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And that was "Coincidence" #4. And at that "chance" meeting
with Ambassador Bunker he urged me to see him at his Embassy in
Saigon. And that was "Coincidence" #5. That has been reported in
the May PLAIN TRUTH.
I suppose most people could never realize how nearly
IMPOSSIBLE it is to have a half-hour, a forty-five-minute or a l
1/2-hour personal meeting -- as I have had with President Ferdinand
Marcos of the Philippines and Mrs. Gandhi of India, and with Prime
Minister Sato and Crown Prince Akihito of Japan, and with the King
of Thailand, and Prime Minister Golda Meir of Israel -- and OTHERS
-- for example.
In Japan there are 100 MILLION people, but only ONE Prime
Minister who is carrying the heavy responsibility of guiding the
future of ALL OF THEM. Even many members of the Diet (Japan's
"Congress" or Parliament) might not ever be able to have a
45-minute private and personal talk with Prime Minister Sato -- his
very heavy responsibilities simply DON'T ALLOW IT: There simply
are not ENOUGH of him! And when a chief of state takes from a
half-hour, or an hour-and-a-half, out of his exceedingly busy and
burdensome responsibilities to talk to me, tell me his problems,
ask me questions, exchange ideas -- or even to ask my counsel and
help -- you can realize it is a matter of REALLY GREAT IMPORTANCE.
There's only ONE head of state in each nation!
And when you realize the doors have opened before me for EIGHT
such meetings in six months, you can BELIEVE it has been a series
of providential or miraculous circumstances!
"Coincidence" #6: I will take space to tell you of just one
more. On our December trip, King Leopold accompanied us from
Brussels to Athens, New Delhi, India, Singapore, and Djakarta. At
Djakarta, my planned visit with President Suharto had to be
postponed because the King of Thailand (Siam) was there on an
official state visit. This required President Suharto's entire
time. He had scheduled a meeting with King Leopold (who was on a
private, NON-state visit, with us), for the following Monday, and
wanted to see me then. But I had meetings scheduled in Manila and
Tokyo, and was unable to remain over that long.
But a special dinner was held on Tuesday night in Djakarta,
attended by six or eight of the chief officials under President
Suharto, and their wives. That night I was simply too exhausted to
attend -- the only such appointment on any of these trips I was
unable to attend. My elder daughter has been accompanying me,
since there have been many such occasions, and she takes her
mother's place as my hostess.
At this banquet, my daughter became acquainted with Mrs.
Sunirat Telan of Bangkok, who had accompanied the King of Thailand
on his state visit. Mrs. Telan owns the Rama Hotel in Bangkok,
besides at least two more skyscraper hotels, and some large Thai
industries. When she learned from my daughter that we had never
visited Bangkok, she insisted that we simply must see Bangkok on
our next tour, in February. She wanted to host a dinner in my