m 3 
 
 JUNE 19S5 
 
 
 SOUTHEAST ASIA: CRITICAL AREA 
 IN A DIVIDED WORLD 
 
 Early in September 1954 representatives of 
 eight free nations gathered around a conference 
 table in Manila. Common concern for the secu- 
 rity of Southeast Asia had drawn together Aus- 
 tralia, France, New Zealand, Pakistan, the 
 Philippine Republic, Thailand, the United King- 
 dom, and the United States. 
 
 Each of the participating powers recognized 
 that the recent extension of Communist control 
 into Viet -Nam exposed the remainder of South- 
 east Asia to danger. All were aware that a threat 
 to the security of this area constituted a threat to 
 the security of the whole free world. They met 
 in recognition of their need for united action to 
 halt Communist aggression in the far Pacific. 
 
 At Manila these eight powers took action under 
 the charter of the United Nations, demonstrating 
 their will and their ability to reach accord and 
 to create unity for security and peace. This was 
 the first conference, as Secretary of State John 
 Foster Dulles pointed out, 
 
 “. . . where representative nations of Asia and 
 of the West sat down together to work out a pro- 
 gram of mutual security.” 
 
 They formed an alliance, the credentials of which 
 are the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty 
 (Manila Pact) and the Pacific Charter. 
 
 The Manila Pact is a treaty for defense against 
 
 both open armed attack and internal subversion. 
 The Pacific Charter, to quote Mr. Dulles, 
 
 “. . . dedicates all the signatories to uphold 
 the principles of self-determination, self-govern- 
 ment, and independence for all countries whose 
 peoples desire it and are able to undertake its 
 responsibilities.” 
 
 On February 23, 1955, the eight signatories of 
 the Manila Pact and the Pacific Charter gathered 
 around another conference table, this one in 
 Bangkok, capital of Thailand. With the treaty 
 ratified and in effect, its Council met for the first 
 time in the heart of the vastly important and 
 highly sensitive Southeast Asian Peninsula. 
 
 During the 3-day conference at Bangkok, the 
 Council reached agreement on policy and ma- 
 chinery for operating the policy. As regards mili- 
 tary defense, Mr. Dulles stated in his subsequent 
 report to the American people : 
 
 “We shall rely chiefly on mobile Allied power 
 which can strike an aggressor wherever the occa- 
 sion may demand. That capacity will, we believe, 
 deter aggression. We shall not need to build up 
 large static forces at all points, and the United 
 States contribution will be primarily in terms 
 of sea and air power.” 
 
 Defense against subversion is primarily the 
 
responsibility of the individual government but 
 concerns all. Some have had more experience 
 than others in coping with Communist-inspired 
 revolts and so are in a position to help the less 
 experienced with information and advice. Ar- 
 rangements were made to facilitate exchange of 
 ideas and information on this problem. 
 
 Dealing with the economic and social aspects 
 of the treaty, the Council agreed that the strong 
 should help the weak to meet the cost of develop- 
 ing more effective security forces and considered 
 practicable ways of improving general living con- 
 ditions within the treaty area. Mr. Dulles spoke 
 of President Eisenhower’s desire to have atomic 
 energ}' used to benefit mankind and invited the 
 Manila Pact nations to send representatives to the 
 United States to study the peaceful uses of atomic 
 energy. 
 
 It was agreed that the Council — composed of the 
 Foreign Ministers of the member nations — will 
 meet at least once a year and usually in the treaty 
 area. Designated representatives of the Foreign 
 Ministers will form a permanent Council of Repre- 
 sentatives at Bangkok. With the services of a 
 secretariat and the assistance of military advisers 
 and counselors on economic affairs and problems of 
 subversion, this permanent body will assure con- 
 tinuous coordination of planning and programs for 
 the treaty organization. 
 
 FACTORS IN THE SOUTHEAST 
 ASIAN CRISIS 
 
 Southeast Asia is important because of its geo- 
 graphical location athwart communication lines 
 and its enormous wealth in natural resources. 
 Its manpower is capable of contributing signifi- 
 cantly to world peace and prosperity. 
 
 Today all shipping between Europe and the 
 Orient via the Indian Ocean must pass through 
 either the Strait of Malacca or the Strait of Sunda. 
 The former is between the Malay Peninsula and 
 the island of Sumatra, the latter between Sumatra 
 and Java, (’ontrol of these two Southeast Asian 
 straits gives dominance over a sea route that is 
 comparable in importance to the Panama Canal 
 route. Furthermore, all intercontinental airways 
 in the Far East traverse the Southeast Asian area. 
 Bangkok in Thailand and Rangoon in Burma are 
 major air transport centers, distant only a few 
 
 flying hours from Saigon, Hong Kong, Darwin, 
 and Calcutta. 
 
 Southeast Asia lies across the tropic zone be- 
 tween the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its penin- 
 sula and island chains form a vast broken horse- 
 shoe of land rimming the South China Sea. 
 Burma, Laos, and Viet-Nam, northernmost of the 
 peninsular states, border on Communist China 
 and, together with Thailand, Cambodia, and Ma- 
 laya, compose the western side of the horseshoe. 
 The islands of Indonesia descend in a series of 
 stepping stones toward Australia and then veer 
 north toward the Philippine Archipelago, which 
 forms the eastern side of the horseshoe and extends 
 to within about 300 miles of Formosa. 
 
 From the beginning of history oriental routes of 
 migration, conquest, and trade have converged on 
 Southeast Asia. Once European navigators had 
 circled the globe, the area was destined to become 
 the commercial and strategic gateway between the 
 Pacific and Indian Oceans and also between Asia 
 and Australia. Inevitably it became a goal in the 
 European race for colonies, with Portugal, Spain, 
 Holland, England, and France competing for 
 prizes in the course of the centuries. Of the eight 
 nations that now comprise the region, only the 
 Kingdom of Thailand managed to retain its inde- 
 pendence throughout the age of European colonial 
 expansion. 
 
 LTnder colonialism Southeast Asia, long the rice 
 bowl of the Orient, gradually became also the 
 Western World’s major supplier of certain critical 
 raw materials and other very desirable commodi- 
 ties. 
 
 World War II underscored the importance of 
 Southeast Asia both as a gateway and as a source 
 of strategic raw materials and agricultural prod- 
 ucts. Lying in the path of Japanese expansion, 
 Indochina passed from French to Japanese control 
 shortly after the fall of France. By the spring 
 of 1942 the remaining countries of the area were 
 under Japanese occupation. Llntil the liberation 
 of enemy-occupied areas in 1945, the gateway was 
 a barrier and the source inaccessible to all nations 
 except Japan. In the course of the liberation all 
 countries of the area became battlegrounds. 
 
 Not long after the withdrawal of the Japanese 
 from the area, it became apparent that Southeast 
 Asia lay in the path of yet another type of ex- 
 pansion, that of world communism. Ever since 
 World War II the Communist strategy of infiltra- 
 tion to exploit existing nationalist revolutionary 
 
 2 
 
movements or to foment them where they do not 
 exist has complicated — and in some instances re- 
 tarded — the transition of Southeast Asian coun- 
 tries from colonial status to independence. 
 
 The successful advance of communism through 
 China and well into northern Viet-Nam threatens 
 the remaining Southeast Asian countries with a 
 more deadly form of colonialism than any the 
 world has ever known. Extension of Communist 
 control over the remainder of Viet-Nam, Laos, 
 Cambodia, Thailand, and Burma, which together 
 form Asia’s rice bowl, would place most of the 
 independent Asian nations in mortal danger. 
 India, Ceylon, Japan, and Malaya, which are de- 
 
 pendent upon that rice bowl for life itself, would 
 have access to it only on Communist terms. 
 
 No Southeast Asian country is militarily strong 
 enough to withstand armed aggression without 
 help. None of the new and inexperienced govern- 
 ments has been able to raise the standard of living 
 high enough to insulate its people against Com- 
 munist subversion. If these governments are to 
 repel armed invasion, they must have outside mili- 
 tary aid. If they are to prove to their peoples 
 that free institutions can give them more solid 
 satisfactions than communism’s promised pie in 
 the sky, they must have economic and technical 
 assistance from other non-Communist countries. 
 
 341210 0 - 55 -2 
 
 3 
 
The United States has supported the Southeast 
 Asian countries in their enierfring independence 
 and is ready to help them to preserve their free- 
 dom. Our Government is convinced that these 
 struggling young governments can best strengthen 
 themselves militarily against invasion and eco- 
 nomically against Communist propaganda by al- 
 lying themselves with other free nations. The 
 Manila Pact, we firmly believe, is a step in the 
 right direction. But thus far only two Southeast 
 Asian nations are signatories. Our Government 
 hopes that others will decide to follow the example 
 of Thailand and the Philippines. 
 
 The way to union for collective security in 
 Southeast Asia, however, is beset with certain 
 obstacles and problems that were not a considera- 
 tion in the development of the North Atlantic 
 Treaty Organization. These obstacles are inher- 
 ent in Southeast Asia's land, its peoples, and its 
 history. 
 
 The Land and Its Peoples 
 
 Although it sprawls across a vast area more 
 than 3,000 miles from east to west and more than 
 2,000 from north to south. Southeast Asia has 
 less than half the actual land mass of the United 
 States. Its population is about 10 million greater. 
 The land form is varied, the population more so; 
 and the configuration of the land has created bar- 
 riers not only between countries but also between 
 communities. 
 
 The area abounds in rugged, trackless moun- 
 tains rich in virgin forests and scarcely tapped 
 minerals, dense jungles, fever-infested swamps, 
 fertile inland plateaus, turbulent rivers, and fer- 
 tile river deltas and coastal plains. In the mon- 
 soon belt wet and dry seasons alternate with 
 regularity; outside it the lowlands are hot and 
 humid the year round. Temperature variations 
 increase with altitude — and altitude ranges from 
 sea level to heights of more than 18,000 feet — 
 in the north, where the Burma-China border be- 
 comes indistinct in the Himalayas. 
 
 The region’s lush fertility makes land clearance 
 a never-ending labor. The work of years was 
 obliterated by World War II. Bridges, railw^ays, 
 roads, and inland waterways suffered wholesale 
 destruction, and once-cultivated fields reverted to 
 jungle. Economic disruption was serious through- 
 out the entire area. 
 
 The peoples are disparate in racial background, 
 religion, language, and customs. Among them is 
 about every known form of government, which 
 may be exercised by a tribal chieftain, a rajah, 
 a sultan, a king, a dictator, or a democratically 
 elected parliament. 
 
 Some 3,000 years ago the area began to receive 
 waves of immigrants who were to effect great 
 changes in the life and thinking of whatever land 
 they reached. The Chinese were first, coming 
 usually in the spirit of conquest. A later wave 
 rolled in from India, and the Hindu immigrants 
 brought with them higher forms of religion, phi- 
 losophy, and art and an advanced social organiza- 
 tion. Much later, traders from the Arabian Sea 
 arrived at Indonesian ports with Mohammedanism 
 as well as commercial cargo to offer. Eventually 
 they penetrated the Philippines, where the Moro 
 people continue to look to Mecca as they pray. 
 
 In the 16th century the Europeans began to 
 reach the area — Portuguese, Spanish, British, 
 Dutch, and French — in that order. Their mer- 
 chant companies busied themselves with develop- 
 ing natural I'esources for the good of the mother 
 country. Their missionaries bestowed varieties 
 of Christian faith among the receptive elements 
 of the population. And in due time European 
 racial strains were added to the existing complex. 
 
 European colonialism and the impetus it gave 
 to commerce drew more Chinese and Indians to 
 the area. Both groups — the Chinese in particu- 
 lar — became small businessmen, middlemen, and 
 moneylenders. As they prospered, many became 
 landlords, bankers, and plantation operatoi*s. To- 
 day more than 10 million Chinese live in the area, 
 and the vast majority of them regard themselves 
 as Chinese nationals regardless of their place of 
 birth. The sharp business practices of many of 
 these “oA'erseas’’ Chinese have made them a power- 
 ful and bitterly resented element in most South- 
 east Asian conmiunities. 
 
 In all the countries the populations are con- 
 centrated in the lower reaches of large river val- 
 leys and coastal plains. In the sparsely settled 
 inland frontier regions, steep mountains and tur- 
 bulent rivers separate hill peoples from one an- 
 other as well as from their countrymen in the 
 densely populated lowlands. This separation of 
 communities has preserved intact hundreds of 
 dialects and has increased the difficulty of achiev- 
 ing cooperation among the peoples. 
 
 Despite diversity of origins, languages, and re- 
 
 4 
 
■Jonex Hridye, Mnriihi, the RepuhUc of the Philippines. This newly eonstrueted span teas built loith funds appropriated 
 by the United fttates under the Philippine Rehabilitation Act. Its predecessor was destroyed in the battle for the city's 
 liberation. 
 
 ligions, the peoples have had certain experiences 
 in common. Throughout the area the standard 
 of living is measured within a rice economy. 
 Village societies have persisted for centuries. 
 Average life expectancy is low and infant mor- 
 tality high, with malaria, dysentery, and tubercu- 
 losis taking a high toll of life. 
 
 Barring some exchange of raw materials for 
 manufactured goods from the West, the popula- 
 tions have been largely self-sufficient, with little 
 need of trade or other dealings with one another. 
 Every country within the area has a past history 
 
 of tribal or interracial warfare and periodic in- 
 vasions, principally from the north — from China. 
 None is unaware that pressure for southward ex- 
 pansion continues in the giant country to the 
 north. 
 
 With the exception of Thailand, all Southeast 
 Asian countries have been developed by foreigners 
 and in the colonial pattern. They are convinced 
 that they were denied a fair share of the gains 
 from colonial enterprise. Until World War II 
 Southeast Asian trade was overwhelmingly with 
 the nations of Western Europe and the United 
 
 5 
 
States. Under the system of exchanging raw 
 materials for processed goods and manufactured 
 products, Southeast Asia remained industrially 
 backward and undeveloped. Japanese occupation 
 reoriented the economy of each of these countries 
 toward Japan, and liberation activities disi’upted 
 the economy altogether. 
 
 Except in Thailand where independence goes 
 back some 3,000 years, and in the Philippines 
 where transition from dependence to independence 
 took place peacefully in accordance with promises 
 made by the U. S. Government, the nationalism 
 that has inspired the influential classes of South- 
 east Asia for more than half a century is deeply 
 rooted in anticolonialism and has needed little 
 stimulation to put forth anti-Western attitudes. 
 After World War I nationalistic fervor increased 
 in intensity; during and after World War II it 
 reached revolutionary proportions. 
 
 The Economic Situation 
 
 Southeast Asia is the world’s largest ex- 
 porter of natural rubber, copra, quinine, 
 kapok, rice, teak, pepper, tapioca flour, palm 
 oil, and tin. It produces in some quantity 
 sugar, tea, coffee, tobacco, sisal, tropical 
 fruits, essential oils, spices, natural resins 
 and gums, oil, iron ore, and bauxite. North- 
 ern Viet-Nam and Burma have some oil, but 
 the only large resources discovered as yet are 
 in Indonesia and North Borneo. Currently 
 the area produces rice for its own needs and 
 a 3-million ton surplus for export ; its rubber 
 plantations provide the world with 90 per- 
 cent of its crude rubber; its mines provide 
 about 60 percent of the w’orld’s tin ; and its 
 shorelines produce some 84 percent of the 
 world’s copra and coconut oil. 
 
 Southeast Asia’s production of critical raw ma- 
 terials and agricultural products appears impres- 
 sive when expressed in percentages of the world’s 
 output. Measured against its own potential. 
 Southeast Asian production is seen in better per- 
 ■spective. Primitive mining and farming methods 
 
 sharply limit production in most of the countries 
 of the area. Currently the yield of agriculture — 
 which accounts for more than 70 percent of the 
 total production of the area — is only a fractional 
 part of what it might be. As yet Southeast Asia 
 has scarcely tapped its vast natural resources. 
 
 Southeast Asia supplies about 10 percent of all 
 U. S. imports and buys approximately 5 percent 
 of all U. S. exports. Stated another way, about 
 30 percent of the area’s exports go to the United 
 States, from which it receives 20 percent of all its 
 imports. The remainder of non-Communist Asia 
 accounts for a quarter of Southeast Asia’s total 
 trade, and one-third of that quarter is with Japan. 
 The area’s heaviest trade, about 45 percent of the 
 total volume, is with Western Europe. Thus far 
 trade with Communist countries has been slight — 
 but not from lack of effort on the part of Commu- 
 nist China to attract it. 
 
 The Southeast Asian economy suffers from an 
 adverse balance of trade. Thus far it has taken 
 abnormal demand for the region’s major exports 
 and resulting high prices paid for them to tip the 
 balance in Southeast Asia’s favor. In 1951, despite 
 its need to import practically all manufactured 
 items — from safety pins to plows — the area 
 achieved a favorable balance, with $3.6 billion in 
 exports against $3.2 billion in imports. That 
 year’s favorable balance was due to the extraordi- 
 nary demand for tin and rubber, principally in 
 the United States, as war orders for Korea reached 
 a peak in American industry. After 1951 dimin- 
 ishing demand and prices for tin and rubber 
 shifted the balance adversely. 
 
 The heaviest producers of rubber and tin have 
 been most seriously affected when there is a drop 
 in prices — and have tended to hold the United 
 States responsible. Indonesia and Malaya depend 
 on rubber for nearly 60 percent of their foreign 
 exchange earnings. Sales of tin provide 19 per- 
 cent of Malaya’s foreign exchange, 14 percent of 
 Thailand’s, and 12 percent of Indonesia’s. The 
 rise or fall of a few cents in the prices of these 
 raw materials makes a difference of millions of 
 dollars to the producing countries. Rubber, which 
 sold for 88 cents in 1951, dropped in 1953 to 20 
 cents; since then it has risen gi'adually, and at the 
 close of 1954 the market was relatively firm, with 
 the price hovering around 36 cents per pound. 
 Over the same period tin dropj^ed from a high of 
 
 6 
 
$1.81 to a low of 84 cents, rose to $1.01, and then 
 slipped back to 88.5 cents. Continuing low prices 
 for these vital exports plus the low productivity 
 of the area constitute the major economic problems 
 of Southeast Asia. 
 
 Throughout the area per capita income con- 
 tinues lower than it was before World War II. 
 This situation slows political and economic prog- 
 ress at the same time that it makes economic de- 
 velopment the principal objective of every gov- 
 erimient’s program. A complex of circumstances 
 has contributed to the slow rate of increase in per 
 capita income. Outstanding among them are de- 
 struction wrought by World War II and subse- 
 quent guerrilla fighting, reluctance of the West 
 to reinvest capital, lack of savings for domestic 
 investment, unfavorable exchange rates, scarcity 
 of management skills, and preponderance of un- 
 skilled labor. 
 
 Because of this situation, the newly independent 
 governments face difficulties that wmuld challenge 
 the abilities of the most stable, experienced, and 
 
 mature governments. The peoples, with their long 
 tradition of resisting governmental authority, are 
 unlikely to continue long in support of the new 
 governments unless those governments can demon- 
 strate their ability to improve living conditions 
 for the average man and his family. A very little 
 improvement goes a long way toward breeding 
 hope and faith ; a very little slip backward breeds 
 disillusionment with the present government and 
 renders the people more susceptible to the prom- 
 ises of the Communists in their midst. 
 
 Throughout the area the need for technical and 
 economic aid from other countries remains vital. 
 Southeast Asian countries are receiving assistance 
 of both types through various agencies — the tech- 
 nical assistance programs of the United Nations 
 and the United States, the Colombo Plan, the 
 United Nations Economic Commission for Asia 
 and the Far East, and the United States programs 
 of economic cooperation. Most of the countries 
 need more assistance than they are currently re- 
 
 A modem hill resort in West Java, Indonesia. The terraced paddies in 
 the foreground are typical of agriculture over much of the region. 
 
 
 f 
 
 7 
 
ceiving. This critical area has fabulous potential 
 wealth in its natural resources of fertile soil, min- 
 eral deposits, and manpower; but now and for 
 some time to come, it must have help if it is to 
 learn how to make the most of them. 
 
 Willingness of individual nations, including the 
 United States, to provide technical and direct 
 economic assistance is not the answer in all parts 
 of the area. Despite their need and desire for 
 such assistance, some of the Southeast Asian gov- 
 ernments do not ask it of any individual country. 
 Those governments do seek help through the 
 United Nations. Though some of the countries 
 have been denied membership by Soviet veto in the 
 Security (’ouncil, every one of them trusts and 
 supports the United Nations. Some of the re- 
 cently independent countries know that the United 
 States is their friend and has no imperialistic de- 
 signs on them or on any other countries in the 
 world. 
 
 THE INDIVIDUAL COUNTRIES 
 
 With an area of approximately 262,000 square 
 miles, Burma is larger than France and a little 
 smaller than Texas. It is a land of rich river 
 valleys enclosed by rugged mountain walls. The 
 country borders on the Bay of Bengal in the south 
 
 and west. East Pakistan and India in the north- 
 west, Tibet in the north, China’s Yunnan Province 
 in the northeast, and Laos and Thailand on the 
 east and southeast. The Irrawaddy River, flow- 
 ing the length of the land, is Burma’s economic 
 lifeline and major transportation system, connect- 
 ing the capital Rangoon on the southern coast 
 w’ith Mandalay in the east central area. 
 
 The population of some 19 million, predomi- 
 nantly Buddhist ’ and rural, is concentrated in 
 central and southern Burma in the river valleys 
 and the Irrawaddy Delta. Burma ranks high 
 among the world’s rice-growing nations, produces 
 
 Partner in the fields of Burma where rice is the principal 
 crop, the country’s largest export and. main source of 
 income. 
 
 in considerable quantity tobacco, rubber, peanuts, 
 cotton, and millet, and has vast teak forests. Al- 
 though predominantly agricultural, Burma has 
 rich, if only partially developed, mineral re- 
 
 ' Lesser vehicle Buddhism, the older, simpler form, 
 brought from Ceylon and India, is the faith of more 
 than 80 percent of the people. 
 
 8 
 
sources, which include tin, silver, gold, lead, cop- 
 per, zinc, nickel, tungsten, rubies, jade, and 
 sapphires. 
 
 In a series of actions begun in 1826 and con- 
 tinuing until 1885, Great Britain annexed Burma, 
 administering it as a province of the Indian 
 Empire until 1937, when Burma won a modicum 
 of autonomy as a separate unit of the British 
 Empire. Since January 4, 1948, Burma has been 
 a fully independent nation outside the British 
 Commonwealth. On April 19, 1948, it became the 
 58th member of the United Nations. 
 
 The Union of Burma has a bicameral parlia- 
 ment elected by popular vote. The President is 
 elected by both chambers of the parliament; the 
 Prime Minister, who is the executive head of the 
 Government, is aj)pointed by the President on 
 nomination by the Chamber of Deputies; and 
 cabinet ministers are appointed by the President 
 on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. 
 Socialists are the most powerful element in the 
 present coalition Government, which is committed 
 to a domestic program of social and economic re- 
 forms and a foreign policy based on nonalignment 
 in the cold war. The Government recognized the 
 Communist regime in China on December 18, 1949. 
 
 Probably no other Southeast Asian country 
 suffered such wholesale devastation durijig World 
 War II as Burma. Since then Burma’s recon- 
 struction and economic recovery have been re- 
 tarded by civil disturbances. The Government 
 has made notable progress in stamping out 
 guerrilla activities in the more thickly populated 
 agricultural sections, but various insurgent 
 groups, both Communist and non-Communist, 
 continue to harry remote villages. Rice produc- 
 tion has gradually increased to a point not far 
 below the prewar level, but rice exports lag far 
 behind the prewar record. Since the major part 
 of the Government’s revenues is derived from rice 
 exports, the present buyer’s market is a matter 
 of deep concern in Burma. Although the Govern- 
 ment is working toward greater diversification of 
 its economy, it will take many years to overcome 
 Burma's dependence on rice. 
 
 Thus far ('ommunist C'hina has seemed eager 
 to convince the Burme.se that its intentions are 
 peaceful. The fact remains that Burma borders 
 on Communist China for a distance of almost 
 1,000 miles and is physically vulnerable to overt 
 aggression as well as to infiltration. 
 
 Thailani 
 
 Occupying a central position on the Southeast 
 Asian peninsula, Thailand has Burma to the west 
 and north, Ix>as and Cambodia to the east, and 
 Malaya and the Gulf of Thailand to the south. 
 It has an area of about 200,000 square miles. By 
 Southeast Asian standards, its population of 19 
 million is remarkably homogeneous. The prin- 
 cipal minority groups are Chinese, numbering 
 about 3 million ; Malays, 700,000 ; and Vietnamese, 
 54,000. Thai is the lingua franca, but English 
 is commonly understood by official and commer- 
 cial classes. The population is predominantly 
 Buddhist, and the Buddhist Church is the Na- 
 tional (''hurch of Thailand. 
 
 Ivess damaged by war than its neighbors, Thai- 
 land’s economic situation is probably the best in 
 the area. It leads the world in rice exports and 
 ranks high among exporters of tin, rubber, teak, 
 gems, sticlac, and hides. By Western criteria the 
 Thai standard of living is low, but no one in Thai- 
 land suffers hunger and the peasant population 
 has never been so well off before. With help from 
 various United Nations organizations and under 
 the technical assistance programs of the United 
 States, the Thai Government is waging war 
 against malaria and trachoma and improving 
 communications, irrigation, and education facil- 
 ities. Accordingly, the standard of living can be 
 expected to continue rising. 
 
 Since 1932 Thailand has been a constitutional 
 monarchy. The Government operates on a one- 
 
 9 
 
party system, and changes have come about 
 through coup d'etat. Long accustomed to a strong 
 central government, the Thai proletariat has not 
 developed a high degree of political consciousness. 
 In its 30 centuries as an independent monarchy, 
 Thailand has never known a popular revolt. In 
 the postwar years it has been less troubled by 
 internal strife than any other Southeast Asian 
 country. 
 
 The present Government, in power since 1947, is 
 an ardent supporter of the United Nations and a 
 strong ally of the United States. It has refused to 
 recognize Communist China and has steadfastly 
 opposed its admission to the United Nations. 
 Thailand was one of the two Asian countries to 
 
 send troops to repel the Communist aggression in 
 Korea. From the beginning it has supported the 
 idea of a Southeast Asian defense alliance. It is 
 a signatory of the Manila Pact and the Pacific 
 Charter and was first among the signatories to 
 ratify the treaty and deposit its instruments of 
 ratification with the Philippine Government. 
 
 Although internally peaceful, the kingdom is 
 uncomfortably close to Communist-controlled 
 North Viet-Nam, with only small and militarily 
 weak Laos between them. The presence of 54,000 
 Vietnamese refugees in the section bordering on 
 Laos is a source of uneasiness to the Thai Govern- 
 ment. Most of the refugees fled military action in 
 their own country back in 1946 and 1947. Since 
 
 Learning to know the mosquito is step number one for the elective control of malaria. These young men are engaged 
 in Thailand’s fight to conquer an ancient scourge which has long sapped the life and vitality of the people. 
 
 10 
 
the cease-fiie in the Indochinese war and the parti- 
 tioning of Viet-Nam, 90 percent of the refugees 
 have expressed a wish to return to North Viet- 
 Nam. Thus far Communist North Viet-Nam has 
 shown no disposition to accept them. Free Viet- 
 Nam agreed to accept them — but very few want to 
 go there. In the meantime this displaced group of 
 Vietnamese, most of whom are judged to be sym- 
 pathetic to the Communist Viet Minh regime and 
 ready to cooperate with it, constitute a threat to 
 Thailand’s security. 
 
 Viet-Alai 
 
 
 The present State of Viet-Nam was formed after 
 World War II from two former French protector- 
 ates liordering on the South China Sea — Tonkin in 
 the north and Annam in the middle — and the 
 former colony of Cochinchina in the south. This 
 state stretches the full length of the eastern coast 
 of the Southeast Asian Peninsula. Viet-Nam is 
 the largest of three states of Southeast Asia asso- 
 ciated within the French Union — the other two 
 being its western neighbors, Laos and Cambodia. 
 The three countries comprise a geographic area 
 referred to as Indochina. 
 
 The total area of Viet-Nam is about 127,000 
 square miles. The population of some 25 million 
 
 is heavily concentrated along the coastal strip and 
 in the Red River Delta rice lands of the north and 
 the Mekong Delta in the south. Many small in- 
 digenous tribes inhabit the formidable mountains, 
 isolated from one another as well as from the low- 
 landers by deep gorges. Racially the Vietnamese, 
 often rated the most energetic and aggressive of 
 Southeast Asian peoples, predominate, and their 
 language is the common tongue of the country. 
 
 Potentially Viet-Nam is rich. It is the world’s 
 third largest rice-producing country (although it 
 now produces little over its needs) and has exten- 
 sive resources of iron, tungsten, manganese, tin, 
 zinc, and coal ; valuable woods and fish ; and agri- 
 cultural products of rubber, pepper, corn, and 
 hides. At present Viet-Nam is suffering poverty 
 and general dislocation in the aftermath of 8 years 
 of bitter civil war and the resulting partitioning 
 of the country. 
 
 In manipulating Vietnamese nationalist groups, 
 the professional Communist “liberator” Ho Chi 
 Minh, leader of the Viet Minh, applied Stalin’s 
 instructions for “alliance with the liberation move- 
 ment of the colonies and dependent peoples.” The 
 first move in the Communist strategy was to ex- 
 ploit legitimate nationalist aims by persuading 
 the people that those aims could be achieved only 
 by violent rebellion. The second was the estab- 
 lishment of a revolutionary regime, actually a 
 police state, which permits the third step — the 
 final betrayal of the people. Instead of the inde- 
 pendence the people have sought, they find them- 
 selves and their homeland being “amalgamated” 
 into the Communist orbit. 
 
 The slowness of France in granting more than 
 nominal autonomy to Viet-Nam and the Associ- 
 ated States of Laos and Cambodia made it easier 
 for Ho Chi Minh to put his strategy into action. 
 After the fall of the fortress Dien Bien Phu in 
 May 1954, French Union Forces were in a difficult 
 situation, and the costly and exhausting war ended 
 in the cease-fire arranged at Geneva in July 1954. 
 
 The Geneva agreements partitioned Viet-Nam 
 at approximately the 17th parallel, pending gen- 
 eral elections to be held in July of 1956. The 
 Geneva Accords provided a schedule for regroup- 
 ment of troops and stated clearly that everyone 
 in Viet-Nam should be allowed to decide freely 
 in which zone he wished to live and should receive 
 necessary assistance from the authorities if he 
 chose to move to the other zone prior to May 1955. 
 
 11 
 
Three-fifths of Viet-Nam and something more 
 than half the Vietnamese population are now 
 under Communist control in North Viet-Nam. 
 Free Viet-Nam south of the 17th parallel is now 
 independent of French control and is, with United 
 States and French assistance, developing the insti- 
 tutions of a free nation. 
 
 Premier Ngo Dinh Diem assumed office in the 
 summer of 1954 and steadily gained popular sup- 
 port. An ardent Vietnamese patriot and a sin- 
 cere exponent of democratic piunciples. Diem, a 
 devout Roman Catholic, took over enormous re- 
 sponsibilities in time of crisis without much polit- 
 ical experience. 
 
 Diem’s Government has tackled the enormous 
 project of receiving and resettling the refugees 
 from Communist-controlled North Viet-Nam and, 
 with the assistance of the United States, has been 
 able to handle the continuous flow of desperate 
 humanity. By the end of 1954 more than 200,000 
 of the more than one-half million refugees had 
 been established in new villages on a self-support- 
 ing basis. 
 
 During his term in office he has weathered 
 trials that have made him a veteran and proved 
 him an increasingly able administrator. Dur- 
 ing the fall of 1954 he was confronted with 
 dissidence on the part of his Army Chief of 
 Staff, but Diem was able to remove the Chief of 
 Staff and achieve control of the army. For a short 
 period he succeeded in bringing into harmony with 
 the Government several politico- religious military 
 groups that had never before cooperated with 
 any government. 
 
 More recently certain of the old feudal elements 
 have been attempting to create a united front in 
 defiance of the Diem Government. In early May 
 Diem appeared to have succeeded in subduing an 
 armed revolt by tbe Birth Xuyen sect led by Gen. 
 Jje Van Vien and a coup d’etat led by Gen. Nguyen 
 Van Vy, who had been temporarily delegated mili- 
 tary powers by Bao Dai. Diem also announced 
 plans to form a more broadly based government 
 which would have the support of the Hoa Hao 
 and Cao Dai sects and of the people in general. 
 The plans provided for convoking some form of 
 representative assembly which would provide for 
 general elections for a constituent assembly to be 
 held later in the year. 
 
 Second in size of the three Indochinese States, 
 Laos is more than 89,000 square miles in area and 
 has a population of only 1.5 million, chiefly of 
 Thai race. It is wedged in between Conununist 
 North Viet-Nam on the east. Communist China 
 on the north, Burma on the northwest, Thailand 
 on the west, and Cambodia on the south. 
 
 Laos is underdeveloped, some of the non-Lao 
 mountain tribes being completely primitive. 
 Throughout the country agriculture is conducted 
 about as it was 2,000 years ago. The Lao have 
 the Mekong River in its most turbulent stretch to 
 contend with and periodically suffer heavy loss 
 and damage from its excesses. Pigs, cattle, hides, 
 millet, corn, and silkworm culture provide the 
 people with materials for export. 
 
 The country is a constitutional monarchy with 
 a king who is popular among his people. Less 
 disrupted by Communist aggression than its 
 neighbor Viet-Nam, Laos has consequently known 
 a smoother transition from colonial status to in- 
 dependence. It is, however, beset with the vexing 
 problem of a Communist movement known as the 
 Pathet Lao, which illegally controls the two 
 northern provinces designated military regroup- 
 ment zones by the Geneva Accords. This element, 
 clamoring for representation in the Government 
 and refusing to submit to royal authority, is a 
 threat to the national security of Laos. 
 
 12 
 
From npituiinf/ wheel to finished product these icomen of Laos make their own clothiny. 
 
 Cambodia 
 
 Cambodia, bounded by Free Viet-Xam, Thai- 
 land, Laos, and the South China Sea, is the small- 
 est of the Indochinese States, just under 70,000 
 
 square miles in area. Most of its 3.5 million 
 people are descendants of the ancient Khmers, who 
 kept archives and had books as early as the third 
 century of our era and who built the famous 
 temples of Angkor. In the 18th century the 
 Cambodians were pushed out of Cochinchina by 
 the warlike Annamese. Like Laos, Cambodia is 
 a constitutional monarchy and has achieved inde- 
 pendence in relatively peaceful fashion. 
 
 Although it lacks minerals, this small kingdom 
 is rich in limestone, sandstone, granite, and mar- 
 ble. Its virgin forest represents considerable 
 wealth and its Grand Lac is one of the world’s 
 largest fish reservoirs. Nevertheless, the Cam- 
 bodians are fundamentally an agricultural people. 
 Their economy is dominated by the Mekong River, 
 which is kinder to them than to the Lao. Al- 
 though the river shifts its banks and displaces 
 villages yearly, it pays its way in rich deposits of 
 alluvial soil for the farmers, enabling them to 
 produce more than they consume of rice, corn, 
 and sugar and — in recent years — rubber and cot- 
 
 13 
 
ton. The exports of rice and of rubber signify 
 a potentially strong economy. 
 
 Cambodia is politically anti-Communist. It 
 has been strengthening its ties with Burma and 
 
 .-1 group of iioutig bon::es (liuddhist pricitfs) in Phno-m 
 Penh, Cambodia, look at a pictorial display at the entrance 
 to the U. S. Legation. 
 
 Thailand and recently has settled its reparations 
 issue with Japan. By agi’eement, Japan will pro- 
 vide Cambodia with needed technical assistance in 
 lieu of money for war damages. 
 
 Malaya is a long, thin finger of land forming 
 the southernmost part of the Southeast Asian 
 Peninsula. No larger than Florida, and with 80 
 percent of its terrain dense jungle, Malaya is more 
 highly developed than most of its neighbors. It 
 is rich in strategic rubber and tin, has a higher 
 standard of living than any other Far Eastern 
 country, boasts the comparatively high literacy 
 rate of 40 percent, has more trained administrators 
 than any other country in the area except the 
 Philippines — and yet it is the single country in 
 Southeast Asia that still retains colonial status. 
 
 The Federation of Malaya, administered by a 
 British High Commissioner, is composed of nine 
 Malay States headed by sultans and the Settle- 
 ments of Penang and Malacca. Singapore, at the 
 southern tip of Malaya and one of the world’s 
 great ports and naval bases, is governed separately 
 as a crown colony. Of Malaya’s total population 
 of approximately 6.4 million, 43 percent is Malay, 
 44 percent Chinese, and the remainder is made up 
 of Indians, Pakistani, Europeans, and Eurasians. 
 The indigenous population is with few exceptions 
 Moslem. The Chinese are a mixture of Confu- 
 cianists, Taoists, Buddhists, and Christians. The 
 Indians and Pakistanis are predominantly Hindu, 
 and the Europeans and Eurasians predominantly 
 Christian. The peoples lack a common lan- 
 guage — though many non-Malays speak “Bazaar 
 Malay.” Most educated Chinese speak Mandarin, 
 and the majority of the educated of all racial 
 groups speak English. 
 
 Malaya’s strategic location has made it impor- 
 tant to the plans of aggressors in that part of the 
 world. It was used by the Japanese in 1942 as a 
 steppingstone to Indonesia, and it is not by acci- 
 dent that the most pei-sistent and bold Communist 
 terrorist activities are taking place in Malaya — 
 now that the wars in Korea and Indochina have 
 ended. 
 
 Since mid-1948 Communist guerrillas have 
 waged war against the forces of law and order in 
 Malaya with the expressed objective of driving 
 out the British and establishing a Communist 
 state. This Communist movement is without na- 
 tive roots, being approximately 95 percent Chinese 
 with the hard core China-born. Operating from 
 the gi’eat jungles and from clandestine cells, the 
 guerrillas have seriously disrupted the life and 
 economy of the country and have thwarted the 
 efforts of the military and police to eradicate them. 
 Within the past 2 years, however, new military 
 
 14 
 
measures and civil programs directed against the 
 Communist guerrillas have lessened the intensity 
 and number of Communist-inspired incidents. 
 
 Indonesia 
 
 f 
 
 The island world of Indonesia, formerly known 
 as the East Indies, makes up the largest and most 
 heavily populated of the Southeast Asian coun- 
 tries. Its total land mass is double the size of 
 Texas and is a vast archipelago stretching south 
 and east of the Malay Peninsula for more than 
 3,000 miles. Java, Sumatra, Borneo, and Celebes 
 are the most important of the several thousand 
 islands, and Java contains 50 million of Indo- 
 nesia’s 80 million people. Racially the Malay 
 strain is predominant, with some Melanesian in- 
 fluence in the east. The cultural zenith is reached 
 in the highly developed Javanese and Balinese 
 civilizations, and the nadir in the stone-age devel- 
 opment and j)ractices of the mountain tribes of 
 Borneo. Approximately 2.5 million Christians 
 and 3 million Chinese Taoists, Buddhists, or Con- 
 fucianists enjoy the freedom of religion provided 
 for religious minorities in Indonesia’s constitu- 
 tion, but the largest segment of the population — 
 over 90 percent — is Moslem. 
 
 Indonesia achieved independence — not without 
 bloodshed — from the Netherlands on December 27, 
 1949. The new Republic of Indonesia became a 
 federated government of 10 provinces on August 
 15, 1950, and on September 29, 1950, Indonesia 
 became the 60th member of the United Nations. 
 
 While still in revolutionary status the Govern- 
 ment put down an armed Communist revolt. Cur- 
 rently some areas of the country are disturbed by 
 dissident groups, but these activities have been 
 confined. The principal group is the Darul Islam, 
 
 a Moslem group that seeks to establish a theocratic 
 state. Factionalism and uneven development of 
 land and peoples are major problems confronting 
 the Government. A determined effort on the part 
 of the Government to combat illiteracy has raised 
 the literacy level from the preindependence low 
 of 7 percent to possibly 50 percent in only 5 years. 
 English is the second official language and is in 
 increasing use. 
 
 Economically, Indonesia needs to diversify its 
 production and develop its enormous potential of 
 agricultural and mineral wealth. To do so, it 
 needs continued technical assistance and increased 
 private investment. It exports 40 percent of the 
 world's rubber, 20 percent of its tin, and consid- 
 erable tea, tobacco, spices, copra, and coffee. 
 Although as recently as 2 years ago Indonesia was 
 obliged to import 750,000 tons of rice, it is now 
 nearing self-sufficiency in rice production. As the 
 principal F ar Eastern source of petroleum, Indo- 
 nesia is in a unique position. It is encouraging 
 the development of the industry through substan- 
 tial American investments. 
 
 Eleven of the more than 700 islands of the Phil- 
 ippine Archipelago have an area in excess of 1,000 
 square miles, and about 63 percent of the estimated 
 total of 115,600 square miles of land is arable. 
 Currently the country’s population of more than 
 
 15 
 
‘21 million is overconcentrated in parts of the 
 largest island, Luzon, which contains the capital, 
 Manila. It is hoped that resettlement programs 
 will alleviate the distribution problem — even 
 though the Philippines has one of the highest 
 birthrates in the world. 
 
 This young Republic is the only predominantly 
 Christian country in the Orient : 80 percent of its 
 population is Roman (hitholic and 11 percent is 
 Christian of other denominations. English is the 
 lingiui franca and the language of instruction in 
 the schools — although about 87 dialects are spoken 
 among the 53 ethnographic groups of the islands. 
 
 On July 4, 1946, the Philippines became an in- 
 dependent nation, peacefully and in accordance 
 with promises made by the United States. Since 
 then the Republic has weathered a major economic 
 crisis and reduced to ineffectiveness a Communist- 
 led movement to overthrow the Government. It 
 has assumed an increasingly responsible role in 
 international affairs and within the United 
 Xations. Despite its domestic pi’oblems and the 
 smallness of its military establishment, it sent a 
 battalion to ffght under the United Xations flag 
 in Korea. In the present crisis the Republic was 
 
 Ju»!/le patrol on a Malayan rubber plantation. Special precautions such as these are 
 needed to protect workers from bandits and Communist-led guerrilla bands. 
 
 16 
 
prompt to recognize the need for collective secu- 
 rity arrangements for Southeast Asia. It was 
 Philippine President Kamon Magsaysay who in- 
 vited other interested nations of the free world to 
 participate in a conference at Manila to “consider 
 measures to further their common objectives in 
 the area.*’ 
 
 THE POSITION OF THE 
 UNITED STATES 
 
 In the course of the past half century, the 
 United States has used its influence consistently 
 and has even gone to war, when necessary, to pre- 
 vent the subjugation of one or another of the 
 Asiatic countries. 
 
 Xow, as in the past, the United States upholds 
 the right of peoples to self-determination. For 
 that reason the U. S. (jovernment could not asso- 
 ciate itself with the (ireneva Accords, by which 13 
 million Vietnamese were assigned to (’ommunist 
 control. American sympathies are perforce with 
 the desire of people to live their own lives in their 
 own way. 
 
 With good reason, the United States is con- 
 vinced that united action otters the free nations 
 of the world the surest and the most economical 
 means of j)reserving their freedom. That convic- 
 tion is rooted in tlie fact that the I’nited States 
 owes its existence as an independent nation to the 
 united action of 13 small and individually weak 
 colonies that were scattered along the rim of a 
 vast wilderness. The conviction is supported by 
 the fact that regional alliances for mutual defense 
 and security have proved the most effective deter- 
 rent to aggression in our time. There has been 
 no armed aggression in Europe since the Xoifh 
 Atlantic Treaty Organization came into existence. 
 
 The Southeast Asian area has been subjected to 
 strong Communist pressures for 30 years. Those 
 pressures liave been intensified in the years follow- 
 ing World War II. The U nited States has sought 
 in such ways as were possible to strengthen the 
 anti-Communist forces in that area with economic, 
 technical, and military aid. 
 
 At the same time, our Government has sought to 
 develop a pattern of collective security for the 
 entire Pacific area. Because differences among 
 nations and peoples in the Pacific made progress 
 toward a collective defense organization slow, the 
 United States began by negotiating a series of 
 
 bilateral treaties that could later be linked with a 
 multilateral alliance. It entered mutual defense 
 treaties with the Philippines, Australia, Xew 
 Zealand, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the 
 Government of the Republic of China. 
 
 On April Iti, 1953, President Eisenhower called 
 for united action to check C^ommunist affirression 
 in Southeast Asia. He foresaw that the soon-to- 
 be concluded cease-fire arrangements in the Korean 
 War would ])ermit Communist China to increase 
 its assistance to Viet Minh forces in Indochina. 
 But it was not until Viet-Xam had been partitioned 
 and Communist control had been extended down 
 the east coast of the Southeast Asian Peninsula to 
 the 17th parallel that the President's call for 
 united action produced positive results. 
 
 The Manila Pact and the Pacific Charter 
 
 From the September 1954 conference of eight 
 nations in Manila emerged the beginnings of col- 
 lective security in the Pacific area. The Manila 
 Pact provides that in the event of armed aggres- 
 sion each signatory country will act to meet the 
 common danger and, as Secretary Dulles ex- 
 plained : 
 
 “The treaty recognizes also the danger of sub- 
 version and indirect aggression. It deals with this 
 difficult problem more explicitly than any other 
 security treaty that has been made. In this re- 
 spect, the treaty represents an important forward 
 step, because subvei’sion and indirect aggression 
 liave been principal tools of international com- 
 munism. . . . 
 
 “The treaty recognizes the importance of eco- 
 nomic welfare. . . . We agi’ee to cooperate in the 
 development of economic measures which will pro- 
 mote economic and social well-being. . . . By the 
 Mutual Security Act, Congress has already pro- 
 vided a fund to be available in this area. . . . 
 
 “However, the treaty builds no economic walls. 
 From an economic standpoint, such nations as 
 Japan, Indonesia, Burma, Ceylon, and India 
 remain important. 
 
 “The treaty area is defined as the territory of the 
 member states in Southeast Asia and the South- 
 western Pacific. The protocol also extends the 
 treaty benefits to Cambodia and Laos and the free 
 territory of Viet-Xam. The Indochina armistice 
 created obstacles to these three countries becom- 
 ing actual parties to the treaty at the present 
 time. The treaty will, however, to the extent 
 
 17 
 
that is practicable, throw a mantle of protection 
 over these youn«r nations.” 
 
 The Manila Pact provides for accession of ad- 
 ditional nations upon unanimous agreement of 
 the parties to the pact. Any nation interested in 
 supporting the objectives of the treaty and able 
 to further its objectives and contribute to the 
 security of the area may become a member. It is 
 the hope of the United States and the other sig- 
 natories that more of the Asian countries will join 
 later. Actually all Southeast Asian countries ex- 
 cept Burma and Indonesia are covered by the 
 treaty. Malaya, still a British dependency, is 
 covered b}' Britain’s signature, and the three Indo- 
 chinese States are included by the protocol to the 
 treaty. 
 
 The Pacific Charter, companion piece to the 
 ^Manila Pact, was proposed by President Magsay- 
 say and, as Mr. Dulles suggests, “may well prove 
 to be the most momentous product of the Confer- 
 ence.’’ For this document signed by represent- 
 atives of both Asia and the West gives the lie to 
 the reiterated Communist charge that the Western 
 nations — and es{)ecially the United States — have 
 imperialistic intentions toward the Asian peoples. 
 In declaring the principles and intent of the ne- 
 gotiators of the Manila Pact, the Pacific Charter 
 became the cornei’stone upon which the treaty was 
 erected. 
 
 For the United States the Pacific Charter made 
 no new commitments. It served rather as a re- 
 affirmation of the principles that our country and 
 our people have upheld since the founding of our 
 Kepublic. 
 
 Our Assistance to Free Viet-Nam 
 
 The goal of our policy of increased assistance to 
 Free Viet-Xam is precisely that of our overall 
 foreign policy. Deputy Assistant Secretary of 
 State for Far Fastern Affairs William J. Sebald 
 defined it this way : 
 
 “That goal is peace, the kind of true peace that 
 will enable us all to enjoy the blessings of liberty. 
 Peace is the goal, and security is the means. For 
 in a world where communism fills every vacuum 
 and man’s every unguarded outpost, a platform 
 of strength is the only way to achieve a working 
 peace.” 
 
 Although the United States refused to associate 
 itself with the Geneva Accords and the Final Dec- 
 
 laration of the other participants of the Confer- 
 ence, it gave assurances that it would refrain from 
 using force or threat of force to overthrow them. 
 In its assistance to Free Viet-Xam, the United 
 States has observed the spirit and the letter of the 
 armistice terms. 
 
 The help given has been entirely of a peaceful 
 and humanitarian nature. Our major work has 
 been in relation to the movement of hundreds of 
 thousands of refugees from the north to the south. 
 Our Xavy, together with the French, has trans- 
 ported to Free Viet-Xam those people who chose 
 to leave the Communist-ridden north. In Saigon, 
 port of entry in the south, our Foreign Operations 
 Administration and various American private 
 agencies have helped with the tremendous project 
 of providing shelter, food, and medical care for 
 the masses of refugees. 
 
 Our Government has made available to the 
 Diem Government about $45 million to enable it 
 to carry out the vast resettlement program and 
 in’ovide the refugees the means to tide them over 
 the first months. We are helping the new Gov- 
 ernment Avith health, sanitation, and education 
 projects too. Within the limits set by the Geneva 
 Accords, Ave have been helping the greatly reduced 
 Vietnamese armed forces with a training program. 
 
 Communist propaganda has tried to paint our 
 help to the neAvly independent Government below 
 the 17th parallel as an attempt to substitute 
 American for French colonialism. Since it is 
 standard operating procedure for communism to 
 accuse others of what it is really doing itself, it 
 is not too surprising to hear from refugees and 
 other Avell-informed sources that Communist vio- 
 lations of the GeneA'a Accords are numerous and 
 habitual. While accusing the United States of 
 seeking to disrupt the GeneA'a agreements. Ho 
 violates the agreements by doubling his armed 
 forces, importing armaments and equipment from 
 Communist China, indulging in reprisals against 
 Avartime partisans of the French Union, failing to 
 release all prisonei*s of war, and conducting coA’ert 
 aggression in Free Viet-Xam and adjoining states 
 by means of clandestine agents. 
 
 Agreements betAveen (''ommunist China and the 
 Viet Minh for extensiA’e reconstruction and new 
 construction of a strategic nature in northern 
 Viet-Xam at Communist China’s expense were 
 announced on December 24, 1954. RaiBvay con- 
 nections and neAv higliAvays linking international 
 conuuunism’s great Asiatic supply base with its 
 
 18 
 
y u i/T 
 
 Wnr-wennj rvfiii/ccK from Comiiniiiixt-hcld Xorth Vict-Xam line up for medical treatment aboard a U. S. Nat^y ship 
 irhieh hrouyht them to Sa'iyon. The Tnited States alloeted f!IO million to the (lorernment of South Viet-Xam to 
 
 (lid in thi.s mammoth resettlemimt. 
 
 forward supply depot suggest furtliei' (’omnumist 
 eiici'oacluiieut in Soutlieast Asia, 
 j The Viet-Xam Embassy in Washington has re- 
 ported that, in less than 5 months, the Viet Minh 
 ^ has equipped four to six new infantry divisions, 
 ? indicating that it has been importing arms from 
 the Soviet bloc through (’ommunist ('hina, in 
 violation of the Accords. 
 
 " 'Fhe fact that more than half a million people 
 have chosen to leave their native villages and the 
 land that may have been in their families for hun- 
 ^ dreds of years rather than live any longer under 
 ^ the Viet Minh regime is comment enough on the 
 X character of the rule. 
 
 For all the.se reasons, the United States is giving 
 its full supj)ort to the Government of Free Viet- 
 Xam, to strengthen it and add to its prestige. 
 And it is working with patience and determina- 
 tion to bring about closer relations between and 
 among the countries of the Southeast Asian Penin- 
 sula. It is striving to unite the assorted countries 
 of the Southeast Asian area in the interests of 
 their own security and in the interests of our own. 
 The United States is doing all these things because 
 ‘‘Peace is the goal and security is the means” and 
 because "a platform of .strength is the only way 
 to achieve a working peace.” 
 
 19 
 
Department of State Publication 5841 
 Far Eastern Series 65 
 
 Released June 1955 
 
 U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1955 O - 341210 
 
 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Oovernment Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C. - Price 15 cents