395. Telegram From the Embassy in Laos to the Department of State1
10490. 1. Prime Minister Souvanna yesterday asked me to have our aircraft take special precautions to avoid inadvertent attacks against Chinese road building crews in northern Laos. He said that there is just enough substance to “agreement” which ChiComs made with General Phoumi Nosavan in 1962 to give them legitimate pretext for doing this work as “aid” to Laos.
[Page 776]2. In general, his attitude is to “avoid poking the animals” while waiting to see exactly what the Chinese intentions are. He is most mindful of constant Peking reference to its 700 million citizens who will avenge “wrongs” done to them.
3. On other hand, Souvanna would like regular photography run of this area, in order to watch Chinese activity. He is especially interested in observing whether Chinese attempt to go beyond Muong Sai or Nam Tha in their construction work.
4. He speculates that Chinese may have been moved to pick up Houmi’s road building invitation by concern that North Vietnamese construction of Route 19 westward from Dien Bien Phu was intended to bring area along Chinese border under direct control of Hanoi. Heretofore, North Vietnamese have had to supply their forces in Nam Tha area from China.2
5. Comment: We will send operational message through other channels requesting Air Force to institute limitations suggested para 1. Entire area north of QD line and west of TJ square is already off limits. Small sector will be added to encompass Muong Sai.
- Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Laos, Vol. XVIII, Memos 1/68–1/69. Secret; Limdis. Marshall Wright sent this telegram to Rostow under cover of a memorandum of November 27. Responding to an earlier question to him and Robert Ginsburgh, Wright wrote Rostow, “it is not what we should do but what we can do. The answer, in Ginsburgh’s judgement is ‘nothing’.” In a postscript, Wright noted that Ginsburgh asked that he amend his view to read, “Nothing, unless we want to go to war with China.” (Ibid.)↩
- On December 2 the Central Intelligence Agency issued an Intelligence Information Cable commenting on the motives behind Chinese road construction in northern Laos. It reported that in early October 1968 a military force of 3,000 armed Chinese began construction of a major new road from the Sino-Lao border to a point connecting with a roadbed leading to the Mekong River 30 kilometers from Thailand. The CIA suggested that this might indicate Chinese sponsorship of the Thai subversive movement as well as control of Pathet Lao elements closest to China’s border. (Ibid.)↩