f,
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 18, 1967
TH E MICHIGAN DAILY
PAGE THREE
hailand Tries To Overcome Guerilla Move
.ment
A
EDITOR'S NTE: Thailand, one of
the United States' staunchest allies
in Southeast Asia, is fighting a
Communist insurgent movement
that some observers fear could em-
broil the country in a Viet Namn-
type conflict. Fred Hoffman, mili-
tary affairs writer for the Associated
Press, went to Thailand to survey
the situation. This is the first of a
four-part series.
By FRED HOFFMAN
BANGKOK, Thailand (R -
After years of temporising, Thai-
land is finally coming to grips
with the growing threat of Com-
munist terrorism in its north-
east, U.S. officials believe.
A majority of American offi-
cials here agree that the guer-
rilla movement, backed by Com-
munist China and North Vietnam,
can be contained without a major
commitment of U.S. forces and
without a minor insurgency de-
Mao Forces
Hail Victory
In Shanghai
Revolutionary Forces
Spring Up in Sinkiang
Along Soviet Border
TOKYO (R)-While Mao Tse-
tung's forces were hailing smash-
ing victories in the cultural revo-
lution, a report from Peking said
yesterday opposition had cropped
up in far-off Sinkiang Province
on the Soviet border.
The Peking correspondent of
the newspaper Yomiuri said that
since Mao's return to Peking to
take personal direction of the
purge the chaotic situation on
the mainland seemed to have
passed its peak.
Radio Peking reported victory
of Mao's forces in the big port
of Shanghai.
Wall Posters
The newspaper Asahi in a Pe-
king dispatch said wall posters
told of opposition to Mao in Sin-
kiang that had spread to the
army.
The posters reported that pro-
Mao forces held demonstrations
and sit-down strikes against
"bourgeois reactionary forces" in
Urumchi the provincial capital of
what the Chinese call the Sinki-
ang-Uighur autonomous region.
The demonstrations came after
Ting Sheng, deputy commander
of the army corps in Urumcht,
rejected demands of Red Guards
and revolutionary students Dec.
18. The wall posters did not say
what the demands were.
In Sinkiang's Kashgar, a city
near the Soviet border, supporters
of President Liu Shao-chi, Mao's
chief antagonist, encircled Red
Guard headquarters Dec. 29 and
there was a clash in which 20
were injured, the wall posters re-
ported.
Lin Piao
There were also unconfirmed
reports from Hong Kong, that
Defense Minister Lin Piao, Mao's
heir apparent, was in Manchuria
soliciting army support against
"rebellious army units" in east
China and south China.
The Czechoslovak news agency
CTK said in a dispatch from Pe-,
king the Chinese Communist par-
ty Central Committee admitted
"some economic demands" were
made recently by workers and
promised to work out a solution
of the problem."
The Czech news agency said
radio and press reports claimed
factories in several Chinese cities
went on strike with workers de-
manding higher wages and im-
proved living conditions. The
cities were not identified.
Liu's supporters have been re-
ported urging workers to demand
higher wages in an effort to dis-
rupt the economy.
veloping into a wide open struggle
like that -in Vietnam.
But Thai and U.S. officials add
that changes for success here
hinge in a large measure on a
satisfactory conclusion to the war
in Vietnam.
The main soft spot of Com-
munist pressure lies in six prov-
inces of the northeast, a huge
bulge that embraces 15 of Thai-
land's 71 provinces.
The northeast in general has
poor soil, is short of schools,
health facilities and good roads.
It has been left out of the pros-
perity enjoyed by many of the
32 million Thais.
The peasants and villagers of
the northeast have had slight
contact with the Thai govern-
ment, except for an occasional
policeman or tax collector. Often
the policeman was a predator
rather than a protector.
"The Communist have basically
been exploiting a vacuum," a U.S.
diplomat eays. The Bangkok gov-
ernment is trying to redress this,
with the help of about $43 mil-
lion a year in U.S. economic aid.
About 85 per cent of the U.S.
economic and technical aid is
pointed toward counter insurgen-
cy. So is much of the $60 million
in military aid, which was in-
creased this year at the urging
of Ambassador Graham Martin.
Attempts by Peking to foment
a Communist takeover of Thai-
land go back to early 1950 when
a "Free Thai Movement'' was set
up in China, using disgruntled
Thai expatriates.
Things took a serious turn in
November 1964, when Radio
Hanoi announced formation of a
"Thailand Independence Move-
ment."
A clandestine radio station
calling itself "the Voice of the
Thai people" raised the intensity
of its propaganda onslaught. The
broadcasts originated o u t s i d e
Thailand, probably in China.
In 1965, Communist China told
the world the "Thai Patriotic
Front" was in business. The front
later absorbed the year-old in-
dependence movement.
The first clash between Thai
security patrols and an armed
Communist band in Thailand was
recorded in the fall of 1965.
- This was followed by more than
100 skirmishes in the ensuing
year. Most were quite small, but
a couple of bigger firefights last
winter jolted the Bangkok gov-
ernment some 350 miles away.
There are no confident esti-
mates of the Communist armed
strength in the northeast.
A top U.S. military officer said
his guess would be about 1,000-
"give or taken 25 per cent." This
officer has access to the most
complete intelligence information
available, but he concedes: "Our
intelligence net has great gaps."
Added to this, some 500 to 700
Communists, mostly Malayan-
Chinese stock, have been roaming
provinces of the far south near
Malaysia. They are pictured as
wanting to avoid trouble with the
Thais.
The estimate of about 1,000 in-
surgents puts Communist rebel
strength in Thailand well below
what it was in South Vietnam in
December 1960, when the Nation-
al Liberation Front was founded.
According to statistics collected
in Saigon, there were about 35,000
Viet Cong members in late 1960.
This doubled within year.
Some U.S. Peace Corps field
workers suggest that the Thai
insurgency "really is small po-
tatoes," as one of them put it.
They claim there is an in-
clination to blame any kind of
banditry or murder in the north-
east on the Communists. Some
U.S. officials agree.
The Peace Corps has 140 vol-
unteers in the northeast, about
one-third of the entire corps in
Thailand.
None of the volunteers
ported to Bangkok head
that they have been botl
the Communists, althot
Communist "Voice of t
people" has attacked t
spies.
This was the pattern
munist activity in Tha
one recent week:
Terrorist bands surroun
villages in Nongkai,
Phanom and Sakol Nako
inces. They mustered
lagers, denounced the gov
and demanded food.
In another place, a c
Tai army-police unit rou
seven members of a
play" group which had
from village to village ac
Communist propaganda
has re- guise of the popular form of open
Iquarters air entertainment.
hered by Other guerilla activities in-
ugh the cluded the destruction of a
he Thai bridge, two engagements with po-
hem as lice and militia, and the raiding
of a villlage.
of Com- Most U.S. sources, military and
iland in: civilian alike, say assassinations
of minor Thai officials and vil-
lage leaders by the Communists
ded four in the northeast occurred at the
Npkrv-rate of about 10 a month in
irn prov- 1966.
the vil- This works out to about 120
Jemnentassassinations for 1966 - com-
pared with an estimated 1.300
ombined such killings in Viet Nam in 1961,
nded up the year the United States began
"shadow to get deeply committed there.
traveled By best available estimates
ting out there were about 1,000 such kill-
in the ings in South Vietnam last year.
Johnson Tax AIR RAIDS CONTINUE:
Plans Clear Restrictions Remain in Effect
-Associated Press
HOFFA HAS NEW EVIDENCE
Teamsters Union President James Hoffa announced in Washington yesterday that he will present
new evidence to clear him of his jury-tampering charges and pave the way for a reversal of his
recent Supreme Court conviction. Hoffa also announced Teamsters' new demands for a 75c an
hour increase for some 450,000 workers.
UP $3 BILLION:
Johnson Requests Congress
To Increase Defense Budget
First Hurdle
House Vote Addsr
Pro-Tax Democrat
To Crucial Committeej
By EDMOND LEBRETON I
WASHINGTON ()-A 115-113
vote of House Democrats yester-
day veered President Johnson's
tax program away from possible
serious trouble in the Ways and
Means Committee.
The hairbreadth vote named
Rep. Jacob H. Gilbert of New
York to the sole Democratic va-
cancy on the committee, which
also initiates all Social Security
legislation.
The loser was Rep. Omar
Burleson of Texas, a staunch
fiscal conservative who would
have been expected to vote with
Republicans and conservative
Southern Democrats.
If such a situation had de-
veloped, the conservative combine
could have controlled the com-
mittee, 13-12.
The actual outcome increases
still more the influence of the
committee chairman, Rep. Wilbur
D. Mills (D-Ark.). Mills usually
supports administration proposals,
but insists on a strong voice in
shaping the version that finally
goes to the House. He has spoken
out frequently for a hold down
on government spending.
The present outlook is that.
Mills on occasion will have the
deciding vote in a committee di-
vided otherwise between 12 lib-
eral-leaning Democrats, 10 Re-
publicans and 2 conservative
Southern Democrats.
Gilbert, who has a liberal
voting record, warded off news-
men's questions about President
Johnson's tax increase proposals
and other issues. But he did say,
as he was leaving the caucus that
elected him, "I have always been
for Social Security and for medi-
care and I will be for increases
in medicare and Social Security."
The danger that the Demo-
cratic leadership might lose con-
trol of the committee developed
after the Republicans gained an
increase of 47 seats in the House,
WASHINGTON (P) - Informed
sources said yesterday that de-
spite the recent bombing raids near
Hanoi the Johnson administration
has not lifted its restrictions on
targets a few miles from the city's
center.
The administration ordered that
a truck depot and railroad marsh-
aling yard a few miles from Hanoi
be temporarily removed from the
approved target lists shortly after
the Dec. 13 and 14 raids that
prompted controversy over civilian
bombings.
Reliable sources said the restric-
tions are still in effect.
Other informants emphasized
that the restrictions are tempor-
ary and noted that the truck de-
pot and rail yard had been hit
four times within two weeks early
last month.
U.S. fighter-bombers struck an
oil depot at Ha Gia, 142 miles
from Hanoi Monday in what was
widely described as the nearest
raids to the capital since the con-
troversy. U.S. planes attacked
within 40 miles of the capital yes-
terday.
Defense officials pointed out,
however, that U.S. bombers have
staged at least four attacks with-
in 35 miles of Hanoi since the
bombing dispute, including a raid
)ec. 19 at the Ha Gia oil depot.
"We've been within 30 to 40
miles of the place all the time,"
one source said.
Other sources indicated they
were pleased that permission for
the new attack on Ha Gia was
granted by the administration. It
has been reported that U.S. air-
craft are not permitted to bomb
within 30 miles of Hanoi without
special permission of the Penta-
gon, State Department and White
House.
The strike against the oil depot
was the first attack within 30
SGE
I''! for a ll
miles of Hanoi since dispatches by
Asst. Managing Editor Harrison
E. Salisbury began appearing in
the New York Times on Dec. 24.
Some military sources have said
they believe the cutback in bomb-
ing was a result of the controversy
created by Communist charges
that more than 100 civilians were
killed or injured during the raids
over Hanoi last month.
In the aid war yesterday, U.S.
fighter-bombers slashed at a rail-
road yard 40 miles north of Ha-
noi and B-52 Stratofortresses
twice dropped explosives in the
border demilitarized zone. Good
weather permitted the air war to
quicken.
In South Viet Nam guerrillas
shot down a U.S. Army helicopter
23 miles northwest of Saigon and
a spokesman said all eight men
aboard, four crewmen and four
passengers, were killed.
The chemical warfare issue arose
again with an announcement by
the U.S. command that a detach-
ment of about 20 Viet Cong used
"what appeared to be riot control
gas' against some men of the U.S.
4th Infantry Division in a clash
Monday 37 miles north-northwest
of Saigon.
I I
Sukarno Asked To Resign
As President of Indonesia
For Bomb Sites Near Hanoi
By T. JEFF WILLIAMS
JAKARTA, Indonesia, (A) -
Foreign Minister Adam Malik
asked President Sukarno yester-
day to resign or face the alter-
native of being brought down in.
dishonor. Sukarno's reaction was
unknown.
Disclosing to newsmen his
meeting with Sukarno, Malik im-
plied the president would have
to give an accounting of his
responsibility in the Communist
coup attempt of Oct. 1, 1965. Ap-
parently this was what Malik;
meant by dishonor.
There was a growing feeling
in Jakarta that Sukarno, now
little more than a figurehead,
was under heavy pressure from
Gen. Suharto's government and
from Congress. Suharto took over
most of Sukarno's powers last
March.
Malik said he asked Sukarno
to divest himself of everything
connected with the presidency
"in the interest of the nation"
during a meeting at the presi-
dential palace.
Speaking to Sukarno "as a
comrade in arms for tens of
years," Malik said the president
must help to maintain peace in
Indonesia. This may have been
a reference to the fact that Su-
karno still commands the allegi-
ance of millions of Indonesians.
The government has moved
cautiously against Sukarno, fear-
ing any drastic action would
touch off civil war.
Possibly to soften the tough
speech, Malik said that if Su-
karno stepped down "in the fu-
ture maybe we can save you and
maybe we still can support you
in a peaceful way." 'He suggested
if necessary Sukarno could ap-
point his successor until general
elections in 1968.
WASHINGTON (MP) - PresidentE
Johnson said yesterday next year's
defense budget would top $73 bil-
lion-an increase of about $5 bil-
lion over the current level.;
Johnson, meeting with newsmen
in his office, also disclosed that
military outlays in the current fis-
cal year, which ends June 30,
would be increased bq $9.4 billion
under a supplemental appropria-
tions request he will soon send to;
Congress.
The President previously had
said the spending impact of the
supplemental request in the cur-
rent year would range between $91
billion and $10 billion.
Hold Down Deficit
Johnson summoned reporters to
his office to brief them on ad-
ministration efforts to hold down
the budget deficit by postponing,
deferring or stretching out pro-
grams authorized by Congress. He
said he hoped to pare actual
spending in the current year by
$3 billion by holding up outlays
for a broad range of projects in-
olving an eventual total of $5.3
billion.
The chief executive, who had
just conferred with Budget Direc-
tor Charles L. Schultze, said he al-
so was considering postponing $400
million additional in highway proj-
ects. He had announced earlier
that there would be a stretch-out
in spending $1.1 billion of road
money.
Johnson also disclosed that the
administration already was plan-
ning a variety of programs aimed
at least partly at minimizing the
economic impact should the war
in Viet Nam end abruptly.
Defense Facilities
For example, he. said, he will
ask Congress to authorize about
$1 billion for defense facilities.
Johnson added that he would not
actually ask for appropriations to
finance such work except in case
of need or should the troops re-
turn from Viet Nam and larger
unemployment result.
He said he wanted to plan for
providing future jobs "so we won't
have to do it overnight."
Johnson announced he also
would dsend his new budget to
Congress Jan. 24 and would sub-
mit his annual economic reportl
Jan. 26 "unless we have some-
thing unforeseen develop."
In his state of the union mes-
sage last week, Johnson promis-
ed Congress a special report on
Viet Nam. Asked when this report
would be submitted - and if it
would include the request for sup-
plemental defense appropriations
-the President said he had no
schedule for submission of special
messages of this kind.
- __
- - - t
NERAL MEETING
60 0
students
interested
Room
Union
World News Roundup
By The Associated Press ( younger man to preserve the mood
SANTIAGO, Chile - President of youth, change and excitement
Eduardo Frei's cabinet resigned that helped bring the Liberals
yesterday after the Senate refus- back from the political depths.
ed to grant him permission to * * *
visit the United States in Febru- JERUSALEM - Israel 'viewed
ary. with constraint yesterday Syria's
Communists, Socialists, Radicals agreement to an emergency meet-
and Rightists joined forces to de- ing with Israel over the explosive
liver a vote of 23 to 15 to deny border situation.
Frei the congressional approval "It's still too early to be optimis-
needed by Chilean presidents to tic or pessimistic," said a Foreign
leave the country. Ministry source. Israel earlier had
" * * told the United Nations that it
LONDON--Jo Grimond quit last would agree to meet with Syria
night as leadef of the.Liberal par- under UN chairmanship.
ty that he rescued from near ob- UN Secretary-General U Thant
livion and rebuilt into a political had appealed to both countries for
force in Britain. an extraordinary session on an
Although only 53, friends said agenda with a view to reaching
Grimond felt the time has come agreement on "cultivation prob-
to hand over leadership to a lems in our areas."
I
the day
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CREATIVE ARTS FESTIVAL '67
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