ERE, in the first part of his speech to

the Geneva

4 Conference on May 10,.Pham Van Dong, head of
‘the delegation of the Vietnamese Democratic Republic,
traces the conflict in Indochina from the days of Japanese
Occupation, when the French colonial government -collab-
orated with the Japanese, to the launching of the French
war of reconquest, after the French governmnt had repeat:
edly repudiated its promises of independence and betrayed
its agreements with the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam.
The text has been slightly abridged.

“We, the provisional govern-
_™ent of the Democratic Repub-
lic of Viet Nam, solemnly pro-
claim to the whole world:
_ “Niet Nam has the right to en-
loy freedom and independence
and has actually become a free
and independent country. The
entire Vietnamese people are
determined to mobilise all: their
Spiritual and material resources,
to sacrifice their lives and prop-
erty for the defence of their in-
dependence and freedom in ac-
Cordance with the decision of
the provisional government of
the Democratic Republic of Viet
Nam.”

On January 6, 1946, the gen-
_ ral, free and democratic elec-
tions to the first National As-
sembly of the Democratic Repub-
lie of Viet Nam were held
throughout the country.

_ The people enthusiastically par-
ticipated in those elections. Nine-
ty percent of the voters came to
the polling stations in Cochin-
China, where on September 23,
1945, the French aggressors pro-
voked hostilities. The population
Nevertheless courageously  ful-
filled their duty as voters despite
arrests, killings and bombings by
the French troops. :

The lists of candidates put for-
Ward by the Viet Minh Front got
the overwhelming majority of
Votes. This fact was a striking
evidence of the strength of the
National Front and its popularity
among the people.

At its first session the National
Assembly of Viet Nam proceded
to draw up the constitution of the

emocratie Republic of Viet

am. :

Thus, as a result of the 80-year

. Struggle against the French col-
OMlalists, struggle against the
Japanese fascists, the Vietnamese
beople overthrew the regime of
‘foreign domination, established

the Democratic Republic of Viet.

Nam, realised the fundamental
*spirations and the sacred right
of the entire Vietnamese people
~hational independence, territor-
lal integrity ,democratic freedoms
‘nd a peaceful life on the na-
tional territory.

_ In home policy, the day after

M came to power, the government °

Cf the Democratic Republic of
Viet Nam promulgated the laws
Safeguarding the fundamental
Tights of the people, human
Nights, democratic freedoms, the
ught to property. :

In international relations, the
S0vernment clearly defined its
foreign policy in this statement
‘Made by the ministry for foreign
affairs on October 3, 1945:

+ Viet Nam is engaged in a
hard struggle. Its foreign policy
's aimed at bringing this struggle
° a victorious end by using ap-
Propriate means and accepting as
® basis the principles of the At-
antic Charter. ’

+ Subsequently, Viet Nam ar-
dently ‘wishes to maintain friend-
Ship’ and equality and mutual as-
. ‘stance for the purpose of estab:
Ushing lasting peace throughout

© world. : .

+ Viet Nam is pursuing the fol-
OWing policy in regard to
France as far as the French citi-
zens concerned: their life and
Property will be protected in ac-
Cordance with international law
if they live in peace, maintain
Crder and respect the indepen-
€nce and sovereignty of Viet
am. But we are determined to
fight the French colonialists who
_ 4re preparing to unleash war in
°rder: to seize our country again.
+ The Democratic Republic of

LS

Viet Nam is seeking to establish
friendly relations with France on

the basis of equality and mutual

interests. :
+ Viet Nam is prepared to es-
tablish friendly relations with the
oppressed peoples and to cooper-
ate with them on the basis of
equality for the purpose of
mutual assistance and support in
order to maintain and strengthen
their national independence.

+ Particularly in regard to the
friendly people of Khmer and
Lao, Viet Nam is maintaining re-
lations based on the principle of
self-determination. Having suffer-
ed under the same French yoke,
the three peoples should struggle
together in order to get rid of
this yoke and help each other to
win and defend their independ-
ence, Furthermore, these three
countries have close economic

B

*

The peoples offAsia are thwarting U.S. State Secretary John Foster Dulles’ imperialistic designs on Asia.

‘Indochina: The French

record of betrayal

ties with each other. These coun-
tries will help each other in re-
construction and. will follow to-
gether the path of progress.
Thus the external and internal
policy of the Democratic Repub-
lie of Viet Nam is in full con-
formity with the aspirations and
fundamental rights of the Viet-
namese people. It is also in full
conformity with the policy of
maintaining universal peace. This
poticy has therefore received the
enthusiastic support of the peo-

ple of Viet Nam who devote every- ,

thing to its implementation. It
has also received warm approval
and support from all the peoples
ot Indochina and the whole

world.
*

After the Democratic Republic
of Viet Nam had been proclaim-
ed, it became evident that the
era of French colonial domina-
tion in Indochina was at an end.
Nevertheless, the French colon-
ists who made plans to reconquer
Indochina did not reckon with
the new situation.

On March 24, 1945, the presi-
dent of the French . provisional
government expressed in the
Brazzaville Declaration his deter-
mination to re-establish French
domination in Indochina after the
war. :

To achieve this end, it was
necessary to resort to force to
unleash war. General Leclere
was appointed commander-in-
chief of the French Expeditionary
Corps to conquer Indochina.

The Expeditionary Corps land-
ed in Cochin-China and, by a sur-
prise attack on September 28,
1945, captured the city of Saigon.
From’ there the French extended
the war to south Indochina.

On September 23, 1945, the
French colonialists again resort-
ed to force in order to seize the
territory of Viet Nam. This act
of aggression was an open viola-
tion of the principle of equality
of nations, the right of a nation
to self-determination and the
principles recognized at various

:

When he abdicated in 1945)
Emperor Bao Dai’ (above with
French General Alphonse Juin)
publicly deplored the fact that
in 20 years of rule he had been
“unable to render any appreci-
able service to our country.”

-eonferences convened by the. al-

lied countries.

This was the beginning of the
aggressive war launched by- the
French colonialists. Having be-
gun the aggression on September
23, 1945, the French colonizers
thereby assumed the responsibili-
ty for the unleashing of the war
in. Indochina. ;

After their invasion in south
Indochina, the French Expedi-
tionary Corps was preparing to
extend the war to north Indo-
china.

However. the French colonial-
ists began to realise that they
faced a whole people who were
determined to defend their in-
dependence and had rallied for
the struggle around the govern-
ment which was elected by them,
and which symbolised their as-

piration for a life in peace, free-
dom and wellbeing.

Indeed, upon its establishment,
the government of the Democratic
Depublic of Viet Nam had im-
mediately proceeded to rebuild
the country which was ruined by
colonial domination and devasiat-
ed by war . At the same time,
it pursued a policy of peace and
friendship with all the countries,
and with France in particular.

This just policy rallied around
it in a firm.union the whole Viet-
namese people from the borders
of China to the Cape of Camau
without racial, social, political or
religious distinctions. This poli-

-cy inspired among millions of

people faith and enthusiasm cap-
able to surmount any obstacles, to
do miracles and to realise the
tasks of a most difficult and vast
nature. - _ :

This reality was so convincing
and strong that France agreed to
sign with the Democratic Re-
public of Viet Nam the prelimin-
ary agreement of March 6, 1946,
by which the French government
recognised the Republic of Viet

‘Nam as. a free state and under-

took to cease the hostilities open-
ed against Viet Nam on Septem-
ber 23, 1945.

However, for the French col-
onialists, the agreement of March
6, 1946, was merely a means to
bring their troops to the north
of Indochina and to come back
to Hanoi as General Leclerc
wrote in his letter of March 27,
1946, and thus to pursue their
policy of colonial conquest.

In the preliminary agreement
of March 6, 1946, the only clause
of importance in the opinion of
the French colonialists was:

“The government of Viet Nam
declares its readiness to admit

the French Army in a friendly ~

way as it will replace the Chin-

ese troops in accordance with

international agreements.”

But there were other clauses
relating to the independence and
unity of Viet Nam, Article 1, for
example:

“The French government re-

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — MAY 21, 1954 — PAGE 9

cognizes the Republic of Viet
Nam as a free state which has
its government, parliament,
army and finances, and which is
a part of the Indochinese -Fed-
eration and of the French Un-
ion. As far as the reunification
of the three ky (ky in Anna-
"mite means country) is concern-
ed, the government undertakes
to endorse the decisions adopt-
ed by the population by means
of referendum.”
Or that relating to the with-
drawal of the French Expedition-
ary Corps from Indochina:
“Paragraph A. The units
charged fo ensure the protec-
tion of the Japanese war pris-
oners will be withdrawn when
as a result of the repatriation
of the Japanese war prisoners,
their mission comes fo an end,
in any case, not later than with-
in ten months. ;
“Paragraph B. The units
_ charged to ensure, in coopera-
tion with the Vietnamese Army,
the maintenance of public ord-
er and security on the territory
of Viet Nam will be replaced by
one-fifth each year by the Viet-
namese ‘troops, thus this replace-
ment being effectively realized
within five years.” ;
The French colonialists ignor-
ed and repeatedly violated these
clauses. This is proved by the
memorandum. sent by the govy-
ernment of the Democratic Re-
public of Viet Nam to the French
government on December | 31,
1946.
The government of the Demo-
cratic Republic of Viet Nam con-
tinued to pursue its peaceful poli- ,
ey after the failure of the Dalat
Conference, It did its best to
convene the Fontainebleau Con-
ference. But the French colon-
ialists, by their acts of aggres-
sion during the Fontainebleau
Conference, undermined the in-
dependence, unity and sovereign-
ty of the Democratic Republic of
Viet Nam’ in violation of the let-
ter and the spirit of the prelim-

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