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10. ENCH INDO CHINA, THAILAND, BURMA
Next I wish to turn to FRENCH INDO CHINA, THAILAND and BURMA.
These I group together because of the fact that they lie astride
the land routes between CHINA and SOUTH-EAST ASIA to the South, and
towards INDIA to the West. Alsc because of the rice exporting
potential of these three countries, to which I have already
referred.
All three are unstable; on the surface THAILAND being possibly
the least so.
11. FRENCH INDO CHINA
FRENCH INDO CHINA has been, ever since the re-occupation, in a
state of turmoil and strife, the results of lack of effort in the
way of men and resources from France, of uncertainty as to policy
and as to what the future holds. There the VIET MINH Movement,
which first was purely nationalistic in character, has now been
drawn into the Communist fold. Without a firm policy, astute
statesmanship and additional resources I cannot see the situation
improving; in fact I fear the reverse.
12. THAILAND
THAILAND is an uncertain quantity, subject as it is to periodical coups d'etat. Those who enjoy power there to-day achieved that position by force, though there have since been elections which have confirmed their positions.
The present direction of the country's affairs is reasonably firm and straightforward, and the trend is definitely anti-
Communist,
But the SIAMESE are notoriously anti-CHINESE, so it is sometimes difficult to disentangle anti-Communism from their age-long attitude towards their CHINESE Overseas Population.
Whatever one may feel about THAILAND's performance in the war and actions since, she has so far, I believe, stuck scrupulously to her rice export commitments, sometimes in very
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