Article about Dr. Thiện's remarks

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363-04964 to 363-04977.pdf
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Title
Article about Dr. Thiện's remarks
Description
Original title: "thien", Keever's title: "Saigon Government Disagrees with U.S. Proposal for 'free delegations' Peace Talks, Throw(?) Legitimizing Viet Cong", Article draft about remarks made by Information Minister Dr. Thiện in response to U.S. Secretary of Defense Clark Clifford, for the Christian Science Monitor, page 1-13. Article starts with Keever's note to her editing for following article, page 1. The note is generally explaining the topic aqnd sources of the article.
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Draft transcripts were automatically generated via Google Document AI and are currently under review. Please report significant errors to Archives & Special Collections at archives@unl.edu.
Transcript
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- Page 1
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zcze sag
yy nnm
editorial note 1 (normass/deepe)
1391
SAIGON, NOVEMBER 16 The following is excerpts and an abridgement
reaction to Clark Clifford's
of the official Vietnamese government's
statement. This is based on a press conference with Ton That Thien,
There's no such thing as an official transcript Roug
HND
so this must be considered an unofficial
Minister of Information.
of a Vietnamese press conference,
tion. Also,
over the week-end on political developments,
jelled well enough at this point to write about. Regards Bev.
some of the questions are summarized.
We'll check
but I don't think things are
==end reuter
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- Page 2
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2020 sag
yy nnm
thien 1 (normass/deepe)
SAIGON, NOVEMBER 16-Following is a unofficial
Excerpts
baben of the
highlights of a press conference called by South Vietnamese Minister of
Information, Dr. Ton That Thien, on Wednesday, November 13, to comment
on the remarks of U. S. Secretary of Defense Clark Cliffords
I have convened this session because something has happened which
is of very great importance. You have all seen the statement made by
Secretary of Defense Clark Clifford. He related what feath
HAS
President m Nguyen Van Thieu has said or not repeat not
nhiều
said. And Secretary Clifford has said that President made a promise and
then has gone back on his word.
==more reuter
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- Page 3
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Zozo sag
yy nnm
thien 2 (normass/deepe)
Now I regret that a member of the Vietnamese government has to speak
publicly on a matter like this. But, we have no repeat no other
alternative because a very high official of the American government has found
it proper to make that kind of statement. I repeat again that at no
repeat no stage, at no repeat not time with no repeat no one
President Thieu agreed to the "two sides-four delegations" formula.
Let me give you the background of what happened. Normally
But in this kind of
a member of the government would not repeat not this.
we felt compelled to clarify matters.
situation
has
On October 19, Ambassador (Ellsworth) (American) Ambassador (11swro
(Ellsworth)
Bunker sent to President Thieu the draft of a joint communique
on the bombing halt.
President Thieu declined to sign it. That was 15 days before
American election--because it was not repeat not clear what this "two-sides"
meant and President Thieu wanted to find out what it meant.
the
==more reuter
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- Page 4
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2020 sag
yy nnm
thien 3 (normass/deepe)
Discussions went on about that until the 31st of October, when
President Lyndon Johnson thought it necessary to go ahead and announce
the bombing halt unilaterally just before the election. But five days before--
that is on the 25th 0 repeat 25th of October, President Thieu asked
Ambassador Bunker why it was impossible for him (Bunker) to modify his
position on this four-delegation formula. And Mr. Bunker said that the
American government had already made a commitment five months earlier, just
around the time of the Honolulu Conference, So, that is the background
of what happened.
I feel, I regret to have to say all this and I hope this is the
first and the last a member of the Vietnamese government has to disclose
things which should not repeat not be disclosed at all.
==more reuter
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- Page 5
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zo zo sag
Jy nnm
thien 4 (normass/deepe)
Buts I had no repeat no alternative after what Secretary Clifford
said very jokingly, I say very k' jokingly to the American press in
Washington on such a serious matter.
Q. What happens if the U. S. government goes ahead with negotiations
in Paris.
A. They have been doing that for several months now but with things
OR FORMAL ARReement
which do not repeat not concern us directly. No repeat no decision made
will be binding
without our participation and no rep
on us.
Q. Why do you think Secretary Clifford said this?
A.
Well, I think, I don't know.
==more reuter
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- Page 6
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20 20: sag
yy nnm
thien 5 (normass/deepe)
25
Qe
Was the Bunker statement made on October 2 the first your government
I had ever heard about it (regarding the U. S. commitment to a four-delagun
delegation conference in Paris,
made at the time of the Honolulu Conference).
A. That was the first time President Thieu was told about it.
KNOW
He did not repeat not anything about it at all before that time--four or five
days before November 1. (The bombing halt was on November 1, Saigon time).
What was in the October 19th communique that Ambassador Bunker
ith presented to President Thieu?
Ao There were two parts, one concerning the bombing halt and one
concerning the peace talks.
The bombing halt had very little to do with
us...but other matters concerning the political future of Vietnam had to be
discussed with us.
==more reuter
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zeze sag
yy nnm
thien 6 (normass/deepe)
Qo
Vietnamese?
Then was the communique not repeat not worked out with the
A. That correct. Well, you heard what Secretary Clifford said.
Only the date was left out. President Thieu would never have a signed
that. If he had, he would have been a puppet.
look in the eyes of the world as a puppet,
no repeat no use for South Vietnam
defeat Communism if we have a puppet.
He would have accepted to
and if he did that, it is
to fight on. Because we can never
Q. How did President Thieu take Secretary Clifford's statement?
A.
I have not repeat not seen him today.
But, he was in an
unusual mood,
if you like to call it that.
==more reuter
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- Page 8
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zczo sag
yy nnm
thien 7 (normass/deepe)
Qe What was the mood of the gen government to Secretary Clifford's
statement?
A.
Americans are allies.
It was one of shock-shock because the
very high official in the American government made the statement-the third
highest ranking executive in the American government, if I am right about
the American constitution.
Q.
A.
How would you characterize his statement?
I can't not repeat not answer that because ± I do not repeat not
think it is proper for high government officials to engage in this kind of
thing. I hope it is the last
A
time.
Q.
Has anything near agreement yet been reached?
If you remember those three weeks before November 1,
I insisted
To this day, there has been
A.
there was no repeat no agreement of any kind.
had been
no repeat no agreement. If there was one, President Johnson would have been
able to issue the joint communique in Washington and there would have been
one in Saigon at the same time.
==more reuter
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- Page 9
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ZCZC sag
yy nnm
thien 8 (normass/deepe)
Is the South Vietnamese government in about the same position at
the Paris conference as it was during the Geneva Conference of 1954?
A. That is a good refresher-when the French sat down and signed an
agreement with the Viet Minh and we (South Vietnam) never recongized it and
because the war
that's the root cause of the troubles all these years,
started again in five years. I don't know why people continue to assume
that Vietnam would agree to things it has not repeat not participated in
or signed.
Q. What was the reaction to Clifford's talking about two sides, notr
repeat not four parties in Paris.
That
A. Well, President Johnson's speech on November 1 mentions four-party
talks in Paris. That's the et result isn't it? We say that if you want to
make that really clear, you have to make it clear also that the National
result
Liberation Front can not repeat not sit as a separate delegation.
that 15 or 20 times. It's useless to go back to that.
Also
We said
We can not accept
to go to Paris without a separate South Vietnamese representation.
have three-party talks, but never four-party talks.
==more reuter
We can
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- Page 10
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zcze sag
yy nnm
Thien 9 (normass/deepe)
Qe
What about Secretary Clifford's saying the only reason President
Thieu refused to sign agree was the South Vietnamese delegation was
not repeat not ready to leave.
A.
We never said that.
That's Mr. Clifford's reason, not repeat not
I assumed Mr. Clifford speaks for the American
my government's reason.
government
The only commitment we made in Honolulu was 'one man-one vote' principle.
We said we would never accept the National Liberation Front.
Sending the
We are concerned with basic
delegation to Paris is a very secondary matter.
if we have not repeat not
matters that have to be worked out first. But,
raised the basic objection, we would have accepted almost anything that
follows. Ambassador Bunker and President Thieu did not repeat not see
other for nearly sixteen days just because of one objection-there were many
other...It's a waste of money and time to go to Paris and come home again."
EACH
==more reuter
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zozo sag
yy nnm
thien 10 (normass/deepe)
How do you explain these different interpretations (from what
Clifford said)?
A. I hope it was a misunderstanding, but that is not repeat not
the way it was pute I've been studying English for 30 years.
foe
I think misunderstanding is Ambassador Bunker put this paper before
President Thieu, leaving a blank of the date, thinking President Thieu
would sign it. And President Thieu can not pea repeat not do it because
he would appear in the eyes of the world and especially in the eyes of his
own people as a puppet and he can not repeat not do that.
#more reuter
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- Page 12
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zcze sag
yy nnm
thien 11 (normass/deepe)
Qo Has anyone of Mr. Nixon's staff contacted high Vietnamese government
officials?
I don't know. But I don't think Nixon would do that sort of thing
behind President Johnson's back.
What are the changes of going to Paris?
A. We're still waiting for either Washington or Hanoi to make
new proposals and then President Thieu will study them and tell what he
things about them.... To this date I haven't been told of any new proposals.
Q. What kind of guarantees is the South Vietnamese government seeking?
from Hanoi--a written statement?
Ad It would have to be some thing for the whole world to know about.
is not repeat not good enough if an American representative meets a Hanoi
representative in the kitchen and they talk and then they refuse to say
aloud in the living room (what they agreed to). They should speak aloud in
the drawing room so that everyone can hear what they have promised each
other. So far, Hanoi has never done that and they claim they have never
We want Hanoi to say publicly
done that....We want things on the record.
on what conditions it goes to the talks and whether it makes pledges,
what kind of pledges it makes--on the record.
It is not repeat good enough
That is not repeat
to be told it may agree to this or it may agree to that.
not sufficient.
It must be on the record. We have had
experience in the ways of Hanoi.
25 years
It
==more reuter
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zcze sag
yy nnm
thien 12 (normass/deepe)
Qo
Is that the only major issue?
A. It is not repeat the only matter but it is one of the basic
things.
What about parallel negotiations-Saigon and Hanoi, the Americans
and others?
A. We welcome to talk to Hanoi.
Whatever else happens is not repeat
out concern. If the American government wants to talk to Hanoi also,
they're free to....We have never wanted to exclude, the U. S. from anything.
Have been
Qe
Secretary Clifford said there would be considerable delay caused
by President Thieu's objections?
A.
President Thieu has said there are matters so vital, izen
rather than rushing into them, it is better to sit in Saigon than in
Paris.
Between what certain dates did Thieu make his conditions clear.
A.
He has always made his views clear for over a year.
==more reuter
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zozo sag
yy nnm
thien 13 (normass/deepe)
earlier. Maybe someone has
We have never been told anything about that commitment made five months
forgotten to tell President Thieu about this....
Q. If the National Liberation Front sat at
WAS
Recognized
the other side of the table,
A.
That is not repeat not good enough for us.
but not n repeat not reoengined by Saigon or the Americans--would that work?
The NLF can not
go
there as a separate delegation.
be three Vietnams, instead of two.
The difference is that there will
Repeat Not
This is not a matter of semantics.
not
It
is a matter of principle.....
==end reuter
Date
1968, Nov. 16
Subject
Tôn, Thất Thiện (1924–2014); Clifford, Clark M., 1906-1998; United States--Relations--Vietnam (Republic); Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Peace; Press conferences
Location
Saigon, South Vietnam
Coordinates
10.8231; 106.6311
Size
20 x 26 cm
Container
B10, F39
Format
dispatches
Collection Number
MS 363
Collection Title
Beverly Deepe Keever, Journalism Papers
Creator
Keever, Beverly Deepe
Copyright Information
These images are for educational use only. To inquire about usage or publication, please contact Archives & Special Collections.
Publisher
Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries
Language
English