Minutes of Zhou Enlai’s Meeting with Jean Chauvel

Time: 7:00 p.m., 13 July 1954
Location: Premier Zhou's hotel suite
Chinese participants: Zhou Enlai, Li Kenong, Wang Bingnan, [PRC Foreign Ministry Asian Affairs Department Director-General] Chen Jiakang, and Dong Ningchuan (translator)
French participants: Jean Chauvel, Jacques Guillermaz, and one translator

Chauvel: I am now presenting a document to The Honorable Premier. This document is drafted for the cease-fire agreement and some principles after the cease-fire. It also points out that the current solution is not for separate governments.

The fourth part of this document is about limiting the armed forces in Laos and Cambodia. The discussion of this issue is beyond the responsibilities of the military representatives of Laos, Cambodia, and the Vietnamese government. It should belong to the nine-nation conference. Therefore, after this document is read at the conference, the representatives of Laos and Cambodia will be invited to make a statement. Their statement will be included in the document. It seems the best way to handle the situation.

Mr. [Pierre] Mendes-France also talked to Mr. Pham Van Dong about this issue. Mr. Pham Van Dong believes that this document should include the French Union [as well as] French cultural and economic relations with Vietnam. We think that these issues are about the French-Vietnamese relations, not about the conference nations. However, to restrain the armed forces in Laos and Cambodia are different issues. Thus, we would ask Mr. Pham Van Dong to re-consider this.
This is an unofficial document. Nevertheless, we have already handed it out to each delegation at the conference. We asked all the delegations to provide their additional suggestion or further corrections. So far we haven't yet got everything back from the delegations. But we have collected some of them. Mr. [Anthony] Eden is very happy with this document. The Soviet delegation shows its interest in the document. Mr. Pham Van Dong, however, responded that he agrees in principle, but he needs more time to read it carefully. Other member nations of the Union haven't sent their feedback. The American delegation hasn't yet responded to it.

Zhou Enlai: I really appreciate Mr. Chauvel's effort. As we return here, we saw this document. Even though it is a preliminary draft, it is a document for us to consider. We will study it in detail and provide our response to the French delegation as soon as possible.