HL Deb 22 July 1954 vol 188 cc1356-9

3.50 p.m.

THE MINISTER OF STATE, FOREIGN OFFICE (THE MARQUESS OF READING)

My Lords, with the permission of the House, I should like to make a statement about the agreements on Indo-China that were finally reached at Geneva on July 21. First, there are the three agreements containing the detailed provisions for a cease fire in each of the three States of Indo-China. These were signed by the representatives of the Military Commands of the two sides. The full texts are not to be made public for the present. I regret this necessity because publication would enable a clearer view to be taken. The dates of the cease fire have, however, been fixed. I cannot give them now. They are spaced in time in order to meet conditions in different parts of Indo-China. Your Lordships will understand that there must be some delay in publication to enable the necessary orders to be transmitted to the scattered forces in the various areas concerned in a country where communications are limited.

Then there was the final declaration of the Conference. This took note of the military agreements and of a number of declarations made by individual delegations on separate points. It also recorded an undertaking by each member of the Conference to respect the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the three states of Indo-China.

In Vietnam, arrangements have been made for the progressive regrouping after the cease fire of the forces of the two sides north and south of a temporary military demarcation line, near the 17th parallel. This regrouping will be completed within 300 days. This will mean that French forces will have to evacuate the important area which they now hold in the north. On the other hand, Vietminh forces will have to withdraw from certain large areas in central and south Vietnam in which they have been established and in control for eight years. It is further agreed that during the period in which forces are being regrouped, civilians wishing to move from one zone to the other will also be permitted and assisted to do so. Provision is further made for the eventual reunification of the country through free elections, by secret ballot under international supervision in July, 1956.

In Laos and Cambodia provision is made for the withdrawal of the Vietminh forces from these countries. Thereafter all citizens of the two countries are to be enabled without reprisals or discrimination to take their place in the national community and to take part in the elections that are to be held next year under the existing constitution of these two countries. Both Laos and Cambodia are to be enabled to build up armed forces for the effective defence of their territories. For this purpose provision is made for French aid and assistance for their training and equipment. I do not think that the detailed arrangements when published will be found unsatisfactory. At the same time it is clearly understood that none of the three States will allow the establishment of foreign military bases on its territory or will become a member of a military alliance. The purpose is to ensure that each of these countries shall be able to lead its own life in peace. This should surely be the continuing interest of all the countries represented at the conference. It is greatly to be hoped that other Governments in Southern Asia and the South-West Pacific will associate themselves with the agreements reached.

I think everyone will agree that the proceedings of this conference have been of unparallelled complexity. My right honourable friend, the Foreign Secretary, is convinced that the arrangements now arrived at are the best that could have been contrived in the circumstances of each individual case. The fact that it was possible to reach an agreement at all in these last days was due above all to the courage and tenacity of the French Prime Minister, M. Mendés-France. We in this country feel a deep sympathy far the ordeal through which the French people have passed during these last eight years. At the end of it all France has now to make heavy sacrifices. We remember also the fate of the peoples of these three countries of Indo-China, so much of whose lives have been passed under the shadow of war. As we form judgment upon these events, it is a fair comment to make that the only alternative to these agreements was continued fighting, further misery and suffering, and the certainty of even greater sacrifices in the end. What is more, there was a wider danger to us all. So long as this fighting continued there was an ever-present risk that the conflict would spread with measureless consequences. In so far as the toils of this conference have averted these dangers, they have been, I am sure, a real gain for peace.

EARL JOWITT

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Marquess for the statement he has made. He has paid tribute to M. Mendés-France, and if it is not impertinent to do so we should like to be associated in that tribute. It seems to us he has shown great courage and realism. It is a little unusual, perhaps, but, speaking for the ranks of Tuscany, I would say we owe a great debt to the Foreign Secretary, Mr. Eden, and to his collaborator who is sitting opposite. In face of, I will not say discouragement, but lack of enthusiastic support from all quarters, Mr. Eden has stuck to his task and has been enabled to achieve this result which is a very real contribution to the cause of peace. Of course, like all compromises there are unsatisfactory features. The strong points are, first, that we have put an end to this fighting which has been draining the life-blood of France for the last eight years; and, secondly, that we have, over these last few weeks, thanks to Mr. Eden's diplomacy, stood very close with France. I like to think that Anglo-French friendship and co-operation has been able to, achieve this remarkable result. I sincerely hope that Anglo-French friendship and co-operation will continue in the future as it has in the past. I should like the noble Marquess to congratulate the Foreign Secretary on behalf of the Opposition for what he has been able to achieve.

VISCOUNT SAMUEL

My Lords, noble Lords on these Benches would wish to express also their gratitude and relief at the successful termination of the Conference at Geneva. The victor has not been France, nor China, neither Vietnam nor Vietminh. The true victor has been the public opinion of the peoples of the world. We in this Parliament are grateful and proud that the leader in the negotiations in the Conference has been our own Foreign Secretary, Mr. Eden. We are all much touched by the tribute that has been paid to him by Mr. Molotov. The two together have been colleagues during these weeks in the cause of peace. Mr. Eden has been the spokesman not only of the United Kingdom but also of the British Commonwealth, for he has been careful throughout to keep in the closest touch with all the Governments of the Commonwealth. And in the background particularly (though not far in the background) have been the Colombo Powers, with India, through its great power and activity, a leader among them. Mr. Eden has been spokesman not only of the United Kingdom and of the British Commonwealth but also, in reality, of the United Nations as a whole; for this achievement has been won in accordance with its principles. It is an achievement of the purposes of the United Nations.

Two reflections occur to me: first, that this is an example, one more proof among many that this victory can give, of how wrong those pessimists are who continually say there is no possibility of an accommodation between East and West, and that aggression—or at least armed force—may even be necessary on our side in order to forestall an attack which will inevitably come from the other. That is the deadly doctrine of the preventive war, and if that advice had been taken we should now be engaged in a general war. Here, in Indo-China, the local war has been stopped and a general war has not ensued. The second reflection which occurs to me is that perhaps the world can proceed from here to re-examine the question of Korea. There, at the present time, there is a cease fire and nothing more. In Indo-China we have been able to go very much further, and possibly Her Majesty's Government and other Governments will be able to arrive at a settlement, more or less on the general lines of that achieved in Southern Asia, in the case still pending and unresolved in the Far East.

THE MARQUESS OF READING

My Lords, if I may be allowed to say so, I am greatly obliged both to the noble and learned Earl and to the noble Viscount for the way in which they have received this statement and the contents of it. I will very gladly convey to my right honourable friend the congratulations which they have been good enough to express. In so far as the noble and learned Earl was kind enough to include me in his remarks, I can only say that what he said is all the more welcome because it is wholly without justification.