Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, The Geneva Conference, Volume XVI

Conference files, lot 60 D 627, CF 265

Memorandum by the Special Adviser to the United States Delegation (Heath) to the Coordinator of the United States Delegation (Johnson)¹

secret

[Geneva,] May 1, 1954.

Subject:

• The Indochina Phase of the Conference

1. Participation

At Bidault’s meeting with Molotov on April 27,² there appeared to be agreement that the participants—at least in the first instance—should be: The U.S., U.K., USSR, France, the Associated States, Communist China and Viet Minh. Bao Dai’s acceptance of the second letter³ would seem to pave the way for an invitation from the French to the 3 Associated States.

Recommendations:

(1) That the U.S. position on participation be that the 9 Powers listed above should be the only participants.

(2) That invitations shall be extended to the Associated States by France and to the Viet Minh by the USSR.

(3) That we absolutely reject any attempt by the Soviets to include their puppet regimes in Laos and Cambodia.

(4) If the Soviets insist on the participation of India, Indonesia and Burma (or any combination thereof), we should insist on having Thailand, Philippines and Australia.

If it seems tactically wise in order to settle the question to have one state from each group included, we should accept Burma and Thailand on the limitrophe principle.

2. Opening Date of the Indochina Phase

While we should not be in the position of attempting to delay the Indochina Phase of the Conference, it is recommended that the Indochina discussions not begin before Monday, May 10 in order to avoid conflict with next week’s Korean sessions.

3. Chairmanship

If the participants are limited to the 9 listed above, it is recommended that our position on chairmanship be that the chair be rotated by the U.K. and the USSR. If Thailand is included as a participant in the Indochina Phase then our position should be that the chairmanship follow the procedure of the Korean Phase, rotating among the U.K., Thailand and the USSR.

4. Seating

It is recommended that once the participants are finally decided upon, the French Deputy Secretary–General of the Allied Secretariat take the initiative in working out with his Soviet counterpart an auditorium–type seating plan similar to the one now in use for the Korean Phase.⁴

5. Languages

As a practical matter we see no alternative to French, English, Russian and Chinese (the Associated States will use French and the Viet Minh will use Chinese) as the official language for the Indochina Phase.

This has the disadvantage of having only the languages of the Berlin Powers plus Communist China.

6. Secretariat

It is recommended that the Secretariat organization and procedures now in use for the Korean Phase be continued throughout the Conference, except for appropriate modifications in the cost–sharing formula.

We plan to resume on Monday Tripartite discussions with the British and French on the Indochina Phase of the Conference.

DRH

1. Ambassador Heath also served as Chairman of the Indochina Working Group.
2. For a summary of the Bidault–Molotov meeting, see telegram Dulte 16, p. 591.
3. For an informal translation of the letter to Bao Dai, see footnote 1, p. 620.
4. Handwritten notation by Johnson to paragraph 4: “The Secretary believes we need not be rigid on this point. With only 9 a table arrangement would be practicable. Chauvel told me tonight they were thinking of an individual desk arrangement in an ellipse. I said would be OK with us. U. A. J.”