Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968, Volume XXVII, Mainland Southeast Asia; Regional Affairs

134. Information Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs (Cleveland) to Acting Secretary of State Ball¹

Washington, May 30, 1964.

SUBJECT

• Security Council Resolution on Cambodian Complaint

We are now in the last round of negotiations on a resolution winding up the Cambodian complaint against South Viet-Nam and ourselves. Morocco is still carrying the ball, but it is clearly the French who are calling the signals. While France has been consistently opposed to any continuing UN involvement in this dispute, Charlie Yost was told by Seydoux Saturday morning that he had tracked down Couve in Madrid by phone and that Couve was becoming concerned at the extent to which this exercise has been played up as a US-French split. It was under these circumstances, apparently, that the French Government (“at the highest levels”) drafted a paragraph which would give the UN a limited forward-looking role as defined in operative paragraph 5 below.

The text of the Moroccan draft resolution, as amended by the French, is shown below. Portions in brackets are those we wish to delete. Portions in parentheses represent additions or substitutions we are seeking.

Begin Text

The Security Council,

Considering the complaint of the Government of Cambodia contained in document S/________,

Noting the statements made before the Council on the subject of this complaint,

Noting with regret the incidents which occurred on Cambodian territory and the situation existing on the Khmer-Vietnamese border,

Taking note of the explanations and the regrets which have been expressed to the Royal Government of Cambodia on the subject of these incidents and the loss of human life which resulted,

Noting also the desire of the Governments of Cambodia and of the Republic of Viet-Nam to undertake to re-establish a peaceful and normal situation in their relations;

1. Deplores the incidents [provoked]² (caused) by the penetration of elements of the army of the Republic of Viet-Nam into Cambodian territory,

2. Requests that just and equitable compensation be offered to the Royal Government of Cambodia [by those responsible for these incidents],

3. Invites the parties to take all appropriate measures with a view to avoiding the renewal of such incidents,

4. Requests all states (and authorities) and in particular the members of the Geneva Conference to [bring about the recognition and respect of] (recognize and respect) the neutrality and territorial integrity of Cambodia,

5. Decides that three of its members will visit (the two countries concerned, including) the places where the recent incidents took place in order to examine measures capable of preventing their renewal and to report to the Security Council within 30 days.³

End Text

The reasons for our suggested changes in the foregoing text are as follows:

1. In operative paragraph 2, deletion of the phrase “by those responsible for these incidents”. First preference is total omission but if necessary, something along the lines of “by the responsible party” could be substituted. This revision is required inasmuch as Cambodia has charged us with responsibility along with the Vietnamese and has consequently demanded compensation from the United States.

2. In operative paragraph 4, insertion of the words “and authorities” is designed to deny to Communist China and the “Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam” any implication of our recognition of them as “states.” Deletion of “bring about the recognition and respect of” is necessary because the phrase suggests some action on the part of the states and Geneva Conference members beyond “respecting” and could thus be interpreted as an implied Security Council endorsement of the Cambodian request for a new Geneva Conference. Our acceptance of operative paragraph 4 even with these changes is conditional upon Vietnamese agreement thereto.

3. In operative paragraph 5, the insertion of “the two countries concerned, including” is desirable to insure that the scope of the committeeʼs inquiry is not restricted to the Cambodian villages which were the scene of the incidents of the complaint but is wide enough to permit activity in the two capitals and in particular the interrogation of Viet Cong prisoners of war in Saigon. At a minimum we would insist on a prior understanding that the present wording “the places” (“sur les lieux”) is to be interpreted in the foregoing sense.

1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 32–1 CAMB–VIET S/UN. Confidential. Drafted by Buffum and Patricia M. Byrne of UNP. There is an indication on the source text that Ball saw it.
2. All brackets are in the source text.
3. For the resolution as adopted by the Security Council, June 4, see American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1964, pp. 856–857.