CONTINUED STRIFE IN INDO-CHINA

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5288, 28 December 1946, Page 5

CONTINUED STRIFE IN INDO-CHINA

(Press Assn. — ,

FRENCH " ATTACKS MINISTER ARRIVES TO MAKE REPORT

Rec. 9.30 p.m.)

LONDON, Dec. 27. The French Minister of Overseas Territories has arrived in Indo-China to study the position there. He stated that he hoped tc be able to return to France about the hiiddle of ilext nibrith. A French Government statement on the position in IndbChina criticises the present leaders of the Viet Nam organisation. A French High Command communique^from Saigon says the French forces in- northern Indo-China were holding their positions or attaclring on all fronts. The French continuie to encirele the Viet Nam quarters of Hanoi and have repulsed infiltration attempts. The French News Agency reported that hand grenades were thrown in the French barracks in Saigon and at a passing French military loiTy, causing no casualties. A policeman was killed and another critically injured in another incident. The news agency also reported that the Chinese Consul-General entered the Viet Nam zone of Hanoi to try to establish a neutral area. He had not returned 24 hours afterw'ard.

Appeal for Support According to the Viet Namese radio, the Viet Nam President, Ho Chi Minh, has installed his Goveimment at Hadong, about eight miles south-N west of Hanoi. In New Delhi to-day, Mr. Mai Chau, descrihed as the Viet Namese representative in India, appealed for India's support for the Viet Nam. He said the existence of the Viet Nam Bepublic was in danger from the French tfo'ops and attaelcs. Mr. Chau added that the French were sending more planes, tanks, warships and paratroops under the command of ■General Leclerc. "During the days preceding the aggression the Viet Nam Government tried to create the illusion of less strained relations," said the French statement. He added that President Ho Chi Minh on December 15 sent the Premier, M. Blum, a telegram as&uii--ing him of Viet Narn's "sincere desire for fraternal co-operation with the French people within the framework of the French Union." In the meantime, the xersin Hq^spital in Hanoi had been filled with Viet Nam soldiers disguised as patients.