892.014/9–546
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Chief of the Division of Southeast Asian Affairs (Moffat)
M. Georges-Picot informed me that Prince Wan had informed him that instructions had been received from Bangkok for the Siamese delegation to present their dispute to the Security Council. He understood, however, that this would not be done until the return of Khuang Aphaiwong and Thanat Khoman84 who are accompanying Georges-Picot to Paris on September 7 and will probably not return until about September 24.
M. Georges-Picot expressed the earnest hope that there would not be a division between the United States and France in the Security Council and suggested the possibility that when the question of placing the Siamese complaint on the agenda comes up for discussion the French might state that they would have no objection to the hearing of such complaint as soon as the Siamese had restored the disputed territories. M. Georges-Picot also commented that in his opinion, insofar as the Security Council is concerned, the war started in 1937 when Japan attacked China, one of the United Nations; that therefore Article 107 is applicable to bar the Siamese complaint, the taking of the territories with Japanese aid having occurred during the war.
I expressed the view that the United States would feel that Siam should have the opportunity to state its case; the French to reply thereto including presentation of the obvious proof that the territories were taken with Japanese aid; and then the Council should recommend, insofar as the territorial dispute is concerned, that the territories should be restored at once to Indochina and that upon such restoration the French and Siamese should endeavor to effect a direct settlement of any outstanding differences.
- Director, Foreign Affairs Division, Siamese Foreign Office.↩