For the Presidentʼs information there is enclosed a memorandum that
discusses the implications for the United States of the recent
Australian recognition of Cambodian borders.
Enclosure
Australian Declaration on Cambodiaʼs
Borders—Implications for the United States
The Statement and Its Background. At the
conclusion of a visit by the Cambodian Foreign Minister on February
21, the Australian Government in Canberra made its long-awaited
statement on Cambodiaʼs frontiers, in the following terms: “In
conformity with the United Nations Charter, Australia recognizes and
respects the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Cambodia within
its present frontiers.” Cambodia has threatened to “freeze”
diplomatic relations with all remaining countries that refused to
issue statements recognizing Cambodiaʼs present borders. The
Australian statement derives special significance from the fact that
an earlier statement (July 1967) had at first been accepted but then
rejected when Australia had made clear it had not intended to imply
an endorsement of the specific demarcation of Cambodiaʼs
frontier.
Cambodian Interpretation. When the Cambodian
Foreign Minister pointedly commented in a February 21 press
conference that the Australian declaration provided “moral and legal
support” for Cambodian
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claims against its neighbors, the Australian Government stuck to its
decision not to correct the Foreign Ministerʼs interpretation nor to
comment or amplify in any way on its own declaration.
The Cambodian official also said in Canberra that Cambodia would like
to have the United States, too, issue a declaration recognizing its
borders. The U.S. is in fact the only great power that has not
issued a declaration and we are coming under increasing pressure to
do so.
U.S. Position. We have no legal problems with
issuing a statement similar to that made by Australia, or even one
more sweeping and without such qualifications as “in conformity with
the UN Charter.” While there could be
some advantage in issuing such a declaration since it might help
pave the way for an eventual restoration of relations with Cambodia,
we would have real political problems because of the reactions of
Cambodiaʼs neighbors to the public interpretation that Cambodia
would place on our border statement. Cambodiaʼs frontiers are still
not clearly defined in some cases.
While we might attempt, as Australia is doing, to avoid any comment
on Cambodiaʼs interpretation, we would have to explain our statement
in advance to the Governments of Laos, Thailand and South Vietnam,
and there would be no guarantee that they would not make our
position public. In such a case, the Cambodians would be quite apt
to do what they did with Australiaʼs earlier declaration, i.e.,
declare it to be null and void. We would also be accused of
duplicity.
Another problem that exists for us, but not for the Australians, is
that Cambodia has indicated that it interprets statements of
“respect and recognition” of its borders as a sort of guarantee
against border violations. As long as the enemy makes use of the
Cambodia/Vietnam border areas, including Cambodian territory, it is
virtually impossible to avoid border violations without surrendering
the border regions to the enemy.
Strategy. Because of these problems we
believe it best to proceed slowly, and step by step: We can first
explore with the Cambodians some mutual understanding—even tacit—of
what a U.S. border statement would and would not mean. We are
prepared to undertake such exploration at a propitious time. Unless
such discreet advance preparation is made, we run the serious risk
of having a U.S. declaration blow up in our face.
At the present time we are waiting to see what the Cambodian
Government does with the information we recently provided it about
VC/NVA use of their territory. We also wish to see how anxious
Cambodia is to renew relations with us. The Cambodian Foreign
Minister gave his Australian hosts the impression of being not very
eager. He said Cambodia would need, in addition to a border
declaration, “guarantees” against American border violations.
