29-03-2009, 10:33 PM
Jan Klimkowski Wrote:Do you know if De Gaulle's repudiation of NATO was in part due to his disgust at the geopolitical games being played in South-East Asia?
French diplomacy in the region was much more supportive of Kennedy's efforts to extricate the US from the mire there than the Joe Alsops of the period would have us believe:
Quote:From our special correspondent (Geneva, May 23), "France submits proposals for a neutral Laos/ Drafts supported by Britain and U.S.," The Times, Wednesday, 24 May 1961, p.10:
From France today came the first detailed proposals for an internationally guaranteed neutral Laos to be submitted by any of the western Powers attending the 14-nation conference on Laos. Two draft declarations - one to be signed by a new Laotian Government and the other for signature by all the conference powers - were presented by M. Jean Chauvel, the French Ambassador to London and deputy leader of the French delegation.
A third phase of this French initiative, inspired by M. Couve de Murville, will follow next week, with a protocol on the structure and functions of the international control commission.
Britain's proposals for a Laos settlement, based on Lord Home's outline of last week, are still to be presented, but it is understood that both British and American approval to the French drafts was given by the representatives of both Governments, Mr. Malcolm Macdonald and Mr. Averell Harriman, to M. Couve de Murville before he returned to Paris this morning for tomorrow's state visit by the Belgian King and Queen.
POLICY REAFFIRMED
The first of the proposed French declarations to be signed by the Royal Laotian Government reaffirmed the principles of the second declaration made at the 1954 Geneva conference that the Laotian peoples wished to live in a sovereign and independent state and to have their united and territorial integrity respected in accordance with the United Nations Charter. It proclaimed the Laos Government's intention to pursue a policy of neutrality debarring itself from entering military alliances and from agreeing to the presence or passage of foreign troops or bases on its territory, or help from foreign military instructors, other than those provided for by the 1954 agreement.
In the second declaration the conference powers were to declare their respect for the independence and neutrality of Laos and undertake not to interfere directly or indirectly in its internal affairs.
Although M. Chauval today confined himself strictly to the French charter for Laos, he and his delegation see a genuine desire by the Russians and Chinese to reach agreement with the west here, clearly implied is their eagerness to conferee. And in line with the other western groups, the French see the most urgent problem as that of ensuring a complete and permanent cease-fire. This aspect of the conference became more pressing today with the arrival of a report from the control commission chairman dealing only with various aspects of the cease-fire and political developments in Laos. The commission are still working on the technical list of their requirements (requested by the conference co-chairman on Friday), and this may take a day or two to complete.
