The memoir of Trần Quang Cơ (1927-2015), former member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), brings to light the intense diplomacy among great powers and regional players over the continued conflicts in Indochina after the unification of Vietnam as well as the bitter disagreements within the Vietnamese leadership over the country’s political priorities during the period of 1975-1993.

Cơ put together his memories and thoughts on “many sensitive developments” in Vietnamese foreign relations that he believed had been “intentionally or unintentionally” forgotten (rơi rụng) in the state-endorsed history “to ‘smooth over’ (tròn trĩnh) the historical record.”  Completed in Vietnamese in 2001 (updated in 2003) and informally circulated on the internet, Merle Pribbenow’s English-translation makes this valuable historical source available to wider audiences.

In this issue, Zhou Enlai congratulates the Prime Minister of Morocco, Mbarek Bekkay, and the Prime Minister of Tunisia, Tahar Ben Ammar, after both countries won their independence. One section announces a Sino-North Vietnamese civilian air transport service agreement; while another features a Sino-Soviet agreement to develop various industries and build a railway between Lanzhou and Aktogay (now in Kazakhstan). Finally, other sections discuss managing cooperatives, higher education, and provincial administrative concerns.