193. Memorandum From the Presidentʼs Special Assistant (Roche) to President Johnson 1
Washington, September 30, 1966.
The Baguio Conference might offer a fresh opportunity for reconciliation with Prince Sihanouk.
- —Sihanouk, caught between Thai and Vietnamese ambitions, thought that he could get guarantees from the Chicoms.
- —It now appears that he feels he took out insurance with a bankrupt firm, and might be willing to shift his account.
- —Sihanouk is more reliable than a canary in a coal mine when it comes to indicating changes in the power atmosphere in Southeast Asia. He is in motion away from the Chicoms.
But, he has to have guarantees. And the State Department does not want to create ripples in Bangkok by raising the question.
Might it not be possible at Baguio to formulate a multilateral statement that the powers there convened will respect the sovereignty of their [Page 422] neighbors, whether present or not, whether Communist, neutralist, or free world in alignment?
This would do much to establish the broad, principled goals of the “pacific powers.”
- —It would provide a formula fully in accord with your Vietnamese policy, namely, a stabilization of frontiers in Asia with no “wars of liberation” launched from either side.
- —It would undermine the inevitable attack on the Baguio Conference as a “council of war.”
- —It would supply a basis for reopening our direct contacts with Sihanouk from which might come a strengthening of the I.C.C. and a Cambodia neutral against the VC and PAVN.2
John P. Roche
- Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, International Meetings and Travel File, Seven Nations Conference, POTUS Trip I. No classification marking.↩
- Johnson wrote the following note on the source text: “Walt—I like what he says & the way he says it. Give me your comments. L.” Rostow sent Jorden a copy of this memorandum with the note: “WJ—What do you think? Take up quietly with State—donʼt take an easy no. Walt.”↩