November 23, 1962
Cable from Wang Tao, 'Chairman Ho Meeting with Chargé D'Affaires Wang'
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Asian Affairs Department Number Two requested to consult on and handle [following]
Telegram Received by the Foreign Ministry
Status: Extremely Urgent, Advance Dispatch
From the Station in Vietnam
Chairman Ho Meeting with Chargé D'Affaires Wang
[To] The Foreign Ministry:
Today Chairman Ho met by appointment with me; he said he is preparing to send separate open letters, in his own name, to China’s Chairman Liu [Shaoqi] and India’s President [Sarvepalli] Radhakrishnan and Prime Minister [Jawaharlal] Nehru. At the same time, copies of the letters will be sent to the heads of various Asian and African nations friendly with Vietnam. He then asked me to read the three letters he had drafted. The letter to Chairman Liu welcomes and praises our government’s statement of 21 November; the letters to the Indian recipients say that for the sake of Sino-Indian friendship, for unity among the various Asian and African nations and to oppose colonialist and imperialist plots, he hopes India will accept China’s proposal. The letters to the heads of Asian and African nations, in addition to giving the reason for sending them the copies, express the hope that the various Asian and African nations will make a common effort to facilitate Sino-Indian peace talks to solve the border issue.
When I had finished reading, he asked for my suggestions regarding his letters to the Indian recipients. I said that I personally had no suggestions but would immediately report to Beijing, and would inform him promptly should Beijing give me any directives. He said the letters would be sent out tonight. It is only right and proper that Vietnam support China; of course, coming as it does from Vietnam, the letters’ wording is relatively gentle and moderate, and also employs some diplomatic rhetoric. The proposal in the letters to various Asian and African countries is to work together to facilitate talks between China and India, not to interfere as Nasser wishes to do.
Chairman Ho also said he hoped we would tell him immediately if there were any new developments with regard to the Sino-Indian border issue.
Wang Tao
23 November 1962
Ho Chi Minh, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Labor Party of Vietnam, discusses his views on the Sino-Indian border conflict and mediation methods employed
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