YouSaid · the spoken record

Panya

THE RECORD WRITES THIS SPEAKER AS PANYA

lines on the record: 104
first: 1958-09-24
most recent: 1969-09-24
sittings or episodes: 3
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“It is the duty of all Members of the United Nations to help to remedy the situation and to ensure respect for the purposes and principles of the Charter, as specified in Article 2 (6) of the Charter, which states: “The Organization shall ensure that States which are not Members of the United Nations act in accordance with these Principles so far as may be necessary for the maintenance of international peace and security.””
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“in their Declaration on the Neutrality of Laos, the thirteen signatories of the 1962 Geneva Agreements recognized and maintained that they were “profoundly convinced that the independence and neutrality of the Kingdom of Laos will assist...the strengthening of peace and security in South-East Asia”. 133. It is stated day after day in this Assembly that peace is indivisible, and that violations of the letter and the spirit of the Charter must cease everywhere and at all times.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“We wished first of all to give a full, objective and accurate account to all the countries that have undertaken to guarantee the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and neutrality of Laos, and to remind them of their responsibility. 131. There are in this hall representatives of ten of the thirteen countries that were signatories of the 1962 Geneva Agreements guaranteeing the independence, territorial integrity, sovereignty and neutrality of Laos. I solemnly appeal to them to invite their Governments fully and sincerely to assume their responsibility under the obligations they have contracted. 132.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“In their offensive against Muong Soui, in order to prevent the arrival of help, the North Viet-Namese cut and put out of service the road from Vientiane to Luang Prabang, the reconstruction of which had only just been completed after two years of effort, constant labour and financial sacrifice. Fourteen metal bridges were destroyed by the North Viet-Namese in Central and Lower Laos in January alone. 129. That is what happened in a single season, and the situation has not changed for more than twenty years. 130. It is not out of deliberate egoism that my delegation has limited its contribution in this general discussion to a report on the situation in Laos.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“The post had to be abandoned and 97,000 refugees had to leave their land. On 12 March 1969 a North Viet-Namese commando unit attacked the airfield of the Royal City of Luang Prabang. There was no doubt about the nationality of the three enemy soldiers captured on that occasion. On 24 June 1969 Muong Soui was attacked by seven North Viet-Namese battalions. All the attacking units were identified. They were the 766th doan, the commanding regiment for the North Viet-Namese troops in Upper Laos, the 148th and 174th independent regiments of the 316th Division and the 12th, 34th and 924th regiments. Two hundred defenceless refugees were massacred at Ban Cat, near Muong Soui.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“I do not wish to take up your time by recalling from the beginning all the armed operations engaged in by the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam in Laos. I shall confine myself today to the attacks it has launched since the last dry season, which will make it possible for us fully to appreciate its responsibility, its defiance of laws and conventions, and all the harm it is doing to my country. 128. On 26 November 1968 three battalions of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam attacked Thateng in Saravene province. Another attack took place on 13 December, when 80 per cent of the centre was destroyed. On the morning of 1 March 1969 the Nakhang post was brutally attacked by combined Pathet Lao and North Viet-Namese forces. The North Viet-Namese forces, numbering five battalions, belonged to the 148th regiment of the 316th Division.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Lastly, through the battles which they wage against Government troops on territory over which they have taken temporary control, the soldiers of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam have engaged in propaganda whose violence and hostility to the Royal Government can readily be imagined, and in indoctrination the basis of which has nothing in common with Laotian tradition. Is not this what is called outright aggression and open subversion? 126. Since 1954, since 1962, the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam has violated all the restrictions laid down in the Geneva Agreements guaranteeing the sovereignty, territorial integrity and neutrality of Laos. Can it be said, after that, that the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam respects international agreements? 127.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“In order to dispel any misunderstanding, I hasten to add that the Pathet Lao representatives have abandoned their posits in the Government of their own will, in order to resort to armed struggle in accordance with the directives of their protectors. Whatever their argument, whatever the skill of their protectors in disguising the truth, they will never be able to find any justification or basis for their conduct or their acts, since even today their places in the Government are still marked, and discussions and negotiations could begin there at any time on any matter on which they are opposed to the other parties in the Government coalition. 125.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“For more than twenty years, North Viet-Namese soldiers have occupied part of our territory, using it to dispatch men, material, weapons and supplies to other fronts. How can such acts be described except by saying that their perpetrators and Government are guilty of flagrant territorial violations? 123. During the same period, the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam, which created the Pathet Lao, has directed, aided and supported it in its ambition to seize power by force of arms, by illegal and unconstitutional means. In everyday terms as well as in the political vocabulary, is not this known as interference in the affairs of a country? 124.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“In the face of marked aggression, our handicap is not sufficient reason for not defending our country, weapons in hand, and with all the.means that the situation demands. 121. Some States and Governments in the international political arena sympathize with the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam, while others criticize and condemn it. I do not wish here to attempt to pass judgement in favour of the one Side or against the other. What my Government wishes to point out above all else, at this twenty-fourth session of the General Assembly, is the attitude of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam to my country. The facts are eloquent and irrefutable; they speak for themselves. I am sure that your judgement will be only the logical consequence of those facts. 122.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“The leaders of the Pathet Lao are former members of the Issara movement, the initiator of Laotian independence, who were expelled from the group with good reason, because they blindly served the subversive and annexationist designs of their protectors in Hanoi. From a strength of approximately 2,000 partisans in 1954, the Pathet Lao has increased tenfold in fifteen years through the systematic kidnapping of young men from the rural areas by Hanoi, which instructs and indoctrinates them and then sends them to carry out their shameful task, its purpose being to undermine and destroy the independence and sovereignty of their country. 120. Others, no less partisan, criticize us for having tried to obtain weapons and launch counter-attacks. As will be seen, this is a matter of self-defence, of our survival as a people and a nation.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“True to its word, as specified in paragraph 4 of the Declaration on the Neutrality of Laos, the Royal Laotian Government has not acceded to any military alliance or any agreement of a military character and does not recognize the protection of any alliance or military coalition, including the South East Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO). 119. Certain frankly partisan spirits claim that the hostilities in Laos are conducted exclusively by the Pathet Lau, the rebels against the Royal Government. In this connexion I should like to refresh the memories of representatives and recall that the Pathet Lao is nothing more or less than a creation of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam, which invented the whole thing for its own ends in 1954.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“To this day we have not succeeded, through the joint authority of the two co-Chairmen, in having the various signatories of the Agreements notified of our appeals and protests. 116. Lastly, it is amoral to connect the war in Laos with the Viet-Nam conflict. It is an entirely arbitrary act to link the destiny of a people with the outcome of a conflict to which it is totally alien. We are convinced that no legal system in the world could ever justify that. 117. The war in Laos is, moreover, unwarranted because as is well known, Laos has no military bases from which attacks are made against the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam and because Laos has never harboured troops fighting against the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam. 118.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“We have kept the relevant organs of the Geneva Conference informed of each of the many violations and hostile acts committed. We cannot but realize, however, that our representations have almost always been in vain. Because of the undisguised ill-will of one of its members, we have encountered virtual immobility on the part of the International Supervision and Control Commission responsible for supervising the implementation of the Agreements, recording violations and establishing responsibility. 115. As far as the co-Chairmen, the highest authority of the Geneva Conference, are concerned, we have always been disappointed at not finding the understanding that we have a right to expect.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“This war in Laos is amoral because the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam abuses its military and demographic power and because it shamelessly denies what is self-evident. No denial can hide the actual existence of the Ho Chi Minh trail. No communiqué, however adroit, can conceal the presence of those soldiers in Laos, because the hundred-odd prisoners whom we have captured can at any moment bear witness to their presence. 113. It is amoral because certain States or Powers which are signatories of the Geneva Agreements of 1962 and guarantors of the neutrality and sovereignty of Laos refuse, either through complicity or calculation, or simply through negligence or lack of interest, to honour their promises and their signatures. 114.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“A motor road, misnamed the “Ho Chi Minh trail”, constructed, maintained and guarded by Hanoi soldiers, uses several hundred kilometres of Laotian territory to enable Hanoi to carry to other regions and countries the seeds of war and subversive intrigue which it has initiated. 111. We have hoped, and we continue to hope, that our country might play the role of a buffer, a neutral framework where the antagonists, abandoning their distrust and their extreme demands, would begin to contemplate a peaceful coexistence. Unfortunately, this principle of peaceful coexistence, which everyone agrees should be the main pillar of modern international life, is far from being established in Laos or anywhere else in the world. 112.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“The reason why we are neutral—we went to Geneva in 1954 and 1962 to have that status conferred on us in accordance with our wishes—is also that we wish to avoid any confrontation, on our soil and to our detriment, of foreign forces, in order not to have to take sides in a combat which bodes only ruin and mourning for our people and to remove any reason for distrust or suspicion based on connivance, complicity or alliance with one party or the other. 110. Despite all these measures, aimed at preventing war and resulting from the state of war, what do we see in return? North Viet-Namese troops whose numbers exceed 40,000 men are occupying our territory and providing officers to the Laos rebels to harass, attack and besiege Government posts.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“We know that a State, a Government worthy of the name, will never look kindly on the installation on its flanks of a systematically hostile régime with which there would be neither room for negotiation nor possibility of coexistence. We have always refused to adopt any tandem position, despite advice, manoeuvres, pressures or the tempting offers dangled before us. 108. The reason why we are neutral—as we have solemnly proclaimed, demonstrated in our institutions and translated in our actions—is that, in the first place, neutrality accords with our nature, with the aspiration of our people for a harmonious order without diktats and without undue prohibitions, and that it conforms to the expression of our religious beliefs and to our behaviour in social life. 109.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“It has neither a political ideology to spread or to impose, nor any annexationist designs, nor any desire to engage in intrigue for anyone’s benefit. My country has been known from the most remote times for its devotion to peace and tranquillity, for its great tolerance and for its Buddhist philosophy. 106. We are also aware of our geographical situation at the cross-roads where antagonistic ideas and systems come face to face. It is at cross-roads that accidents occur—we are well aware of that and we have not failed to observe the utmost severity in our conduct. 107. In this spirit we have pushed our scruples to the very limit.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“At the end of every dry season, numbers of bridges, only just repaired, are destroyed, irrigation and hydro-electric dams are put out of operation and work on many construction sites is hampered by threats, kidnappings and assassinations. And this has been the situation for more than twenty years. 103. In these circumstances it is easy to imagine the immense difficulties facing the Royal Government in its determined efforts to promote the economic progress of the Kingdom and to overcome its great backwardness in relation to the modern world. 104. The war in Laos is, without any doubt, an unjust, amoral and unwarranted war, from whatever angle it may be viewed. 105. It is unjust because it was not the Laotians who provoked it. My country is well aware of its military strength, or rather weakness; it cannot be a threat to anyone.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“It is “forgotten” because such is the will of the States which are involved in it and which have provoked it. 101. Those responsible are well known to you: first, the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam; secondly, all who support and assist it in its reprehensible acts; and, thirdly, all who solemnly undertook to defend and guarantee the neutrality and sovereignty of Laos and who have broken both their oath and their signed word. 102. At present more than 600,000 people, one fifth of the total population, have fled the tyranny and privations imposed by the rebels and their protectors to seek refuge in more clement areas, under the protection of the Royal Government. The long list of acts of sabotage and of destruction of public works and public utilities is endless.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“We feel, however, that it would be vain to conquer space as long as the Powers which have the means to do so still do not possess the morality or real determination required to bring about the rule of order, peace and security on earth. 98. I have thought it necessary to make this lengthy preamble before describing to you the situation in my country, the Kingdom of Laos, where for more than twenty years a deadly and devastating war has been waged—a “forgotten war“, in the words of our Prime Minister, His Highness Prince Souvanna Phouma. 99. This term “forgotten war” should not be misunderstood to mean a war undeserving of attention. On the contrary, the ravages of the war are great and out of all proportion to the resources of the country and to the size of its population. 100.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Many fires of war are being kindled or continue to burn in many areas of the earth, despite the lessons of history and despite the firmest declarations, unqualified promises and duly recorded signatures. Whether in Europe, the Middle East, South-East Asia or South Africa, tense and explosive situations exist. The list of victims and of acts of destruction grows longer with each passing day. 96. My delegation appeals to the conscience of all countries to put an end to these deadly combats, this immense waste of life and property, so as to bring about a return to international morality and to peace and security. 97. Not long ago, all mankind acclaimed man’s first landing on the moon. There can be no denying that this represents an unexampled scientific exploit.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“In that document, the Charter, which represents the fruit of the widest collaboration of men and nations, and the drawing up of which was inspired by the horror, disasters and incalculable consequences of the last war, it is stated in Chapter I, dealing with the purposes and principles of the United Nations, that the United Nations must be “a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends”, namely, friendship, co-operation and the maintenance of international peace and security. 94. Despite that solemn declaration, to which all Members of the United Nations, large and small, great Powers and developing countries, have subscribed, the spectacle we are witnessing today is deeply disappointing. 95.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“When the Charter came into being twenty-five years ago, all hearts were uplifted by a great hope, especially in countries such as my own which have no trained armies to impose respect, no thermo-nuclear bombs to induce fear, and which rely on the goodwill of others to be able to live in peace and to forge their future in accordance with the aspirations of their people. 93.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“It has become an established fact that for many years at every General Assembly session the various countries, through the authorized voice of their representatives, draw attention to the difficulties of our Organization, its inability to ensure respect for and implementation of its most serious decisions, and the consequent impunity enjoyed by certain States guilty of reprehensible acts. 91. In the face of the equanimity displayed by some States in violating the Charter, in the face of the levity with which they contravene its provisions, in the face even, in some cases, of the premeditation of such offences, it is natural that a breath of disappointment and frustration should pass over our Assembly. 92.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“At the beginning of this twenty-fourth session of the General Assembly, our thoughts naturally turn also towards the delegation of Guatemala, homeland of Mr. Emilio Arenales, the eminent President of our twenty-third session, who was suddenly snatched away from our friendship and affection at the very time when he was able to give most of himself, his knowledge and his ability to the common, universal cause. 89. Since we have the opportunity, my delegation is also pleased to express once again to U Thant, the Secretary-General, our admiration for all his efforts to promote peace and for the overwhelming and difficult responsibility he shoulders in our Organization. 90.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“87. Madam President, my delegation is happy to add its voice, with all the warmth and sympathy of a member of the Afro-Asian group, to the mounting chorus of tributes and compliments addressed to you on your unanimous election to the presidency of this session of the Assembly. In the great honour paid to you today, my delegation sees a well-deserved tribute to your devotion to this Organization, to your talents, to your qualities of heart and mind, and to the personage that you are in your own country; and so, through you personally, we honour your country itself today. We are convinced that, under your enlightened presidency, our discussions will proceed with all the desired justice and objectivity. 88.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“And even if such, a people chose to brandish its weapons, who would tremble? 177. In reality, since its recent attainment of independence, Lacs has had one idea alone, one purpose only; to establish its fledgling State on a sound basis, by devoting itself, with its all too modest resources, to tasks of reconstruction and peace. How then, without complete disregard for truth, can it be accused of being a trouble-maker, a promoter of imperialism, or an instrument for the imperialism of its political friends, whoso only thought is to help it and safeguard its new and fragil independence.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“There are still, in fact, aggressive nations, over-confident in their social philosophy, convinced that they hold the key to the future and the key to everything, deeply persuaded of their missionary vocation, and prepared to use any means, however brutal, to impose their ideology on others. 176. Is there any need to speak here of the peaceable nature' of our people? What country can say that throughout the centuries it has ever been threatened or attacked by Laos? The peoples of Laos are inspired by a religion which turns the spirit more towards withdrawal and meditation than towards violence. They are imbued with a sense of human values, with a love of joy and even, perhaps, of an easy life; tribute has often been paid to their Wisdom, a wisdom akin to that of peoples who are happy and have no history.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“These nations are in fact perpetuating the old traditions of force which all of us want to abandon, because we know quite well that war has never led to a final settlement of any dispute or completely extinguished the hatred which it engendered. 175. Might is not always the servant of right, as we can see; and we for our part deeply regret that it should still be regarded as a necessary political instrument by certain countries which, though possessed of formidable power and satiated, as it were, in that respect, have not yet become reconciled to the idea that their forces should serve the cause of peace alone.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“The proposal for the revival of the International Commission for Supervision and Control is a trap, and a very obvious one. By that manoeuvre, the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam aims to restore the former Pathet Lao to life and to regroup its members in the two Northern provinces whence it, the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam, could resume its aggressive and subversive operations. 174. Thus the road to general harmony will always be rough and difficult so long as there are nations which, while constantly talking of peace, in fact dream solely of extending their proud sway beyond their frontiers, by armed force or other more tortuous but no less baneful methods.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“Today, the country has already been reunified and reintegrated. The Pathet Lao no longer exists, since its forces have been legally dissolved; there remain only rebels against the Government and traitors to their country. The aggression committed by the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam is a circumstance of quite another kind, which, like the occupation of our national territory by the Republic, falls outside the competence of the International Commission. 172. The Kingdom of Laos is a sovereign country and a Member of the United Nations; who then, in this Assembly, would contest its legitimate preference for arbitration by the United Nations? Who would maintain that any other form of arbitration could be so universal in character as that of the United Nations? 173. But let us make no mistake.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“In face of this flagrant aggression, the Royal Government approached the United Nations and requested its intervention. The Sub-Committee responsible for assembling all evidence and documents concerning the attack is now at work in the area. 170. Such is the whole origin of the present tension created in Laos by the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam. That Republic, together with certain other countries, tells us that, in order to normalize the situation, it would suffice to revive the former International Commission for Supervision and Control set up under the Geneva Agreements. Allow me to express the Royal Government's views on tills point. 171. The task of the International Commission for Supervision and Control was confined to the implementation of the military and political clauses of the Geneva Agreements.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“The attack began at dawn, in two successive waves — the first constituted by former members of the Pathet Lao, and the second by troops that could not speak the language of Laos, but only Viet-Namese — along a three-kilometre front; it was supported by heavy mortar fire, which was so accurate that the command post and the communications equipment were wiped out at the fourth round. It was started by a red rocket signal and concluded by a green rocket signal. The attackers crossed the Nam Ma river, which ran alongside the posts, in rubber boats. At the same time, the posts of Sophao and Sopbao, within the perimeter, were attacked. This attack was prepared, co-ordinated and carried out with a refined technical skill of which only the Viet-Minh were capable. 169.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“We knew that the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam was aiding and taking part in the raids against Lao army posts. That caused no surprise, for the attacks were always launched from places where that Republic usually maintains frontier guards and military forces. 168. For the attack on the posts of Muong Het and Xieng Khô on 30 August 1959, the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam did not confine itself to providing assistance and support. It openly participated in it. Here is an account, by eyewitnesses, of what happened.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“In any case, it amounts to very much less than that originally planned, as only one out of the two French bases authorized by the Geneva Agreements has been established and its strength is far below the 3,500 men authorized for the S6no base and the 1,500 instructors for the French Military Mission. 166. Contrary to what Hanoi and Peking assert, there are in Laos no new bases, no bombers, no heavy artillery, no new tanks, and no foreign units. The whole world can establish tills fact for itself, and I am not aware that the thirty journalists of various nationalities now travelling freely about our territory have attempted to controvert it. In any case, we invite all observers, whoever they may be, to come and verify our statements. We open our doors wide to all, 167.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“The amounts of money we are receiving, and the use to which they are put, are well known. We have never concealed anything in that connexion. Some of the American funds are being used for the creation of an army which is needed for the defence of the Kingdom; and the numbers of that army constitute no secret. This small defensive force, which is simply a symbol of our independence, can inspire no alarm in any country. The Royal Government is receiving military aid from the United States and France — in the form of material, personnel and instructors — only for the defence of its territory, in accordance with its statement made at Geneva. 165. This aid, therefore, is supplied on a legal, international basis. The Royal Government has always insisted, that the forms which it takes should be officially made known.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“In face of the Royal Government's determination to restore order and discipline, and because the population was cooperating increasingly with the Government and was gradually escaping from the clutches of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam and the Pathet Lao, the two latter decided to make a decisive move for what they called liberation or final victory. 163. That is the correct explanation of the events which have occurred since 16 July 1959 and which reached their climax on 30 August last. There is therefore no truth in the argument, advanced by the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam, that the present conflict was due to the American hold on our country for imperialist purposes. 164. American aid to Laos is granted in the interests of peace. In this way, the United States is helping us to place our economy on firm foundations.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“The police forces in the zone were withdrawn, and the troops stationed in the vicinity were moved further away, in order to avoid any armed clashes. Faithful to its policy of peace and confident in the United Nations, the Royal Government requested the Secretary-General to intervene with a view to settling the problem. While the Secretary-General was seeking ways and means of dealing with the situation, an even more serious act was committed on 30 August 1959, which led the Security Council to take its first emergency measures. 162. In brief, the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam is guilty of aggression against Laos.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“This army, in the months following the signature of the Geneva Agreements, evacuated the village, which has since then been controlled by the authorities of Viet-Nam. 160. Once the occupation had been completed, the Hanoi authorities offered to negotiate. What could such negotiations be about? Their only possible subject would be the procedure for the evacuation of our national territory. But there is no point in that. A11 that Hanoi had to do was to give an order for the evacuation of its troops. The example of the occupation of Tasseng Chang is a sufficient lesson for us, and forbids us to attempt anything along those lines. 161. In any case, the Royal Government was anxious to prevent the tension from becoming more acute.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“According to this 1/100,000 scale map entitled "East Tchépone", the frontier between Laos and Viet-Nam runs north and east of the villages which are now occupied. The Prime Minister of the Hanoi Government, who signed the Geneva Agreements on behalf of North Viet-Nam, accordingly, in 1954, accepted without reservations, by the first official international act to which the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam was a party, the frontier drawn on that map. 159. Here I would make one incidental remark. The Royal Government of Laos, so far as it is concerned, has always stated that it would respect the frontiers of Viet-Nam, especially this particular region. An example is the military post of Lao-Bao which, in 1954, during the war operations, had been occupied by the Franco-Lao troops; it was subsequently held by units of the Lao army.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“The latter saw its communization plans threatened with collapse. It was then that it instigated a further series of border incidents, so as to maintain the atmosphere of war at all costs. The occupation of a part of the province of Tchépone represents a very serious infringement of Lao sovereignty. It is atypical example of the skill of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam in manufacturing a frontier incident out of a prefabricated argument. It claimed that the territory belonged to it. Nowhere will you find any frontier tracing that would leave Nam Travigne, Ban Tarua, Ban Kapai — villages of this area — in the territory of North Viet-Nam. Moreover, the most up-to-date proof that the territory belongs to Laos is provided by the reference map used at the Geneva Conference of 1954.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“Delegations from the two countries met, on one occasion close to the scene of the incident, and on another at Hanoi. At these meetings, the representatives of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam made no reference whatever to the incident, but spoke about treaties of friendship, economic and cultural cooperation, and so forth. This endeavour ended in failure which only shows the futility of employing normal methods when dealing with a party who negotiates in bad faith. 158. Subsequently, when the flexible and cautious policy of the Royal Government had borne fruit, the situation in the Kingdom became relatively quiet. The provinces of the North once more experienced peace. This success could not, however, be to the taste of the Pathet Lao and the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“As I said at the outset, it was a sinister plot which was being hatched against the life of Laos and its people. 156. The course of this plot and its execution reflect a perfected technique, well known to all of us. Force and subversion have in turn, with consummate skill, been employed. The main object has been to keep up harassing pressure, maintain tension, and avoid any truce or respite. 157. Thus, immediately after the Geneva Agreements, when the Pathet Lao — perhaps because it desired a short breathing-space — was curtailing its activities, the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam in its turn took up the cudgel. It occupied a border canton called Tasseng Chang, in the province of Xieng Khouang. The Royal Government endeavoured to settle the matter amicably.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“In monitoring radio broadcasts, we have intercepted messages, both in plain language and in code, concerning the dispatch to the Lao frontier of pharmaceutical products, doctors and aircraft to take the seriously wounded to hospitals in Hanoi, particularly after a major military engagement. The Royal Government has submitted to the Subcommittee, for examination, the most typical of these messages. 155. In assisting the rebels, the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam has not confined itself to the supply of weapons, munitions and stores. It has been training recruits as potential cadres, propagandists and political commissars. Two training centres have been operating, one at Moc Chau — eighty kilometres from Sam Neua — and the other at Thanh Hoa.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“Moreover, the outlying provinces of the North-East are among the poorest of all the provinces. Lack of communications and shortage of local supplies make it very difficult to station troops there. The province of Lam Neua generally lacks the means of subsistence between harvests, that is to say in the period before the rice harvest, and each year the Royal Government takes measures to remedy this deficiency. This is tantamount to saying that the province could only ensure the subsistence of the rebels and their Viet- Minh allies for, at the most, two weeks. Whence, then, could supplies for the aggressors originate save from the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam? 154. We know that mere subsistence is not the only requirement of an army in the field. It needs drugs, medical care, surgical services, etc.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“The equipment which it hid in the forest was afterwards recovered by the Royal Government. None of this equipment — whether turned over or hidden — has ever been a very important factor. It is known that, the day before the transfer of equipment to the Royal Government, fifty trucks from the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam arrived at the village of Hai Xuan, on the road between Sam Neua and Thanh Hoa, to collect arms lent to the Pathet Lao. Eyewitnesses who were with the Pathet Lao at the time, and who have now left it because of its anti-patriotic conduct, could provide confirmation of this for the Sub-Committee. Various weapons, particularly grenades, were seized during the recent fighting. The grenades were practically new, which rules out the theory that they could have been hidden in the forest. 153.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“Radio Hanoi has placed its broadcasting services at the disposal of the rebels, and ha s observed no limits in its campaign of subversion and sabotage; in order to make its broadcasts convincing, it quotes from a newspaper allegedly issued in the field by the fugitive battalion. No one has ever seen this newspaper. It is a product of Radio Hanoi’s fertile imagination. But there is something more serious. For some weeks, Radio Hanoi has been making a daily thirty-minute broadcast in the Lao language called "The Voice of the Pathet Lao Forces Command”. 152. Moreover, the supplying of arms to the Pathet Lao by the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam is a fact which is quite obvious. The Pathet Lao turned over its own military equipment to the Royal Government on 12 November 1957, in accordance with the Vientiane Agreements.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)
“It has never ceased to pour out against Laos a Hood of accusations, slanders and tendentious Statements, with the object of provoking unrest among the people and inciting them to break with the Government. For a longtime, the Government refrained from making any reply, so as to avoid futile arguments. Starting from last winter, in preparation for the armed attacks of July and August, Radio Hanoi tripled the time allotted to its broadcasts in the Lao language. I hope that the Security Council Sub-Committee will not fail to examine the monitorings of these broadcasts; it will see that their favourite theme is the claim that the Pathet Lao is engaged in a patriotic struggle to liberate the country, and that the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam has the duty of helping it to achieve final victory.”
1959-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 14 (1959)