Editorial Note
The conversations in Washington between Jean Letourneau, French Minister for the Associated States and High Commissioner in Indochina, and United States officials concluded on June 18. From 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., Letourneau, Under Secretary of State Bruce, and Assistant Secretary Allison met with Tran Van Kha, Vietnamese Ambassador designate to the United States, and Nong Kimny, Cambodian Ambassador-designate, to brief them on the United States-French conversations of June 16–17. The verbatim record of this meeting is in file 751G.00/6–2352.
The communiqué of the talks, which was issued on June 18, stressed that the United States and France considered the conflict in Indochina to be part of worldwide resistance to Communist aggression. The United States was described as intending to increase its assistance to the French Union effort. The conversations were characterized as having “reaffirmed the common determination of the participants to prosecute the defense of Indochina and their confidence in a free, peaceful and prosperous future for Cambodia, Laos, and Viet-Nam.” For the full text, see American Foreign Policy, 1950–1955: Basic Documents (Department of State Publication 6446) (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1957), volume II, pages 2367–2368, or Department of State Bulletin, June 30, 1952, page 1010.
[Page 204]Secretary Acheson also commented on the Letourneau talks at his news conference of June 18. His remarks were circulated as Department of State Press Release No. 473, June 18. For text, see Department of State Bulletin, June 30, 1952, pages 1009–1010, or United States-Vietnam, Relations, 1945–1967, Book 8, pages 518–519.