>>South Vietnam revolutionary administration (1954-1976)
>>Vietnamese state: its structure and operation during the anti-American war period (1954-1975)
Pham Diem
The State and Law Research Institute
In parallel with the military and political struggles, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) State and the revolutionary administration of South Vietnam coordinated with each other in successfully carrying out the diplomatic struggle against the US imperialists for national salvation. Such a struggle played an extremely important role, having not only reflected the victories gained on the battlefield but also positively and greatly contributed to the success of the resistance war.
I. The diplomatic struggle
From 1965, the US imperialists made a strategic change from their “special war” to “local war” in South Vietnam, massively introducing their troops into the South, barbarously bombing the North while clamoring for peaceful negotiations in order to deceive the world public and to thwart with their military strength the Vietnamese people’s determination to fight for national salvation. On April 8, 1965, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam Government put forth the 4-point proposal. Earlier in March 1965 the South Vietnam National Liberation Front issued a 5-point statement. These two documents brought to light Vietnam’s goodwill and the correct way toward a political solution to the problem, depicting two major issues:
- The US has to fully respect the Vietnamese people’s basic rights, namely national independence, sovereignty, national unification, territorial integrity, and the South Vietnam people’s right to self-determination. The unification of Vietnam must be decided by the people of both North and South Vietnam without any interference from the outside.
- The US has to withdraw its troops, weapons and war means from South Vietnam and dismantle its military bases therein.
These were two key issues in the liberation of South Vietnam from the neo-colonial yoke in order to achieve our ultimate goal, that is a peaceful, independent and unified Vietnam.
Throughout the diplomatic struggle, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam State focussed on demanding the US to recognize and implement those two key things and at the same time put forth flexible tactics, depending on practical situation in order to win over the sympathy of people in South Vietnam and the world, isolate the US war-mongers and the Saigon administration and pave the way for the US to withdraw in honor from its aggressive war in South Vietnam.
From then on, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam State stepped up its diplomatic offensive with diversified methods and clever tactics. To counter the Johnson administration’s slanderous campaign that Vietnam had violated the Geneva Agreement on Vietnam, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam Government sent various delegations to different international forums to denounce the US aggression and war crimes and propagate for the Vietnamese people’s just cause, goodwill and determination. By the end of 1965, the US stepped up its local warfare in South Vietnam, but met with failure and strong condemnation by the world public opinion. To cope with such situation, on the diplomatic front, the US tried to clamor for peaceful negotiations in order to pressure Vietnam to accept its conditions. On January 28, 1967, the Foreign Minister of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam issued a statement, saying: “If the US really wishes to enter talks, it must first of all unconditionally stop the bombing and all other acts of war against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.” Such legitimate demand quickly enjoyed world support and sympathy, thus pushing the US into predicament.
The Vietnamese people’s victories in their 1968 general offensive and uprising in South Vietnam and in defeating the US’s first air war of destruction against the North swayed the aggressors’ will of aggression. On March 31, 1968, US President Johnson had to declare a restricted bombing of North Vietnam from the 20th parallel southward in order to achieve efficiency in bombing concentrately on a small and key area and to mass votes for the Democrat Presidential candidate, Hamphrey. Availing itself of this opportunity, Vietnam compelled the US to unconditionally end its air war of destruction against the North and sit down for negotiations. The April 3, 1968 statement of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam Government said it was willing to send its representatives to meet the US representatives in order to determine the unconditional termination of the air war of destruction against North Vietnam and to start the talks. Suddenly caught off balance by Vietnam’s initiative, the US took the selection of venue for talks to counter Vietnam’s move. But finally, the US representatives had to sit down for talks with the representatives of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in Paris. From then on, the diplomatic struggle developed to a new stage with the Paris conference being the focus of the diplomatic struggle between Vietnam and the US.
At the negotiating table, the DRV representatives resolutely demanded that the US completely and unconditionally end its air war of destruction against North Vietnam and that the representatives of the South Vietnam National Liberation Front be present at the talks. At last, the two sides reached a compromise, starting from January 18, 1969 the four-party conference with the participation of representatives of the DRV Government, the South Vietnam National Liberation Front (later the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam), the US Government and the Saigon administration. From then on, both delegations of North and South Vietnam unceasingly attacked the US on two basic issues:
1) The US has to really respect the basic national rights of the Vietnamese people and the right to self-determination of the South Vietnam people, withdraw all its troops and satellite troops as well as its war means from South Vietnam.
2) The US has to recognize the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam as the sole authentic representative of the South Vietnam people.
From November 1968, the US had to unconditionally terminate its air war of destruction against North Vietnam. Yet, in early 1972, the Nixon administration unilaterally abandoned the Paris conference, launching the second air war of destruction against the North. However, this did not help Nixon a bit in his presidential election campaign but on the contrary made him sink more deeply into bitter defeats in both North and South Vietnam, leaving the US no other choice than to resume the Paris talks in October 1972. The DRV Government set the major objective to be achieved by then, that was to put an end to the US military involvement in Vietnam, having put aside its demand for a complete solution while insisting on the establishment of a tripartite conciliation government. The basic demands raised at the talks then were that the US had to respect the basic national rights of the Vietnamese people and the right to self-determination of the South Vietnam people, terminate its military involvement, withdraw all its troops, recognize the actual existence of the two zones of control, two armies and two administrations and make war compensation to Vietnam. At the talks, the DRV representatives took initiative in putting forward the draft agreement on the cessation of war and restoration of peace in Vietnam and the US agreed on the fundamentals of such draft. On October 22, 1972, President Nixon ordered the cessation of bombing North Vietnam from the 20th parallel southward. Yet, not long after that, the US gave the excuse of “new difficulties” in reaching agreements with the Nguyen Van Thieu administration, demanding that talks be continued so as to settle new matters. As revealed later in the memoirs of Nixon and Kissinger, that was Nixon’s trick to win votes in the presidential election. Moreover, the US did not want to accept some terms in the draft agreement. Therefore, the US, though having agreed on the solution, resorted to another military blow in a hope to pressure Vietnam for concession. Another reason for the US’s delay in signing the agreement was that it needed time to quickly beef up the Nguyen Van Thieu administration through emergency aid, hoping that the puppet army remains strong after the US pull-out.
In face of such situation, the DRV Government on October 26, 1972 publicized the contents of the draft agreement, exposing the US administration’s deception and non-goodwill attitude. After being re-elected the president, Nixon demanded the revision of many fundamental issues of the draft agreement. Later, the US abandoned the Paris conference, then used B52s to carpet-bomb North Vietnam, particularly Hanoi, in order to subdue Vietnam.
Yet, all its attempts came a cropper and it had to sign the agreement. On January 23, 1973 adviser Le Duc Tho and Kissinger initially signed the agreement, which was later signed on January 27, 1973 by the Foreign Ministers of the four parties.
The Paris conference was an ebullient event in the international life then, having caught attention of many countries and world public. It lasted for 4 years 8 months and 14 days (from May 13, 1968 to January 27, 1973), with 202 open sessions, 45 closed-door summit meetings, 500 press conferences, 1,000 interviews. Vietnam’s diplomatic struggle at the Paris conference contributed an important part to the victory of the anti-US war of resistance for national salvation.
II. The Paris conference on Vietnam
1.- Documents of the conference
- The agreement on cessation of war and restoration of peace in Vietnam
This was the basic document signed in two forms. First, it was signed between two parties: the Democratic Republic of Vietnam Government with the consent of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam and the US Government with the consent of the Republic of Vietnam Government (namely the Saigon administration). This brought to the fore the fact that there had been only two parties involved in the Vietnam war: the entire nation of unified Vietnam and the US. Second, it was signed by four parties: The DRV Government, the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, the US Government and the Republic of Vietnam Government.
The Agreement contained the preamble and 9 chapters with 23 articles. It prescribed such major issues as the basic national rights of the Vietnamese people, the cease-fire and the withdrawal of foreign troops from South Vietnam, the return of captured and detained foreign military and civilian personnel as well as Vietnamese civilians, the right to self-determination of the South Vietnam people, the unification of Vietnam, the relations between North and South Vietnam, the Joint Military Commissions, the International Control and Supervision Commission, the international conference, the relationship between the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the United States, the validity of the Agreement.
- Four protocols of the Agreement on the cessation of war and the restoration of peace in Vietnam:
+ The protocol on deactivating mines in sea areas, ports, rivers and canals of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
+ The protocol on the return of captured foreign military and civilian personnel as well as Vietnamese civilian personnel.
+ The protocol on ceasefire in South Vietnam and on Joint Military Commissions.
+ The protocol on the International Control and Supervision Commission.
All these protocols were signed in two forms: by two parties and by four parties. They were inseparable parts of the Agreement on cessation of war and restoration of peace in Vietnam. They concretized matters that could not be specified in the Agreement in order to ensure that such matters would be fully and strictly implemented.
- Convention of the international conference on Vietnam:
Article 19 of the Agreement on cessation of war and restoration of peace in Vietnam stipulated: “The parties agree on the convening of an international conference within 30 days from the signing of this Agreement to acknowledge the signed Agreement.”
The international conference on Vietnam was convened in Paris in late March 1973. On March 21, 1973, the convention of the conference was signed in the presence of the United Nations Secretary General by the foreign ministers of 12 governments: The Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the Republic of South Vietnam, the United States, the Republic of Vietnam, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and North Ireland, the Soviet Union, Canada, China, France, Hungary, Indonesia and Poland.
The convention contained the preamble and 9 articles, solemnly acknowledging the documents of the Agreement on cessation of war and restoration of peace in Vietnam and pledging the implementation thereof.
The international conference on Vietnam and its convention were significant not only in that Article 19 of the Agreement had been strictly implemented but also in that they raised the legal value of the Agreement with the international recognition and guarantee of the Agreement. In other words, the convention of the Agreement “internationalized” the said Agreement.
All the above-said documents constituted an uniqueness often called the Paris Agreement on Vietnam.
2.- Contents of the Agreement
The contents of the Agreement reflected the then posture and balance of force on the battle field. It was also a comprise between the two warring parties: Vietnam which recognized the actual existence of the Saigon administration and the US which made a concession by agreeing on the stationing of the revolutionary armed forces in South Vietnam.
The Agreement had the following major contents:
The full respect and protection of the basic national rights of the Vietnamese people and the right to self-determination of the South Vietnam people were the focal points of the Agreement. All articles of the Agreement reflected such contents and guaranteed the implementation thereof.
On the Vietnamese people’s basic national rights, Article 1, Chapter I, stipulated: The United States and other countries respect the independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam as recognized by the 1954 Geneva Agreement on Vietnam.
So, the Vietnamese people’s basic national rights recognized by the Agreement included independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, which are closely interrelated in an organic relationship.
The South Vietnam people’s right to self-determination recognized in the Agreement included:
- The South Vietnam people decide by themselves the political future of South Vietnam through a really free and democratic general election with the international supervision (Article 9b).
- Foreign countries must not impose any political trend or any individual on the South Vietnam people (Article 9c).
- South Vietnam will pursue a foreign policy of peace, independence and neutrality (Article 14).
In the spirit and letter of the Agreement, the South Vietnam people’s right to self-determination had to be based on the basic national rights of the Vietnamese people. Such self-determination right did not contradict the territorial integrity and unification of Vietnam. In fact, it aimed to eliminate the US neo-colonialists’ domination and intervention in Vietnam. The inclusion of the South Vietnamese people’s right to self-determination into the Agreement was a clever and flexible tactic and a transitional step towards the ultimate goal of an independent and unified Vietnam.
The restoration of true and durable peace in Vietnam was an objective and a major content of the Agreement. In the spirit and letter of the Agreement, the true and durable peace in Vietnam was guaranteed on the basis of the respect for the Vietnamese people’s basic national rights and the South Vietnamese people’s right to self-determination and the termination of the US war of aggression and intervention in Vietnam.
One of the most fundamental contents and at the same time a key measure to ensure the implementation of the above-mentioned major things was that the US had to put a definite end to its aggressive war against Vietnam as well as its military involvement and intervention in the internal affairs of South Vietnam. This was specified in the Agreement as follows:
- The US pledged to respect and fulfill its obligations to the cease-fire in South Vietnam.
- The US had to stop all its military activities against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, had to deactivate mines in all sea areas, ports, rivers and canals in North Vietnam.
- The US had to withdraw troops, weapons and ammunition and all other war means of the US and its allies from South Vietnam, and dismantle all its military bases therein.
- The US had to refrain from its military involvement or intervention in the internal affairs of South Vietnam.
The above-mentioned measures specified by the Agreement aimed to end the US aggressive war in Vietnam and at the same time to prevent the return of neo-colonialism in any form.
Article 21 of the Agreement stipulated that the US would contribute to healing the wounds of war and the post-war reconstruction in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the entire Indochina.
Under Article 22, after the US ended the war and on the basis of mutual respect for each other’s independence and sovereignty and non-interference into each other’s internal affairs, Vietnam and the United States would establish a new, equal and mutually beneficial relationship.
The Paris Agreement on Vietnam not only protected the basic national rights of the Vietnamese people but also affirmed in a whole chapter the full respect for the basic national rights of Laos and Cambodia by the US and other countries participating in the Paris conference on Vietnam.
Besides, the Agreement also recognized the existence of two administrations, two zones of control and three political forces in South Vietnam, and stipulated the establishment of the National Reconciliation and Concord Council as well as its chapters at various levels and the administration to be elected later in South Vietnam. Such issues mentioned in the Agreement conformed to the then situation of South Vietnam, which were, in essence, the transitional steps towards the final victory of Vietnam.
Generally speaking, the signing of the Paris Agreement ushered in a new period in which the postures and balance of force between the two warring parties witnessed a basic change in favor of the Vietnamese revolution. The Vietnamese people’s war of resistance against the US for national salvation won a victory of decisive significance, thus creating favorable conditions for the complete liberation of South Vietnam.
The signing of the Paris Agreement on Vietnam also tipped the balance of force in favor of the anti-US war of resistance of Lao and Cambodia.
In short, the process of diplomatic struggle during the anti-US resistance war reflected Vietnam’s persistence in the basic and key issues as well as its flexibility in applying various tactics to different stages of the revolution in order to gain the final victory.-