Minister of Foreign Affairs of the
Democratic Republic of Vietnam
THE Government of the United States has recently sent to Saigon General Lawton Collins as U.S Ambassador to the Ngo-Dinh-Diem Government. In General Collins’ own words, the special mission with which he has been entrusted in this capacity, aims at “giving U.S unconditional support to the Ngo-Dinh-Diem Government” and at “aiding it by every possible means”. This aid essentially consists of the “training by the American Mission of the forces of the Vietnam army” whose equipment “will be 90 percent American”.
Thus, the aggressive aim of the Manila Treaty begins to be materialized in Southern Vietnam with the coming of the Mission of General Collins.
It is necessary to recall here that the Manila Treaty and the additional protocol integrating Southern Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia into the “Southeast Asia Treaty Organization” under the direction of the United States is in flagrant violation of the paragraph 5 of the Final Declaration of the Geneva Conference, aim at consolidating the American influence in Southeast Asia and turning Indo-China into an American colony and base.
This military aid granted by the U.S which consists in equiping and training the troops of the South Vietnam Government is at utter variance with the Geneva Agreement. In fact, the paragraph 4 of the Final Declaration of the Geneva Conference “prohibiting the introduction into Vietnam of foreign troops and military personnel as well as of all kinds of arms and munitions” is intended to prevent military aid from outside to any of the parties concerned. One wonders how the training and equiping of troops in Southern Vietnam may be carried out by other way than the introduction of American personnel and materials.
Some U.S circles have tried in vain to justify this flagrant infringement upon the Geneva Agreement by unleashing gratuitous and ridiculous news, for example, alleging that the Democratic Republic of Vietnam would have, since the conclusion of the Geneva Agreements, doubled the effectives of its army which would comprise “three new divisions including two armoured”. A normal common sense suffices to do away with such fiction, for it is materially impossible for a country devastated by 8 years of war to double, within a few months, the effectives of an army that has required years to be set up.
The U.S military aid, as General Collins stated, is granted to the Ngo-Dinh-Diem clique. But by taking retaliatory measures against thousands of persons in the regions that have taken part in the patriotic war, by suppressing democratic rights and liberties in Southern Vietnam, especially the freedom of the press, by resorting to lies, duperies and threats to compel the catholics in the North to evacuate to the South, the Ngo-Dinh-Diem clique has been carrying out a systematic policy of sabotaging the implementation of the Geneva Agreement.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ngo-Dinh-Diem, Tran-van-Do, has expounded his opposition to the elections provided for in the Geneva Agreement and aiming at realising the unification of Vietnam, in a declaration to the “Press Trust India” correspondent on October 8th, 1954. On the Ngo-Dinh-Diem Government’s home and foreign policy, he said:
“The partition of Vietnam on the 17th parallel may be prolonged indefinitely, just like in Korea and Germany... I feel that this partition is not at all provisional as it is often said..”.
The aid granted by the U.S Government to the Ngo-Dinh-Diem clique is a further proof of the deliberate desire of the U.S ruling circles to deepen their intervention in the internal affairs of Vietnam, to prevent the implementation of the Geneva Agreement and to prepare for a definite partition of Vietnam.
It is to be pointed out that the policy of systematic violation of the Geneva Agreement has enjoyed the approval of the elements sabotaging the Geneva Agreement among the French ruling circles in Paris as well as in Saigon, in spite of the desire for peace and cooperation with the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, of the French people and the majority of French political, economic and cultural circles.
The Vietnamese people and the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam strongly oppose these extremely serious breaches of the Geneva Agreement, of which General Collins’ activities and declarations have brought incontrovertible proofs.
The Vietnamese people and the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam persistently desire peace. They are entirely satisfied with the Geneva Agreement which aims at restoring peace in Vietnam as well as in Laos and Cambodia on the basis of recognition of the national rights of the Indo-Chinese people. That is why they are, on their part, determined to implement faithfully and scrupulously this agreement. It also explains why they have made their resolve to struggle with all their strength against the violation of this agreement on the part of the American interventionists, the French colonialist elements sabotaging the Geneva Agreement and the Ngo-dinh-Diem clique.
Thanks to the contribution of the Governments that desired peace to be restored in Indo-China and that have met in Geneva, to the contribution of other Governments and all the people animated with the same desire, peace in Indo-China has been concluded in Geneva.
We firmly believe that, with the same goodwill, with the warm support of peace-loving Governments and peoples, the Geneva Agreement will be implemented in letter and in spirit, thereby ensuring the restoration of a stable and lasting peace in Indo-china on the basis of recognition and realisation of national independence, sovereignty and unity of Vietnam as well as of Laos and Cambodia.