217. Telegram From the Embassy in Vietnam to the Department of State 1

2024. Eyes only for Bundy.

1.
Archbishop Palmas, the Apostolic Delegate, “bumped into” me at the garden party last Sunday night celebrating the King of Thailand’s birthday and immediately brought up the matter of the Viet Cong wanting to see me with regard to ending the war.2 He said:
2.
Just as he and I had surmised, it has taken them one month to consult with each other. The “former Minister” had called on Palmas last Wednesday or Thursday3 and had said:
3.
The leaders of the VC with whom he is in touch had had a long discussion on just what their terms for ending the war should be, and they have decided on three things:
4.
First, the United States presence should remain in South Viet-Nam.
5.
Second, the United States would guarantee the sovereignty of South Viet-Nam.
6.
Third, there would be no negotiations with North Viet-Nam.
7.
They also would send a man with “Ambassadorial” rank to see me who would have the necessary letter of credentials.
8.
Palmas added that his “former Minister” wept while talking about the sufferings of the Viet Cong, and stressed the urgency of ending the war. He also said there was great alarm among the VC about the entrance of the North Vietnamese troops into South Viet-Nam. He implied that the Viet Cong in South Viet-Nam have the same feelings about Hanoi that Hanoi has about Peking.
9.
The “former Minister” also said, according to Palmas, that those who say he and his friends are pro-French “should remember that it is we who killed the French Vice Consul Bion.”
10.
Palmas asked what I wanted to do when the “former Minister” came again and asked whether I would receive him. I said I would like to know what his name was before I could answer such a question, but that I would certainly “make some arrangement.”
11.
He asked me whether I would receive the representative of the Viet Cong. I said that if he was of high rank—a true envoy plenipotentiary—[Page 604]that I would talk with him but that I did not want to have them send a subordinate official to talk with me. Palmas said that he had been assured that they would send a man “with ambassadorial rank.”
12.
Comment: This is a surprising development. I suspect this is a splinter group who will not be able to end the war. But it may presage a real split within the VC. If they could end the war, then we could not possibly ask for better terms. If I am in any doubt as to whether the so-called representative is really senior or not, I will have an Embassy official talk to him to verify that point. I am sure, however, that there is no use in any American here other than me talking peace terms. Both my Residence and that of the Apostolic Delegate are constantly watched, but I think I can find a place which is not watched and where I can meet this man.
Lodge
  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 27 VIET S. Top Secret; Priority; Nodis. The source text does not indicate a time of transmission; the telegram was received at 12:41 a.m.
  2. See Document 191.
  3. December 1 or 2.