851G.00/12–546
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Assistant Chief of the Division of Southeast Asian Affairs (Landon)
In the course of a conversation M. Lacoste asked me what my personal views were on the future of Vietnamese and French relations in French Indochina and inquired whether I thought the question might be raised in the Security Council and, if it were raised, what I thought our position might be.
I replied that it was difficult to appraise the situation in Indochina with the information that we had on hand, that, as he knew, the Chief of SEA, Mr. Moffat, was in Indochina and that we would probably get a fuller knowledge of the situation on his return. I added that it seemed to me, speaking personally, that if one were going to try to be prophetic in regard to Indochina one would have to consider it in a larger framework than the geographic boundaries of Indochina. One would have to consider the course of events in other countries in Southeast Asia and the Far East.
I asked M. Lacoste if he had in mind the possibility of his own Government bringing the matter before the Security Council. He emphatically replied in the negative and said that, of course, his Government would take all steps possible to prevent such a development. I asked him whether he felt the modus vivendi and the agreement of October 6 offered a sound basis for a solution of the difficulties in Indochina if both parties attempted to implement those agreements with goodwill. He said he thought that they did provide a good working basis and that the Vietnamese were not living up to their commitments.