-2-

reasons for giving the need in Cambodia special consideration. He has,
therefore, sent in two names and urges that we take prompt, favorable
action. One of the young men in question is the brother of the former
dissident leader, Dop Chuon, who is now Governor of Siem Reap Province.

Overton asked whether there was any objection to his having
undertaken two small projects in which French Nationals were involved.
He pointed out that in these cases the French Nationals were in fact the
key persons in Cambodian projects. I said that there was no objection to
us doing this in appropriate cases, and that he should use his discretion.
Overton said that the assistance we had provided these Frenchmen had, in
fact, been very favorably commented on in Phnom Penh where relations
between the French and the Cambodians are very cordial.

He said that the question of special assistance to a Chinese
Nationalist newspaper that appears to be in danger of going under had been
raised. He did not feel we should get involved in this, and I agreed with
him. There is apparently a possibility that other sources of support may
be available.

Overton does not feel, however, that we need to stay out of the
Chinese field. The odds against us in any work we conduct with the Chin-
ese are tremendous because of the magnetic attraction of Communist China.
There are, however, no objections to our doing what we can with the Chinese
community, provided what we do is consonant with our normal policies and
procedures. He believes, for example, that we can appropriately help
Chinese libraries, teachers' organizations, and the like. He does not
think, however, that what we do is going to be of major importance.

Overton said that Dick Gard's visit to Cambodia was very success-
ful. Gard had been well received by the Buddhists and his work with them
had been helpful to them as well as the Foundation.

With regard to his own plans, Overton said that he would be quite
happy to remain an additional two years after he has taken home leave at
the expiration of his present term. He believes very strongly that more
continuity is needed in American representation throughout this entire
area, and I think he feels a great sense of responsibility to do what he
can to ensure some measure of continuity in American representation in Cam-
bodia.

He said that San Francisco had offered him the services of an
administrative assistant who was being recruited for the purpose. He had
just received a letter from San Francisco before coming to Singapore and
had not yet replied. Pat Judge had mentioned Betsy Arminger to him, and
he thought that perhaps she would be more suitable than the young lady
offered by San Francisco, inasmuch as she had already had experience in
Indo-China. He was quite willing, however, to accept San Francisco's deci-
sion and asked me to try to settle the matter after my return.

Memorandum for the Record

November 26, 1956

Subject: Conversation with Ali Sastramidjodjo, Prime Minister of Indonesia, November 22, 1956

The appointment with the Prime Minister was arranged by the American Embassy, and the meeting, which lasted thirty minutes, took place at his residence. No one else was present, except for the aligned photographs of Emperor Haile Selassie, Mao-tse Tung, Nehru, Ho chi Minh, Nasser and Sir John Kotelawala staring at me from the top of the bookcase.

During the meeting Ali appeared attentive and interested, demonstrated his familiarity with some of the questions concerning the Foundation, displayed some misinformation, and was friendly but not especially cordial.

I opened the conversation by referring to my trip to Asia and the fact that I had come to Indonesia for the sole purpose of seeing the Prime Minister. I mentioned that I had tried very hard to see him when I was in Indonesia in June but had been unsuccessful. Ali merely nodded his head and did not repeat his previous unfounded complaint to the Ambassador that I had visited Djakarta in June without calling on him.

I said that I was very sorry that misunderstandings had arisen and was very anxious to straighten the matter out so that the Foundation's activities might be carried on in a manner completely satisfactory to the Indonesian Government. I explained that the Foundation and the Trustees were distressed by recent rumors and allegations in Indonesia which reflected adversely on a reputation of which they were proud.

We then began discussion of various points raised by Ali and stated by him more as matters of doubt and concern than as actual complaints. Most of these were expressed in rather vague terms and in some cases were based on erroneous information.

(1) He said that he and his government had not been adequately informed by us concerning the Foundation's purposes and activities; we had, he said, merely set up an office and were working in many fields. I reminded him that Bradley had seen him earlier in the year and told him about the Foundation, to which Ali replied that this was before he had become Prime Minister and he had not seen Bradley since taking office. I again reminded him that I had tried to see him in June and had also wanted Bradley to see him, but when the difficulties had continued Ambassador Cumming had stepped into the picture and Bradley had stepped aside. I also pointed out that Bradley was in very close touch with a number of Indonesian government ministries who were well informed regarding the Foundation's work in their respective fields of interest and warmly supported what we were doing. Ali

I pointed out that "the other side" had not waited for us to enter upon the
scene and that in any case we were an entirely different kind of organization.
He backed up on this point, conceding that the two situations were not
analogous.

As our meeting drew to a close and another visitor was announced Ali
said that he wanted to study the matter further and asked me to send him a
copy of the Foundation's charter. I promised to do so and urged that he see
Bradley who could tell him more about our work in Indonesia. He said that
he would be glad to see Bradley and reminded me again in a hurt tone that
he had not talked with him since becoming Prime Minister. I added that un-
fortunately Bradley was in ill health and would have to return to the United
States in a month, but that I was making arrangements for a successor. Ali
nodded his head and did not disapprove. As we parted he said that he was
sorry he did not have more time, he wanted to study the whole matter further
and he reminded me again to send him a copy of the Foundation's charter. His
tone was entirely non-committal and his manner, as during the interview,
quite impersonal.

(A copy of the letter I sent to Ali the same afternoon is attached.)

Robert Blum

NOTES ON VISIT TO KOREA

October 29 - November 2, 1956

GENERAL POSITION OF THE FOUNDATION

The Foundation appears to enjoy an excellent reputation in
Korea and as far as I was able to determine relations with the govern-
ment and with non-governmental institutions and individuals are very
good. There is no formal procedure for keeping the government informed
of our activities but individual ministers are consulted and asked to
give their support where appropriate. Mary Walker has obviously done
an excellent job during recent months in maintaining the high reputation
of the Foundation and she appears to enjoy an excellent position in the
local community.

I inquired whether any problems had arisen in Korea as a result
of the shift from the Committee for Free Asia to The Asia Foundation
and was told that this had caused no difficulty whatever.

It was explained that some Koreans may be rather tired of anti-
Communist propaganda and are very happy to be able to participate
in constructive efforts for the welfare of their country, especially
when such efforts will at the same time help counteract the threat
of Communism.

VISIT WITH PRESIDENT SYNGMAN RHEE

Mary Walker, Larry Thompson and I spent about half an hour
with President Rhee. The Minister of Education was also present.
President Rhee was very cordial and quite mellow. In commenting
on my description of the Foundation's purposes and activities, he
said that he was very pleased that we were doing so much in Korea,
especially as we had responsibilities in so many other countries.
He spoke chiefly of the fields of music and the motion pictures,
saying how important it was for the industries to strengthen their
cultural heritage and improve the general quality of their cultural
activities. He asked whether we would be able to bring to Koreans
an American expert in Western music who would help give the Koreans
a better understanding of Western music and at the same time assist
them in adapting their own music. I was non-committal and was not
certain how seriously this request was to be taken. He also asked
whether we would bring an American motion picture expert to help
the Koreans raise the standards and the educational content of their
motion pictures. I told him about John Miller's assignment in Korea

- 6 -

BUDDHISM

I made two casual inquiries regarding the importance of Buddhism in modern Korea and was told by both persons that Buddhism is of very little importance except among a very few scholars. The two persons were one of the members of the Chin Tan Society who is himself a Buddhist scholar and the President of the Rotary Club who is Vice-President of the Buddhist University. Both gave the same answer on separate occasions and were quite emphatic.

DECENTRALIZATION OF THE PROGRAM

Because of the shortage of staff not very much has been done outside the Seoul area and I did not visit any other cities. This is something that Thompson has in mind and he plans to have Mary Walker and himself alternate in visiting important areas outside of Seoul.

DIVERSIFICATION OF THE PROGRAM

I talked with Thompson about the need to make a careful study of certain additional fields so as to determine what new areas would be suitable for Foundation activity. Some diversification of the program is needed. The fields we mentioned were the following: publications, youth, adult and rural education, law, library services, veterans, women, sports, and rural activities.

MINISTER OF EDUCATION AWARD

The Minister of Education arranged a private ceremony to which he invited a number of Korean and foreign guests for the purpose of awarding to The Asia Foundation through me a special certificate in recognition of our work in Korea.

-3-

Busch sees three program possibilities, and believes that the emphasis should be on developing relations between Laos and Thailand and sending persons from Laos to Thailand, where they can get much more suitable training than in other countries. His specific suggestions, based on his conversations in Vientiane, are: 1) to send Laos to Thailand for education, with The Asia Foundation serving as intermediary; 2) to build up relations between Lao and Thai Buddhists; and 3) to help the newly created Jaycees. A proposal is being discussed for six medical teams to be started in conjunction with Operation Brotherhood and the Jaycees. I told Busch that he should be very careful with this one and proceed cautiously in any activity involving Operation Brotherhood or the international Jaycees. With regard to suggestions 1 and 2, Busch said that the appropriate ministries in Laos seemed well disposed, but that they would have to receive some kind of invitation from Thailand. Busch will look into this further.

He also has in mind the possibility of a book store or book stall in Vientiane.

We discussed the administrative arrangements for the program in Laos and I emphasized that Busch should keep control well in his own hands. I did not think the responsibility could simply be turned over to Esther Chase. He agreed with me and said that on the basis of his recent visit, he thought that it might be useful to have several persons from his Bangkok office visit Vientiane for different purposes. For example, Nai Ed could be particularly helpful in working out the arrangements for exchanges between Laos and Thailand. I said to Busch that this was acceptable provided he keep direction firmly in his own hands and we did not give the Laos the impression that they were having to deal with a succession of individuals.

Robert Blum

RB:rh

- 3 -

We then talked about Communist China where U Nu, accompanied by U Myint Thein and others, had just visited. In speaking of the talks they had had with the Chinese regarding the Burmese border troubles, they said that they were sure that the Chinese violations of the Burmese border were an unfortunate mistake and that the Chinese Government regretted the incident. After all, the border had never been well defined, and it was easy for such mistakes to be made. U Nu was sure that the Chinese Government desired peace and wished to have a fair and just settlement of the Burmese border question. He and U Myint Thein went on to say that Chinese attitudes of sympathy toward the opposition movement in Hungary had turned to hostility when what had started as mere deStalinization turned into a vigorous effort at independence and a pro-Western attitude.

U Myint Thein, who was in China two years ago, said that he found the Chinese officials and the population much more relaxed in 1956 than in 1954. There were more smiles and less austerity. Commenting on the anti-French and anti-British demonstrations in China over the Suez crisis, he said that the discipline of the population was so impressive as to be frightening.

We also talked about Vietnam, particularly the recent history, and I was quite taken aback by the ignorance of both U Nu and U Myint Thein. I talked to them about the origins of the present situation and some of the problems in the country and may have been of some help in briefing them for their visit.

Robert Blum

ELLEN HAMMER

Author of the book, "The Struggle for Indochina" was traveling
with Buu Hoi.

HO BAC AN

Buu Hoi's uncle, is a chemist and a well-known intellectual who
is estranged from the Diem Government.

VO VAN MAU

Foreign Minister, Acting Minister of Education, and Dean of the
Law School. Pike and I paid a formal call on him.

VO VAN HAI

Chef de Cabinet to President Diem was quite helpful in making
various arrangements for us.

Robert Blum

December 3, 1956