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ments in the field of foreign atfairs
were seen as far-outweighing the
minor infringements of Watergate.
(3) Concern for the future. Be–
cause the American position is so
important on any given issue in
world politics, a certain period of
nervousness and reassessment is ex–
pected here in Italy - a time of wait
and see. While Secretary of State
Kissinger's remaining in office is
seen as a stabilizing influence, con–
cern is expressed here over the pos–
sibility that his role might not be tbe
same powerful role it has been.
Nevertheless, the general view is
that the resignation was a good
thing. Praising the strength of tbe
free press in the U. S., one left of
center Italian newspaper ,
Paese
Sera
-
under "Nixon in ltaly"
headlines - stated that if Nixon had
been part of the Italian system, the
government would have bought out
any newspaper attempting such rev–
elations. In a final thrust at corrup–
tion in the Italian government, the
paper noted: "Italy has impo rted
military bases, blue jeans and pin–
ball machines from the U. S. , but
not American democracy."
- Ray Kosanke
Sydney:
From Australia's point of view,
President Ford faces two urgent
duties - restoring confidence in the
White House a nd ensuring the con–
tinuity of American foreign policy .
The latter is ex tremely important to
Australia. Because of this, Canberra
rega rds the retention of Dr. Kiss–
inger as secretary of state with pa r–
ticular pleasure. As the newspaper
The Austra/ian
sa id, "since early
1973 Dr. Kissinger has been la–
belled 'the foreign presid ent of
America.' "
Australia wishes the new Ameri–
can Presiden! well. .Perhaps its ex–
pectations of him were besl summed
up by the
A
ustralian Financia/ R e–
view
when it said in an editorial,
"the expectation and hope in Can–
berra is tha t Mr. Ford will leave
Henry Kissinger to simply carry on
PLAIN TRUTH September 1974
the o ld Nixon foreign policies." And
that is the best thing he could do for
Australia.
- Dennis Luker
Singapore:
The Nixon resignation caught
Singapore in the midst of its ninth
independence day celebrations. One
of Mr. Nixon's last acts as President
was lo send a congratulatory mes–
sage to Singapore for her national
da
y.
The public reaction here and
throughout nei ghboring Malaysia
was generally one of apathy or re–
lief. There was a total lack of per–
sonal identification or empathy with
Mr. Nixoo, in very sharp contrast to
the news of the assassination of
President Kennedy. Public emotion,
indignation, and tears were in open
evidence throughout Southeast Asia
on that infamous day.
Perhaps the clearest expression of
the view toward Watergate and Mr.
Nixon from this part of the world
appeared in the editorial of
Sin
Chew Jit Poh,
the National Chinese
daily of Malaysia: "From the point
of view of a foreigner, the Water–
gate affair should not be allowed to
obliterate Mr. Nixon's record of
achievements in his handling of in–
terna tional affairs.
"His merits or demerits will be
judged by future historians.... De–
s pite the change at the White
House, the world still pins its hope
on President Gerald Ford and the
Secretary of State Dr. Kissinger lo
ca rry on with Mr. Nixon's policy of
international détente so that the
next generation can live in peace."
- Guy Ames
Manila:
The feeling of relief expressed in
many parts of the world is very
much evident here as well. Most
news pap e r editorials pr a ise d
Nixon's decision to resign and not to
prolong an issue which will only
focus American a ttention on its own
interna! atfairs. The relief perhaps
comes more from the cutting short
of the uncertainty of U. S. foreign
policy rather than from emotional
involvement with the issues .
- Colín Adair
Mexico City:
There were, at first , moments of
doubt and expectancy in the politi–
cal circles as to what would be the
policy of the newly designated presi–
dent, Mr. Ford. But those doubts
were somewhat allayed when the
new Pres ident gave assurances
through telegrams to heads of gov–
ernment and through press releases
that the policies toward Latín
America would remain the same as
in the past administration, tha t aid
promises made during that period
of government would be kept, and
also, of course, that the Secretary of
State Henry Kiss inger would con–
tinue in his post to carry out those
policies.
There is also a certain amount of
inditference since many of the
people feel that no matter who the
Presiden! of the U. S. was or is, the
U. S. will continue not dealing fairly
and with enough interest toward its
Latín American neighbors and con–
tinental brothers.
- Enrique Ruiz
J
ohannesburg:
Most of the news media carried
articles expressing regret and sad–
ness a t Mr. Nixon's resignation.
News articles and radio programs
stressed Mr. Nixon 's acbievements
more than the mistakes he may
have made.
As to Mr. Nixon 's successor, tbe
South African press shows sorne op–
timism. "No previous U. S. Presi–
den! has gone into office better
informed on South Africa than Mr.
Gerald Ford," reported the
Pretoria
News
on August 9. Dr. Connie Mul–
der , Minister o f the Interio r ,
summed it up by saying Ford was
"a realistic and strong leader. ...
1
can say that 1 have met Mr. Ford
and
J
found him very level-headed ,
solid, honest and a down-to-earth
person."
- Andre Van Belkum
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