Office of the Historian

851G.00/12–346: Telegram

The Vice Consul at Hanoi (O’Sullivan) to the Secretary of State67

secret
Hanoi, December 3, 1946—noon.
[Received December 4—4 a.m.]

131. ReDeptel 15, November 29.68 Possibility Ho Chi Minh in contact Moscow suggested my telegram 99, October 2969 but have no further information available.

Am beginning believe Ho following line which will keep him in contact with French and will assure certain amount French influence here after three Kys united as suggested Deptel 241, September 9 to Saigon. Then, if and when, Communist Govt established in France, Vietnam Govt will progressively apply Marx principles.

However, that French should only now become concerned with development is peculiar. Un Govt70 sow seeds more nationalist than year ago. French to my certain [knowledge?] have known since 193 [sic] that (?) is Ho Chi Minh (?)70a stands very high in Third International. They further have strongly suspected for at least year that if Ho was not receiving instructions from Moscow it was only because of technical difficulties in transmission. It is further very peculiar that French concern should be brought to Dept’s attention at very moment when French apparently are beginning to [apparent omission] program in Tonkin and when French may be preparing to force Vietnam Govt to collaborate on French terms or to establish puppet govt in its place.

[Page 65]

French concern over Communism may well be devised to divert Dept’s attention from French policy in Indochina.

O’Sullivan
  1. Repeated by the Department to Paris in telegram 6332, December 5, 1946, 7 p.m.↩
  2. See footnote 65, p. 63.↩
  3. Not printed.↩
  4. Government of the Union of Indochinese states.↩
  5. The foregoing portion of this sentence is apparently garbled.↩