Evening star., 1954-05-08
Southeast Asia
Problem Discussed

Southeast Asia
Problem Discussed
Let me turn now to the prob
lem of Southeast Asia. In that
great peninsula and the is
lands to the south live nearly
200 million people in eight
states-Burma; the three
states of Indo- -China-LaoS,
Cambodia and Vietnam; Thai
land; Malaga and Indonesia.
Communist conquest of this
area would seriously imperil
the free world position in the
Western Pacific. 1t would,
among other things. endanger
the Philippines, Australia and
New Zealand, with all of
which the United States has
mutual security treaties. It
would deprive Japan of i'm
portant foreign markets and
sources of food and raw ma
terialS.
In Vietnam, one of the three
Indo-ChineSe states, war has
been going on since 1916. When
it began, Indo- China was a
French colony just liberated
from japanese occupation.
The war started primarily as
war for independence. What
started as a civil war has now
been taken over by interna-
tional communism for it's own
purposes. Ho Chi-minh, the
Communist leader in Vietnam,
was trained in Moscow and got
his first revolutionary ex-
perience in China.
In the name of nationaliSm,
the Communists aim to deprive
the people of Vietnam of their
independence by subjecting
them to the new imperialism of
the Soviet bloc.
What is going on in Indo-
China is a perfect example of
the Soviet Communist strategy
for colonial and dependent
areas which was laid down by
Lenin and Stain many years
ago and which the Commu-
nists have practiced to take
over much of Asia.
The ndo-China area was
vulnerable. The governments
of Vietnam, Laos and Cam
bodia had not yet received full
political independence. Their
peoples were not adequately
organized to fight against the
Communicated rebels. and
they did not feel that they had
a stake in the struggle which
justified great sacrifice,
President Eisenhower be-
came familiar with the prob
lem when he was the Supreme
Commander of NATO in Eu-
rope. He had seen the strain
and the drain which the Indo-
China war put upon France.
He was aware of the growing
discomfort in France resulting
from the long war where the
French were assuming the
principal burden of the fight
and where human and ma
terial costs were mounting.
I recall in December, 1852.
when Gen. Eisenhower, as
President-elect, was returning
from his Korean trip on the
cruiser Helena, we discussed
gravely the problem of Indo-
China.
We realized that if Wet Nam
fell into hostile hands, and If
the neighboring countries re-
manned weak and divided, then
the Communists could move on
into all Of Southeast Asia. For
these reasons, the Eisenhower
administration from the outset
gave particular attention to
the problem of Southeast Asia.
Our efforts took two compile
mentary lines. We sought to
strengthen the resistance to
communism in Indo-China.
We sought also to build in
Southeast Asia a broader COM
munity of defense.
In Indo-China itself, the fol-
lowing steps seem to us i'm
portant:
l. The French should give
greater reality to their inten-
ton to grant full independence
to Wet Nam, Laos and Cam
bodia. This would take away
from the Communists their
false claim to be leading the
fight for independence.
2. There should be greater
reliance upon the national
armies who would be fighting
in their own homeland. This,
we believed, could be done if
the peoples felt that they had
a good cause for which to fight
and if better facilities for
training and equipment were
provided for them.
3. There should be greater
free-world assistance. France
was carrying on struggle
which was over-burdening her
economic resources.
French Declaration
Pledged independence