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Funk
916
CONFIDENTIAL
113774 MDHOAN 7659
CONFIDENTIAL
FM FCO
TO IMMEDIATE HANOI
TELNO 138
OF 08120OZ JUN 88
INFO IMMEDIATE PEKING, HONG KONG, WASHINGTON, UKMIS GENEVA
INFO IMMEDIATE BANGKOK, SINGAPORE, KUALA LUMPUR, JAKARTA, MANILA INFO IMMEDIATE BRUNEI, CANBERRA, OTTAWA
SECRETARY OF STATE'S MEETING WITH VIETNAMESE FOREIGN MINISTER, NEW YORK, 7 JUNE
1. THE SECRETARY OF STATE HAD A HALF HOUR MEETING WITH CO THACH
IN NEW YORK ON 7 JUNE.
2. CO THACH SAID THAT HE WAS GLAD TO HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO
TALK ABOUT THE CAMBODIAN PROBLEM. BRITAIN HAD TWICE BEEN
CO-CHAIRMAN OF THE GENEVA CONFERENCE. VIETNAM HAD WITHDRAWN
HALF HER TROOPS BETWEEN 1982 AND 1987: OF THE REMAINING HALF, HALF AGAIN WOULD LEAVE IN 1988 AND THE REST BY 1990. THE
PROBLEM NOW WAS HOW TO HANDLE THE POLITICAL SOLUTION, AND THE CRUX OF THAT WAS THE DANGER OF A RETURN OF POL POT. HOW COULD
BRITAIN CONTRIBUTE AS A CO-CHAIRMAN?
3.
THE SECRETARY OF STATE SAID THAT WE HAD NOTED THE COMMITMENT
ON WITHDRAWAL, WHICH WAS WELCOME. WE WOULD BE LOOKING TO THE VIETNAMESE TO IMPLEMENT IT IN FULL, AND TO FOLLOW IT WITH COMPLETE. WITHDRAWAL. WE DID NOT WANT TO SEE POL POT BACK IN
POWER. BUT VIETNAMESE OCCUPATION HAD PROBABLY INCREASED SUPPORT
FOR THE KHMER ROUGE. WE WERE MINDFUL OF OUR ROLE AS
CO-CHAIRMAN. WE HAD NOTED VIETNAMESE AGREEMENT TO ATTEND THE
'COCKTAIL PARTY
4. CO THACH SAID THAT ALL PARTIES HAD NOW AGREED TO GO, BUT THE OFFICIAL INVITATION HAD NOT YET ISSUED. VIETNAM APPRECIATED THE
FACT THAT THE UK HAD BEEN THE FIRST WESTERN COUNTRY TO WITHDRAW
RECOGNITION OF POL POT.
5.
THE SECRETARY OF STATE SAID THAT WE HAD EXTREMELY SERIOUS
PROBLEMS RESULTING FROM VIETNAMESE REFUGEES TRAVELLING TO HONG
KONG. CÓ THẠCH INTERRUPTED THAT HE WAS AWARE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE'S RECENT STATEMENTS ON THE MATTER. THE PROBLEM WAS HOW TO SOLVE IT. THE SECRETARY OF STATE SAID THAT THE BEST SOLUTION
WAS TO CREATE CONDITIONS IN VIETNAM SO THAT PEOPLE WOULD WANT TO
LIVE THERE. HE KNEW THAT THE VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT WERE
CONSIDERING POLICY CHANGES. CO THACH SAID THAT SUCH CHANGES
TOOK TIME TO TAKE EFFECT. THE SECRETARY OF STATE EXPLAINED THE
RECENT HUGE INCREASE IN NUMBERS ARRIVING IN HONG KONG. IT WAS
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CONFIDENTIAL