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Ms S Tiffin
SEAD
FCO
I by cc Mr Footman, Had (§4),
Mas. Wyeth, DRU, ood ($5) Mr Whitehead, RES D.
British Embassy Bangkok
2 Dr[ervis (§2) Mr Thomas
Your reference
Our reference
Date 4 November 1988
Re. AG'S MED 2831S.
243/5
NOV 1988
H
Dear San
VISIT OF THE AUSTRALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER
1.
The Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade,
Senator Gareth Evans, visited Bangkok on 28-29 October, at the
end of a tour of most ASEAN countries. He called on the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, the Minister of Commerce, the Deputy
Supreme Commander, and the Executive Secretary of ESCAP. Senator Evans also gave two press conferences, of which I attach transcripts, but did not attract much attention locally.
2•
I have obtained a thorough briefing on the visit from the Australian Embassy, who seemed quite satisfied with the way it had gone. The conversation with the Deputy Supreme Commander General Pat, was mainly about Cambodia. Pat said that military activity along the border had declined in recent months, and that both sides to the conflict were "battle-weary" and genuinely looking for peace. He also referred in passing to Burma, saying that Thailand had urged the Burmese government to allow the ethnic minorities to participate in the running of the country.
3. The talks with Foreign Minister Siddhi had been noticeably businesslike, with a good turnout of senior officials on the Thai side, and the participants seated around a conference table rather than in the formal reception room which is the more customary style here. Sarasin Viraphol (Deputy Director-General of the Political Department) had described the outcome of the JIM working group, saying the Vietnamese had not got what they wanted. (agreement on linkage between their withdrawal and cessation of aid to the resistance; separation of the internal and external aspects). The meeting had shown that the positions of ASEAN and Vietnam were still far apart. Siddhi expressed the hope that the Khmer Rouge would join the Sihanouk/Hun Sen meeting in Paris, but appeared to attach more weight to progress in Sino-Soviet relations as the decisive factor in bringing about a Cambodian settlement. He said timing of a second JIM should await the outcome of these other discussions; a good deal of preparation would be needed in any case. Siddhi expressed the more general view that "time was running out"
/for
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