CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL (RE-TRANSMISSION)
FM HANOI
TO IMMEDIATE FCO
TELNO 199
OF 07014OZ JUNE 88
INFO DESKBY 0708OOZ UKMIS NEW YORK
HKD 2435
42243/5
ра
50
106463
MDHIAN 2237
(UKMIS NEW YORK FOR SECRETARY OF STATE PARTY)
(40)
MY TELNO 195: MEETING WITH VIETNAMESE FOREIGN MINISTER
AND
1. NGUYEN CO THACH WILL PROBABLY APPEAR HIS USUAL EASY GOING CHARMING SELF, WHILE REMAINING A FORMIDABLE INTERLOCUTOR. HE IS AT PRESENT, HOWEVER, DEEPLY PREOCCUPIED NOT ONLY WITH FOREIGN AFFAIRS SUCH AS THE PROBLEMS OF CAMBODIA AND CHINA'S PUSH INTO THE ISLANDS OF THE SOUTH CHINA SEA AND THE MANOEUVRINGS BETWEEN THE SOVIET UNION, CHINA AND THE UNITED STATES (WHICH MAY ONCE AGAIN WORK TO VIETNAM'S DISADVANTAGE), BUT ALSO WITH THE VIETNAMESE ECONOMY WHICH IS IN A PARLOUS STATE. HE IS, TOO, CONCERNED ABOUT HIS PERSONAL PROSPECTS: IT IS BY NO MEANS OUT OF THE QUESTION THAT HE ISHOULD BE NOMINATED PRIME MINISTER WITHIN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS.
2. ON THE ISSUES, THACH WILL BE TOUGH. ON CAMBODIA, HE WILL NOT BE IMPRESSED BY AN ASSERTION THAT THE PROBLEM OF CAMBODIA WAS CREATED BY VIETNAM'S INVASION AND THAT IUFCAN BM SOLVED BY VIETNAMESE WITHDRAWAL. HE WILL DEFEND FIRMLY VIETNAM'S JUSTIFICATION FOR SENDING TROOPS INTO CAMBODIA BY POINTING TO THE GENOCIDAL ACTIVITIES OF THE POL POT REGIME WHICH HAD SPILLED OVER ONTO VIETNAMESE TERRITORY. HE IS CONCERNED AT THE POSSIBLE RESURGENCE OF THE KHMER ROUGE BUT WILL UNDERLINE VIETNAM'S COMMITMENT ZO COMPLETE WITHDRAWAL IN 1990 IF THERE IS NO POLITICAL SETTLEMENT BEFORE THEN. HE WILL MAKE MUCH OF THE RECENT ANNOUNCEMENT THAT HALF THE REMAINING VIETNAMESE TROOPS WILL BE WITHDRAWN BY THE END OF THIS YEAR, AND VIETNAM'S READINESS TO TAKE PART IN A JAKARATA ''COCKTAIL PARTY'' HE MAY WISH TO PROBE YOU ON YOUR READINESS TO TAKE A LEADING PART IN
AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE.
·
3. ON RERUGEES, THACH WILL ADMIT READILY THAT THE FLOW EXISTS AND IS AN INDICTMENT OF THE COUNTRY'S ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE. HOWEVER. HE WILL CLAIM THAT VIETNAM HAS A COAST LINE OF MORE THAN 3,000 KMS WHICH IS IMPOSSIBLE TO POLICE ADEQUATELY TO PREVENT DEPARTURES. HE KNOWS AS WELL AS ANYONE THAT THE PROBLEM WILL BE SOLVED ONLY WHEN VIETNAM'S ECONOMY BEGINS TO PERFORM. IT IS THIS REALISATION THAT
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CONFIDENTIAL