751J.5/4–1653
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Director of the Office of Philippine and Southeast Asian Affairs (Bonsal)
Subject:
- The lnvasion of Laos
Participants:
- M. Pierre Millet, Counselor, French Embassy
- Mr. Bonsal, PSA
M. Millet came in at his request. He referred to the statement issued by the Government of Laos regarding the Viet Minh invasion of that [Page 471] country and stated that this statement had previously been agreed to by the French Government. He referred also to the statement issued on April 15 by the French Government on the same subject.1
M. Millet said that it was the opinion of the Government of France, in which the Government of Laos concurs, that the invasion of Laos by the Viet Minh should not at this time be the subject of actual proceedings in the UN. He stated that the French Government saw both advantages and disadvantages to the UN approach and that it would like to give further consideration to the subject in the light of events as they develop. He repeated that the French Government did not consider the Laotian Government statement to constitute a formal appeal calling for UN action.
M. Millet asked me whether we proposed to issue a statement on the subject of the invasion of Laos. I said that we had such a statement under consideration although no final decision had been reached. I described in general terms the draft which had been prepared. M. Millet said that it would be desirable from his point of view if our statement could refer not only to the statement of the Government of Laos but also to that of the French Government. I made no comment on this subject. (It seems to me that in view particularly of the recent Callender story from Paris described below that it would be desirable for our statement to refer merely to that of the Laotian Government; our prepared statement does make reference to the role played by French Union troops in the defense of Laos. We need not emphasize the role of France in the conduct of Laotian foreign policy.)2
I took advantage of the opportunity to discuss with Millet the statement allegedly made by French officials in Paris yesterday to Harold Callender of the New York Times and to other American newspapermen. Those statements, as carried in the New York Times this morning, [Page 472] refer to the alleged lack of legal qualifications of Laos to make an appeal to the UN and also to the alleged fact that the general conduct of Laotian foreign relations was reserved to France in the Accords of 1949. I recall that when the Laotian bid for membership in the UN was being discussed in New York last September, the French made statements which we supported emphasizing the status of Laos as a sovereign member of the French Union with full qualifications for membership in the UN.
M. Millet was in full agreement regarding the unfortunate and unjustified nature of the statement which had been made to American correspondents in Paris. He said that the Ambassador is in communication with the Quai D’Orsay on the subject.
- In its statement, the French Government associated itself with the declaration of the Government of Laos regarding the Viet Minh invasion. It called for international solidarity with the efforts of Laos to resist aggression. The text was transmitted to the Department of State in Note No. 242 of Apr. 23. (751J.00/4–2353)↩
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At a news conference of Apr. 17, Michael J. McDermott, Special Assistant for Press Relations, made the following statement:
“The Royal Government of Laos has issued a statement drawing attention to the attack upon the territory of the Kingdom by Viet Minh troops and stating the determination of the Government, the army, and the people of Laos with the aid of French Union troops to resist this aggression.
“The Government of the United States is following developments with the closest attention. It expresses its sympathy with the people of Laos in their present emergency and its fervent wishes to them, to their troops, and to those of the French Union in their efforts to resist and turn back the invaders. The United States will continue to provide and will study ways and means of making more effective its assistance to the Associated States of Indochina and to France in the struggle to destroy Communist aggression in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.” (Department of State Bulletin, May 4, 1953, p. 641)
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