holds
that there should be no negotiations until those
forces are in a more advantageous military
position. And the second is that the anti
Communist leaders of the Associated States
especially Wet Nam-are mortally afraid, like
President Rhee of South Korea, of any armistice
that could lead to the eventual destruction of
free Indo- China.
In these circumstances, when they meet in
Bermuda this week, Premier Laniel, Prime Min
lister Churchill and President Eisenhower-be-
sides seeking concert OF views on the Krem-
Inns most recent note the European Defense
Community and host of other iSsues-will
have to strive for common policy in anticipa-
tion of the possibility that the Communists will
press hard and seriously for negotiations on an
Indo-Chinese truce. The stakes involved here
affecting as they do the whole of Southeast
Asia, very high, and few things could be
more dangerous than failure by the western
Big Three to agree on how best to handle the
situation.
Mr.. Laniel himself went on record some
time ago with the declaration that France, as
far as Indo-China is concerned will not refuse
to negotiate if the occasion presents itself"
However, as indicated by their wary reaction
to the Ho statement, he and his cabinet do not
believe that that occasion has yet come. There
is every reason for such disbelief, every reason
to suspect the whole thing as propaganda full
of BOBBY traps, and the impending Bermuda
conference should deal with it accordingly.