306.1 GE/5–1254
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Special Adviser to the United States Delegation (Heath)
Participants:
- Nguyen Quoc Dinh, head of the Vietnamese Delegation
- Nguyen Dac Khe, a member of the Vietnamese Delegation
- Donald R. Heath, Ambassador to Cambodia
Subject:
- The Vietnamese Conference Plan Tactics
Dinh told me yesterday that the Vietnamese Delegation was against Bidault’s armistice proposal; the Delegation is against any armistice as they feared it would inevitably work toward the Communists’ advantage. Nevertheless, the Delegation would not in the Plenary Session at this time raise any general opposition to Bidault’s armistice plan, realizing that it is politically necessary for the latter to present some proposal for eventual cease-fire to the French parliament. The Vietnamese tactics were to discuss the proposal with the French, to point out its weak points and stall for time. They believe that if Bidault finds parliamentary backing he would prefer to keep up the fight rather than negotiate a necessarily unsatisfactory armistice.
Dinh inquired whether there was [were] any developments of [on] the Secretary’s consultation with the President, Congress and our military authorities. I replied that we had no news of the results of the [Page 780] Secretary’s discussions. Dinh reminded me that he had told the Secretary, to the latter’s evident approval, that rather than accept an unsatisfactory solution the Vietnamese Delegation would walk out of the conference.