Getting to Know Them

Two important travelers passed through Saigon's Tan Son Nhut airport one morning last week. Perhaps not entirely by coincidence, they did not meet. Flying in from the U.S. aboard a bright blue and white presidential Boeing 707 was the new U.S. ambassador to South Viet Nam, Henry Cabot Lodge, back after 14 months for his second tour of duty. Bareheaded and smiling, the Brahmin promised his "best efforts" toward effecting a "true revolution which will make possible a new and better life for the Vietnamese people."

Departing a scant 21 hours earlier was Premier Nguyen Cao Ky, who might have been expected to wait around and say hello to the new U.S. ambassador -or at least nod in passing. No one was surprised at his absence, however, for Ky has long been sensitive to the growing U.S. presence in his country, loses no opportunity to vehemently affirm his independence. Lodge's arrival happened at a convenient time for Ky to take off on the second leg of an image-building trip to Formosa and Thailand.

In Taipei the dashing 34-year-old ex-fighter pilot had easily charmed the Nationalists, already flattered by his visit, with a show of boyish derring-do and conviviality, and had delighted merchants with purchases of trinkets and gifts for the folks back home, including 60 long-playing record albums and three pairs of blue jeans. On a tour of Kung Kuan airbase, 80 miles outside Taipei, Ky got permission from Chinese brass to take a test spin in an American F-104, spent five minutes diving and banking, then taxied smartly up to the reviewing stand erected in his honor. He met with top Nationalist officials, conferred three times with 77-year-old Chiang Kaishek. Said Ky after his talk with the Gimo: "Regardless of the differences of age, these conversations were the most delightful of my life." In Bangkok he made the rounds of banquets and conferences with the Thais, who are fighting Communist harassment on their northern borders and are preparing for a possible guerrilla war of their own.

Despite hints by Formosa, which still has the third largest army in Asia (400,000 men), Ky was not after troops for his embattled nation, sought instead economic and technical aid and -most important -the psychological support of other Asian countries. To these limited aims, the Nationalist Chinese and Thais responded enthusiastically. Ky was so satisfied with his first round of image-building abroad that he will make more trips in September. Next stops: the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea.

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