VIETNAM (CONTROL COMMISSION) (Hansard, 29 June 1962)

§ Mr. P. Thomas

Yes. The texts are as follows:

Note to the Soviet Government on the International Control Commission's Special Report on Vietnam (delivered in Moscow on 23rd June).

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Her Britannic Majesty's Embassy present their compliments to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the U.S.S.R. and have the honour to refer to the Embassy's Note No. 407 of the 14th of June in which it was proposed that the Special Report from the Chairman of the International Commission for Supervision and Control in Viet Nam to the Joint co-Chairman of the Geneva Conference should be published in Moscow and London on the 21st of June. Since the Soviet Government had not yet replied to this Note publication did not take place on the date proposed.

Her Britannic Majesty's Embassy understand that the Soviet Government will eventually be sending a reply, covering both the question of publication and the Soviet Government's comments on the substance of the report. Her Majesty's Government await with interest the comments of the Soviet Government but would prefer that publication should not be delayed further.

It is now over two weeks since the report was handed over in New Delhi and various incomplete accounts of it have already appeared in the Press throughout the world. In order to remove any possibility of misapprehension as to the contents of the report Her Majesty's Government consider that a complete text should be published as soon as possible and they therefore intend to release the text of the report in London at 11.00 hours, G.M.T., on Monday, 25th June, together with their Note of 14th June.

Note to the Soviet Government on the International Control Commission's Special Report on Vietnam (delivered in Moscow on 14th June)

Her Britannic Majesty's Embassy present their compliments to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the U.S.S.R. and have the honour to draw their attention to the Special Report addressed to the Co-Chairmen of the Geneva Conference of 1954 by the Chairman of the International Commission for Supervision and Control in Vietnam dated 2nd June.

Her Majesty's Government endorse the conclusions of the Commission's report and wish to draw the attention of the Soviet Union to certain important aspects of it. The Commission have decided that there is sufficient evidence to show beyond reasonable doubt that the People's Army of Vietnam (i.e., the North Vietnamese) has violated Articles 10, 19, 24 and 27 of the Cease Fire Agreements in specific instances. The Report shows that the North Vietnamese have sent armed and unarmed personnel, arms, munitions and other supplies into South Vietnam with the object of supporting, organising and carrying out hostile activities, including armed attacks directed against the armed forces and administration of the Government of the Republic of Vietnam. Furthermore the North Vietnamese have permitted the zone in the North (i.e., North Vietnam) to be used for encouraging and supporting hostile activities in the South aimed at the overthrow of the administration in the South (i.e., the Republic of Vietnam) in violation of Articles 19, 24 and 27 of the Cease Fire Agreement.

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While the report also refers to the violations of the Geneva Agreement by the Republic of Vietnam in receiving increased military aid from the United States it produces no evidence of any violation of the territory of North Vietnam by the Government of the South.

Her Majesty's Government draw special attention to the dates quoted in the report relating to the illegal activities of the North Vietnamese authorities and to the intensification of United States assistance. It is evident that the complaints of Northern subversion are of long standing. Reference to them was made as early as the 10th Interim Report which deals with the period beginning 1st February, 1959, whereas the intensification in United States assistance did not begin until December, 1961—in other words long after the threat from North Vietnam had developed and after the Government of Vietnam had felt obliged, in face of the extensive plan of subversion and terrorism deliberately embarked upon by the Hanoi authorities, to request the Government of the United States to furnish assistance of a military nature to meet this threat.

The Report thus confirms the view expressed in Her Majesty's Government's Note of 3rd November, 1961, and their Aides Méntoires of 16th February and 19th April, 1962, that the activities of the North Vietnamese authorities were the root cause of the present troubles.

Her Majesty's Government, as Co-Chairman of the Geneva Conference, have twice requested the Government of the Soviet Union to join with them in appealing to the North Vietnamese to call a halt to their campaign in the South. The Soviet Union have, however, ignored these requests, which can now be shown to have been based upon a true interpretation of the situation. Moreover, the North Vietnamese authorities have, despite the overwhelming evidence, consistently denied responsibility for their activities in South Vietnam; these denials can now be seen in their true light. In contrast, the Government of the Republic of Vietnam have never sought to conceal the fact that they were obliged to call upon the United States Government for assistance to improve their defences to meet the threat from the North. In an exchange of letters, which was published on 15th December, 1961, between the President of the Republic of Vietnam and the President of the United States, the defensive nature of this assistance and the reasons for it were clearly described. It is particularly significant that, in his letter President Kennedy stated expressly that if the Communist authorities in North Vietnam would stop their campaign to destroy the Republic of Vietnam, the measures the United States were taking to assist the South Vietnamese defence efforts would no longer be necessary. In a communication to the Commission dated 9th December, 1961, the South Vietnamese Government stated inter alia, "These measures can end as soon as the North Vietnam authorities will have ceased their acts of aggression and will have begun to respect the Geneva Agreement". Furthermore, in a statement on 1st March, 1962, the American Secretary of State. Mr. Rusk, added that the United States have no desire for bases or other United States military advantages in Vietnam.

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In the light of these assurances and of the findings of the Commission, Her Majesty's Government consider that the conclusion to be drawn is that urgent measures should be taken to ensure that the North Vietnamese authorities return to the observance of the Cease Fire Agreement. Her Majesty's Government invite the Soviet Co-Chairman to consider the desirability of addressing a joint message from the Co-Chairmen to the Chairman of the Commission recommending that the immediate task of the Commission should be to ensure that further violations of the Cease Fire Agreement are not committed by the North Vietnamese authorities. To this end it is suggested that the Commission should be invited to consider methods of dealing expeditiously with complaints by the Republic of Vietnam about current subversive activities, and, in order to put a stop to further infiltration of personnel, arms and equipment, that the Commission should be invited to consider the stationing of mobile teams on the borders of Vietnam. It is also proposed that the Co-Chairmen should invite both sides to return to a policy of co-operation with the Commission.

Her Majesty's Government propose to circulate copies of the Commission's Special Report to the Governments of the Republic of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, France and the United States and that the report should be published in London and Moscow on 21st June.