Editorial Note
At Manila, on September 8, 1954, representatives of Australia, France, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States signed the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty. According to the provisions of the Manila Pact, each Party agreed in the event of aggression against any other Party to act to meet the common danger in a manner consistent with its constitutional processes. In a separate protocol, the Parties to the Treaty agreed to guarantee in addition the territory of Cambodia, Laos, and non-Communist Vietnam against aggression.
For the text of the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty and the Pacific Charter also signed by the eight nations of the Manila Conference, see Department of State Bulletin, September 20, 1954, pages 394–396. For extensive documentation on the Manila Conference and the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty, see volume XII.