New Caledonia Fears a

Lett er to the Editor

New Caledonia Fears a "Little Vietnam” of The South Pacific

YN your magazine of September, I 1955, you rightly showed how the free nations of the Pacific and their territories had to defend and rotect themselves against the in vasion of Asiatics, “generally dom inated by Communism.

We now understand the wisdom of such predictions, as here in New ■ ’aledonia a North Vietnamese popu lation is fast developing These psople are very prolific and instead of intermixing and amalgamating v ith the local population they pre serve their racial characienstics, marry only within their own group and preserve their own language and culture.

Even when they go to our schools, they remain Vietnamese. In Noumea, here is a French population of i 5,000; and in the same area there are 2,800 Vietnamese in our schools.

They are almost all influenced by ommunism. The danger has appeared to all—and a Committee was formed to obtain their repatria tion to the country of their birth, North Vietnam—k n o w n as the

“Democratic Republic”—in order to rid New Caledonia of such a danger.

But Ho Chi Minh’s government would have none of this —he would not grant entry visas to the Re public’s own nationals —and this in spite of approaches from Paris.

Informal discussions between France and the Republic have been going on for months, but so far without any result.

The New Caledonian Committee which was formed to get rid of these undesirable people has been able to prove conclusively from documents that have been discovered that the local Vietnamese have been in touch with Ho Chi Minh’s Com munist Government. The local group, therefore, constitutes a per fectly organised bridge-head for the day when Asiatic Communism strikes south.

In view of the difficulties that our local Government is experienc ing in ridding us of these people whom we consider our enemies, we are appealing to our friends in Aus tralia* New Zealand and the United States to support the French Gov ernment and the New Caledonian authorities in their action to obtain repatriation of the Vietnamese.

In the existing circumstances, all of us here in the South Pacific have the same interest in protecting our still free countries from Asiatic Communism.

As president of the local Com mittee, I ask you to help so that

finally the French of New Caledoni may get rid of those Asiatics wh represent a danger not only for N| Caledonia but for Australia, Ne Zealand and all the countries thj the still free world protects froi Communist barbarism in the Pacifi We are also applying to tl United States Government, which also interested in this question. 9 Yours, etc.,

Paul Bloc.

Rue d’ Ypres, Noumea, NC, June 6, 1957.

M. Bloc is editor of the locam weekly, Civisme”; a former menu of the General Council', a form president of the Chamber of Ag culture; and present President 9 Committee referred to in his leti —Comite de Defense dss Intreti l la Nouvelle Caledonie. t A course for cooks and restaur] managers is to be opened soonl the Noumea Technical Collq Lessons, practical and theory, I be given in cooking, and diet. The course will be oi to people of all ages and will inclj practical lessons in var i o Noumean restaurants. You] students showing exceptional gi in the culinary art will be eligj for scholarships entitling them] continue their studies in a coll in Prance.