Emergency meet backs Vietnam
bares China’s Kampuchea fraud

By JAMES LEECH

TORONTO — The Govern-
ment of Vietnam is prepared to
discuss with the Chinese leaders,
“the maintenance of peace and
stability in the border regions, on
the basis of respect for each
other’s sovereignty and territorial
integrity,” a spokesman of the
Vietnamese Embassy in Ottawa
told a Toronto audience, March
18:

This program for negotiations
could be started as soon as the
Chinese military have withdrawn
completely and unconditionally
from Vietnamese territory, said
Ho Xuan Dich.

In the meantime, the Viet-
namese remain vigilant. ‘‘The
Chinese reactionaries have suf-
fered several setbacks in the
military, political and diplomatic
fields, but they have not given up
their expansionist ambitions,”
the speaker said.

The meeting, held at the
Friends’ House (Society of
Friends) and sponsored by the
Toronto Association for Peace
(TAP) was called, said Stan Dal-
ton, chairman of both the meeting
and TAP, to hear the spokesman
of the Vietnamese Government,
and two Canadian delegates to the

‘recent International Emergency
Conference in Support of Viet-
nam held in Helsinki, Finland,
March 6-8. The other purpose
‘was to set up a Hands Off Viet-
nam committee, for which a
number of people volunteered. :

Katié McGovern and Nancy
Pocock, were delegates of the
Canadian Peace Congress to Hel-
sinki together with some 300
people from 130 countries and 30
international organizations.
In all, nine Canadians attended.

Message to Trudeau

The Toronto meeting endorsed
unanimously a message to Prime
Minister Trudeau, urging the
Government of Canada to de-
mand “‘that Peking withdraw all
its military forces immediately
and unconditionally from Viet:
nam,” in keeping with the tradi-
tional borders.

While the speeches dealt
largely with China’s aggression
against Vietnam, speakers al-
luded to Kampuchea, because, as
it was pointed out, news media in
Canada, and in fact the U.S. and
Canadian Governments had at-
tempted to tie together the libera-

tion of Kampuchea by its oppres-
sed people, and China’s unpro-
voked invasion of Vietnam.

Restraint by Vietnam

Nancy Pocock, a pacifist, and
long a supporter of Vietnamese
independence, a spokesperson
for peace in Indochina, recalled
her visit to Vietnam last spring.

She and others had gone to the
border areas with Kampuchea
where they ‘‘found beautiful
towns and lovely countryside
being devastated by war... Isaw
with my own eyes the things that
were going on’’ (the attacks by
Kampuchean armed forces). ‘‘I
also saw the restraint that the Viet-
namese Government was exer-
cising. We were surrounded by
refugees ...’’ she said, relating
some of the tragic facts of families
and whole villages being wiped
out by the invading Pol Pot
forces. She saw first hand how
local people wanted to fight those
forces, but how they were’ re-
strained because the Vietnamese
Government wanted to negotiate
a peaceful settlement.

“The Vietnamese bent over
backwards to settle this ques-
tion,”’ Pocock said.

Overthrew Pol Pot

Katie McGovern read the
speech of a Polish journalist, deli-
vered to the Helsinki emergency
conference. As in Helsinki, a
hushed audience tried to grasp the
abysmal horror of Kampuchea
under Peking’s henchmen, Pol
Pot and Ieng Sary. (This account
appears in full in this paper.)

Ho Xuan Dich responded to a
question about the overthrow of
the Kampuchean regime:

“‘The main forces that opposed
the government of Pol Pot in
Kampuchea last January, were
formed by the Kampuchean
people themselves, the people
who had been oppressed for sev-
eral years, whose families had
been murdered; and these people
were residing in both Kam-
puchea, or else had fled over into

Vietnam as refugees during the

past years. They had returned to
fight against the Pol Pot regime.”’
On the current situation in the
area of the Chinese aggression
against Vietnam, Ho Xuan Dich
saw a strategy by the Chinese rul-
ing circles, under the pretext of
modernization, to first modernize
the armed forces in line with Pek-
ing’s big nation expansionism.

‘*For more than a month now,”’
he reminded the audience, ‘‘the
Chinese forces have inflicted
heavy civilian casualties in Viet-
nam, killing many people, while
burning hospitals, schools, vil-
lages, and destroying the
economic institutions of Vietnam.

Civilians Cannot Come Back

“In places where they are
withdrawing, they have commit-
ted acts of plundering, poisoning
wells, bombing the area — so that
civilians cannot come back to live
in those areas again.”’ This was
sickening, he said,-even to a
number of ‘‘soldiers, cadres,
party members, and part of the
Chinese people (who) are against
the authority of the Chinese
leadership.

“The Chinese have suffered
heavy casualties in Vietnam,’’ Ho
Xuan Dich said. ‘‘Up to now they

have suffered nearly 63,000.

human casualties — troops — and
they have had about 530 tanks and
military vehicles put out of action

’ “*They have moved many bor-
der marker posts to points deep
inside the Vietnamese territory,
away from the historical border
line between China and Viet-

“nam.”

Nancy Pocock pointed out
that, ‘‘All the time the Chinese
leader was in the United States
... he kept saying he was going to

attack ... to teach Vietnam a les-
son. So the United States ...
knew very well that Vietnam was
going to be attacked. I’m sure
there was an understanding be-
tween the Chinese leaders and the
Americans.”’
Katie McGovern reported that,

VIETNA@g WILL WIN}

‘‘The consensus at (the Helsin\;
conference was that this cong,
tutes a major danger to wotp
peace, because the leadership i
China, by aligning itself with i}
NATO powers, with the Uniti,
States, has put itself.in a positij
to destabilize Vietnam... 5

ANC hits China’s aggression i

The following statement of the
National Executive Committee of
the African National Congress
(South Africa) was issued Feb.
22, 1979 from Lusaka, Zambia
over the signature of ANC Sec-
retary General, Alfred Nzo:

* * *

Only four years ago, heroic
Vietnam regained a_ well-
deserved peace and her indepen-
dence after decades of people’s
war which resulted in the defeat
of French colonialism and U.S.
aggression and occupation.

On Feb. 17, seeking once more
to compromise this peace and in-
dependence, the armed forces of
China invaded the Socialist Re-
public of Vietnam, realizing an
objective for which the leadership
of China had prepared for over a
period of many months.

During this period the Chinese

Helsinki conference action progra

The International Emergency Conference adopted an extensive program of .
action which contains among its main points the following:

e Activisation, revitalisation and setting up of national committees of solidarity
and friendship and in defence of Vietnam in every country of the world.

e Influencing governments and political parties to condemn the Chinese position
and to use whatever influence those governments may have in trade, diplomacy or
international forums such as the UN to force the Chinese to withdraw immediate-
ly, totally and unconditionally from Vietnam,

e Organise campaigns of protest at Chinese diplomatic, trade and other rep-
resentations in their countries.

e Launching campaigns against the supply of arms, military and strategic
materials and against collaboration in the military field with the Chinese aggressor.
Th Calling upon trade unions to review the handling of arms and war materials
intended for China or coming from there with a view to a total boycott of these. A
broadly based international trade union conference should be held to coordinate
internationally trade union action in this campaign,

e An international commission of enquiry should be set up to investigate war
crimes committed by the Chinese agressors in Vietnam,

e To use opportunities provided by such occasions as May Day, June ist

(International Day of the Child), and solidarity weeks to

situation created by Chinese aggression in Vietnam.

SOOHUDELAAUUEAADAAOAAADEAAO NOON
PACIFIC TRIBUNE—MARCH 30, 1979—Page 8

draw attention to the

leadership encouraged and as-
sisted the regime of Pol Pot in
Kampuchea to commit acts of ag-
gression against Vietnam,
fomented social unrest within
Vietnam and, through the amas-
sing of troops -and border viola-
tions, introduce a state of tension
along the Vietnam-China border.

During the same period, on Jan.
14, in Lusaka, representatives of
the African National Congress
met with a delegation of the
People’s Republic of China led by
vice-premier Li Hsien Nien, at
the request of the vice-premier.

During this meeting the
Chinese side expressed the readi-
ness of China to normalize rela-
tions with the ANC on the basis of
their support for our struggle and
the policies of the ANC and a
common hostility: to imperialist
domination.

The naked aggression against.
Vietnam has, however, shown
that this was not a genuine ap-
proach, but constituted an at-
tempt to organize the ANC intoa
reactionary front spearheaded
against the world progressive
forces.

Loyal to the principles of unity
and solidarity among all forces
fighting racism, colonialism,
Zionism, fascism and imperialism
and convinced that honest dealing
must underline our own system of
international relations, the Na-
tional Executive Committee of
the African National Congress on
behalf of our entire membership
and the vast majority of our
people accordingly:

—‘ Unreservedly condemns the
criminal act of aggression commit-
ted by China against the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam and demands

OUGGUOUEGNGQOUOOOUGONGGAONAOEOGOAUOONOAOOUUOOGONOOULANONUONNOCGNNOUbONONNEOULLOOUUULLNCEAIINONNAINNNNNIINNN =the immediate and unconditional

withdrawal of all Chinese troo
from and cessation of all hostilifi
and acts of aggression agai
Vietnam; : is
— Expresses its complete gj,
idarity with the government ais
the peoples of the Socialist Repi),.
lic of Vietnam; q
— Declares its readiness |
normalize relations with {)
People’s Republic of China as
when China rejoins the for
genuinely fighting for the liber
tion of all oppressed
against imperialism, for nation
independence, democracy, ped
and social progress. j

Pakistani
Communists
condemn China .

The Communist Party of Paki _
tan in arecent press statement hi <
termed China’s aggression “ <

grave danger to world peace”’ af i
“tan effort to stop the revolutil -

y

peop

As A OHO

‘nary tide of the people of thf

world.”’ .
The statement, over the sign -
ture of CPP general secretaf ,
Imam Ali Nazish, points out thi
‘timperialism is using the Chines
chauvinists as a lever in its rea
tion against defeats it has suffer
and is suffering at the hands of th
peoples of the world, especial)
recently the peoples of Afghanis
tan and Iran.”’ i
The CPP outlines China!
alignment with the world goals:
imperialism, its opposition to dé
tente and the reduction of nuc
arms and its ties with U.S.
Japanese imperialism. Th |
statement ends by calling for th -
immediate, unconditional pe
drawal of Chinese troops
Vietnam.

, a ae ee he

;
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