It is, after all, more than 40 years since the French were routed at the battle of Dien Bien Phu.

ECONOMIST: French blows its horn | The

Gen Bigeard was a commanding officer during the battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954, where French troops were surrounded and defeated by the forces of the Vietnamese Communists, the Viet Minh.

BBC: Vietnam rejects French officer's ashes request