At Press Conference

Following the debate, Fulbright held a press conference at which Salient was represented.

It was obvious there that his address to the conference was to the fore in most reporters' minds. Such an attitude, unfortunately, precluded our press from dredging up any new ideas.

One reporter had visualised a mighty headline: "New Zealand another Cuba in ten years." Fulbright refused to agree, and instead emphasised that "we have to accept the prospect of the growth of China."

"They are a great people, now reviving, and we must do everything we can to influence change in a reasonable way," he said.

The Senator was emphatically opposed to a bare military solution in Vietnam. "This would only be a Pyrrhic victory," he said.

Nevertheless, as infiltration continues, strength is given to the many radical Americans who want to enlarge the war. In contrast, the dissension among academic circles is still distinctly minor.

He alluded to the peace initiatives from Hanoi in 1965 which were refused and hushed up by the Administration. Fulbright regretted he "wasn't better informed at the time."