ANARCHY IN INDO-CHINA
T. understand the events at present taking place in Southern Indo-China it is necessary to bear in mind two facts : first, that the situation there is dictated by the rivalries of competing bands of warlords, and secondly that even these warlords are in their own way Vietnamese national- ists. The Government of Saigon is headed by M. Ngo Dinh Diem, a member of the comparatively small body of Catholics in Indo-China. He represents, among other things, the Catholic refugees from the part of Indo-China at present controlled by the Communist-Nationalist Viet-mink and is therefore fanati- cally anti-Communist. For that reason he has the support of the Americans. Chief among his opponents are the Binh Xuyen, wrongly called a 'sect,' who are in fact a small, closed corpora- tion whose ancestors were Chinese river pirates and who con- trol the brothels and gambling houses of the main suburb of Saigon. To them may be added the Hoa Hao, a religious sect, holding views which can be called Buddhist, if we are prepared to stretch the the term a little. The third of the 'sects,' tie Cao Daists, who worship a variegated pantheon that includes among others Victor Hugo, have varied in their attitude towards the government, but now seem to be in alliance with M. Diem. Each of these bodies has its private army and the Binh Xuyen have in the past ensured their monopoly of the vice racket by controlling the police as well. The attitude of the French authorities to all these bands is one, if not of appro- val, at any rate of less distaste than they feel for M. Diem and his nationalists.
Previous page
