TOKYO — Former Vice President Richard M. Nixon said Tuesday the chances for world peace are greater today than they were 10 years ago but that the threat to freedom in Asia is perhaps greater.

Peace prospects are brighter because the power of the free nations has been demonstrated so well, thus acting as a deterrent to war, he said.

"On the other hand, I would have to say that the threat to freedom today, in this part of the world, is perhaps greater ... because the threat is not so clearly recognized."

Addressing 400 members of the American Chamber of Commerce and the American-Japan Society at the Imperial Hotel, Nixon said that in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Indonesia the communist line is no longer anticolonial, no longer promising a better way of life, but "is a disturbing and effective new thing."

The line, Nixon said, is: "We the communists, are here to stay. We have the patience. We have the strength. As far as the United States and free peoples are concerned, they may be here today, but they will tire, and when they go, we will he here.

"'So join us now and avoid the bloodbath."

Nixon said the line emphasizes that the wave of the future is with the voices of communism, not with the voices of freedom.

Nixon added that neutralization of Vietnam would simply be a surrender on the installment plan. He hammered again on his theme that the U.S. must stay in Southeast Asia and achieve victory.

"The argument that since 200,000 French were not able to win in Vietnam, how can we expect the battle to be won with only 15,000 Americans completely misses the point.

"The French were there to stay in, The Americans are there only as long as they are wanted to do the job."

Nixon gave his formula for achieving the victory in Vietnam:

"They (the Vietnamese) must know that the U.S. will stay there only as long as it is necessary ... there can be no more talk — loose talk, weak talk of neutralization and up the hill, down the hill as to what we will do until the victory is won.

"Over and over the U.S. must emphasize that it is there only as long as it is necessary to win victory. And that we are not there and will not be there or in any other place in the world for the purpose of imposing a new colonialism.

"This must be a battle in which the Vietnamese are fighting for their independence and for their freedom, and no one else.

"The Vietnamese cannot be restricted in doing what needs to be done; if necessary, to go to the source of the trouble; be it in north Vietnam or in Laos, for the purpose of winning victory."

Turning to Japan, Nixon stressed joint ventures — not of governments, but of free enterprise — between the United States and Japan.

He said it is premature to speak of a common market for the Pacific, but said Japan and other industrially advanced countries in the Pacific, together with the U.S. and some Latin countries, could be thinking of this concept, having it in mind as a future goal.

Nixon told his audience, "As I look at the future of Asia — the future of the world — there is no question that it can be a very bright future. Again a very bright future for those who believe in peace and those who cherish freedom."