140. Telegram From the Embassy in Thailand to the Department of State1
43440. For Acting Secretary from Dick Holbrooke—please pass to Secretary Vance. Subj: CODEL Sasser.
1. (S–Entire text)
2. After three busy and productive days in Thailand, Senators Sasser, Danforth and Baucus leave for Phnom Penh in a few hours. They are immensely satisfied with their efforts so far, and it is my view that the trip has been productive and useful in focusing attention on both the dimensions of the crisis on the border and ways that it could be somewhat alleviated.
3. If the emotional high point of the trip was the tour of the border yesterday, the surprise was the Vietnamese decision to allow the CODEL to visit Phnom Penh. Mort,2 Mike Armacost and I think that this may reflect a change in Vietnamese strategy towards how to present Heng Samrin to the outside world, although we must await the results of their trip before reaching any firm conclusions.
4. It is difficult to describe the scene that we saw at the border yesterday. The phrase “refugee camp” does not suggest the scene we encountered: Tens of thousands of people seeking shelter in bushes or fields, in advanced states of disease or malnutrition. Among these desperate refugees were a surprising number of Pol Pot soldiers, who had left their weapons in Cambodia, crossed into Thailand to rest and await the order to return to Cambodia.
5. The Senators quickly and correctly focused on the concept of the land bridge—i.e., an overland distribution of food from the Thai border into Cambodia. They have skillfully avoided getting entangled in any of the political complexities of the region. They will present this idea in Phnom Penh tomorrow to whomever they see, and continue to avoid any political discussions.
6. Pursuant to my conversation with the Secretary before departure,3 Mort and I did not join the Senators yesterday when they walked into a refugee area which may have been inside Cambodia. As we agreed, we are sending two highly skilled FSO language officers (in [Page 485] Cambodian, French, Vietnamese and Chinese) with the CODEL to Phnom Penh.
7. Because of the importance and delicacy of that mission, Mike Armacost and I delayed our trip to Manila until after they return;4 we will wait in Bangkok to debrief them before resuming our previously planned trip. I will return on schedule.
8. One point that we are all stressing is that the trip to Phnom Penh does not imply recognition of Heng Samrin. The Senators readily agreed to this point and we sent a special message to this effect to the Chinese Embassy prior to the announcement.5 Mike Armacost and I will call on the Chinese Ambassador tomorrow to further stress this point. Thach explicitly accepted this key point as well.
9. Looking beyond the desperate humanitarian crisis, the situation on the border is more explosive than I had expected. The tension is palpable and the presence on the Thai side of the border of large numbers of unarmed Pol Pot soldiers creates a very real danger of hot pursuit by the Vietnamese, a risk accentuated by Vietnamese artillery shellings into Thailand, which occurred while we were in the region. In my meeting with Nguyen Co Thach, however, Thach made a remarkable flat statement that Vietnam will never invade Thailand, not even attacking the sanctuaries “as you Americans did in the past in Cambodia”. While we have not made this precise quote public it goes further and is more explicit than any previous statement that I am aware of by a Vietnamese. (Full memcon septel.)6
10. Despite Thach’s assurances the game China, Thailand, Pol Pot, and the Vietnamese are playing at the border is one fraught with the possibility of dangerous miscalculations. I will have more to say on this subject when I return.
11. The Senators, incidentally, hope to meet with the highest levels of the U.S. executive branch right after their return,7 as well as meeting with the Majority and Minority leaders. Ken Bleakley and Dennis Harter will be on the plane back with them and will be cabling more precise requests when their exact arrival time is known; at this time it [Page 486] appears they will arrive at Andrews around 2230 Thursday8 night although this may change.9
- Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Cables File, Far East, Box 13, 9–11/79. Secret; Immediate; Nodis.↩
- Reference is to Abramowitz.↩
- No memorandum of conversation of this discussion has been found.↩
- Armacost and Holbrooke met with Marcos on October 25. Telegrams 20778 and 20779 both from Manila, October 29, document the discussions. (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D790495–0346 and D790495–0357)↩
- Not found.↩
- See Document 64.↩
- According to the President’s Daily Diary, Baucus, Sasser, and Danforth met with Carter on October 16 from 2:04 until 2:25 p.m. (Carter Library, Presidential Materials, President’s Daily Diary) No memorandum of conversation of this meeting has been found.↩
- October 25.↩
- The Senators met with Ha Van Lau in New York on November 5 to discuss their trip and the “land bridge” proposal. See Document 67.↩