SIR,—I hope you will permit me to refer to an
in- cident which occurred several months ago in view of the fact that I have only recently seen the article on Mr. Warbey's visit to Vietnam in your issue of February 19, and read the verbatim account of the discussion in the House of Commons in The Times of March 25. As I was in Hanoi at the time of Mr. and Mrs. Warbey's visit and met them at their hotel
the day before they left. I have-a relevant comment to make.
As 1 am the only Englishwoman in North Vietnam I was hoping for a good talk with the Warbeys about England, the elections and the fate of some mutual friends. 1 had met Mr. Warbey before in connection with our common interest—colonial freedom—but not Mrs. Warbey. When we met, both of them were extremely worried by an attack on the British government which had appeared in one of the local papers. Mr. Warbey was already prepared with the answer. and instead of going on a shopping spree with Mrs. Warbey, I had to sit in her room while she typed it out neatly. He then arranged for it to be sent to the newspaper in question. The incident appears to me wholly regrettable, but Mr. Warbey certainly did his duty.
I should like also to add that a visit to Hanoi in winter-time could not by any stretch of the imagina- tion be considered a bribe. Only someone like Mr. Warbey with a deeply sincere wish to get more understanding of the South-East Asian situation would undertake such a visit. This is a poor country and the hosts could not, with the best will in the world, provide anything approaching luxury.
Hanoi. Democratic Republic of Vietnam PS: In case you should imagine that I am paid by Hanoi gold to defend Mr. Warbey, I should state that I am an Oxford undergraduate, retired teacher, and have been teaching English language here for the last five years, not for the modest salary which. of course, 1 get, but because I am fascinated both by the people here and by my own language.
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