EMBASSY OF VIET NAM

Press and I nformotion Servite AD4- 3301

Washington D.C. 2200 Ka loramo Rood N. W.

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VOL. 1 NO. 11 ~y 27 1955

CONTENTS

NATIONAL AFFAIRS:

-Premier Ngo dinh Diem Broadcasts to North Viet Nam -Premier Presides over Ceremony Integrating the Imperial Guard into the National Army -Roving Ambassador of Viet Nam in ..t:i:urope; Mr. Ngo dinh Luyen discusses situation in South Viet Nam -Soil from North Viet Nam sent to Saigon -General Association of Nationalist Students Established -Catholic Assistance Congress in Paris

MILITARY NEWS :

-General Survey of the Military Situation in North, Central and South -National. Army Troops take over Communist Zone -National Army and Binh Xuyen losses ·since April 28th

FGREIGN AFFAIRS:

-Statement on Viet Nam The Honorable John Foster Dulles Premier Edgar Faure The Honorable Malcolm MacDonald VOL. 1 NO. 11 - 1 - PRESS & INFORMATION S£RVICE

PREMIER NGO DINH DIEM BRCADCASTS TO NORTH VIET NAlvf:

SAIGON: In a radio broadcast directed to the provinces in the North controlled by the , Premier Ngo dinh Diem assured the people that they have been only "provisionally abandoned" to . He pledged that the govern­ ment would fight for their freedom and the reunification of the country. "The Government and the people, " he said, '' are determined to pursue the struggle for the return of North Viet Nam, provisionally abandoned to the Viet Minh."

PREMIER DIEM PRESIDES OVER CEREMONY INTEGRATING THE IMPERIAL GUARD INTO THE NATIONAL ARMY:

SAIGON: Premier Ngo dinh Diem traveled to Dalat accompanied by General Le van Ty, General Chief of Staff of the Vietnamese Armed Forces to preside personally over the ceremonies integrating the Imperial Guard("NGU LAM QUAN") into the National Army. In accord with the decree of May 15th issued by Mr. Tran trung Dung, deputy for National Defense and in accordance with the wish of the officers and men of the Imperial Guard, the first and second regiments of the Imperial Guard will be known from now on as the 41st and 42nd infantry regiments. ~:o~~:<

ROVING AMBASSADOR OF VIET NAM IN EUROPE, NGO DINH LUYEN, DIS­ CUSSES SITUATION IN :

PARIS: Evaluating the political situation in South Viet Nam following the recent incidents in Saigon and in light of the results of the three power conference in Paris, Mr. Ngo dinh Luyen, roving ambassador of VietNam in Europe, ex­ pressed his belief in a general easing of tension in the political situation in his country. He stated in particular that the people of France and friends in the Free World must be convinced that the vast majority of the Vietnamese pop­ ulation want peace, justice, and order. He explained that there is too much of a tendency in France and the Western countries that enjoy a stable and smooth functioning administration, to confuse order with calm. It was possible to live in South Viet Nam in a false calm, but a latent and dangerous disorder reigned because of the power of the sects, and particularly the Binh Xuyen who enjoyed shameful privileges and against whom the government had to adopt measures of force. The Ambassador affirmed his conviction of success and belief that be­ tween now and the date of the elections in the South in July, that the population generally will understand that the Diem government is struggling for its good, for peace, and for the future and will give its approval in all fields, and particular­ ly in the social field. This, he continued, permits us to look toward the 1956 elections with confidence.

The Diem government believes in victory against communism, Mr. Ngo dinh Luyen conclu ded, while the instigators of the recent trouble do not believe in victory, and took advantage of the situation to reap gross and illegal profit. VOL. 1 NO. 11 - 2 - PRESS & INFORMATION .S ERVICE

SOIL FROM SENT TO SAIGON:

HAIPHONG: A shovelful of soil from the foot of a Vietnamese flag pole was put in a box to be sent to Saigon aboard the S . S. City, the last boat to leave North VietNam. The ceremony was organized by a committee of residents of Haiphong and took place in the presence of Mr. Le Guang Luat, government delegate for North Viet Nam, Pham van Bot, Mayor of Haiphong, and General Rene Cogny, commander-in-chief of the land forces of North VietNam.

GENERAL A SSOCIATION OF NATIONALIS T STUDENTS ESTABLISHED:

SAIGON: On the afternoon of May 15th, the provisional committee of the general association of united students met at the Faculty of Medicine at Saigon to elect a steering committee. In spite of bad weather, the students turned out in great numbers, proving once again their good will in regard to the National Union of Vietnamese students. It was unanimously agreed to call the group the "General Association of Nationalist Vietnamese Students." The by-laws were adopted in their final form and the committee elected.

CATHOLIC A SSISTANCE CONGRESS IN PARIS :

PARIS: The National Catholic Assistance Congress met in Paris on the 14th, 15th, and 16th of May. A Vietnamese priest said mass for the refugees of Viet Nam before more than four hundred deputies from all departments of the government. His Eminence, Mgr. Rodhain and a Vietnamese priest spoke in turn on the problems posed by the vast movement of population which exceeds all expectations. They gave emphasis to the exceptional nature of the exodus into .South Viet Nam of men, women and children fleeing the Viet Minh regime in order to safeguard their faith and their freedom. An exhibit on Viet Nam was arranged for the occasion which included a collection of religious objects, various documents, charts, etc.

GENERAL S URVEY OF THE MILITARY SITUATION IN NORTHERN, CENTRAL AND :

SAIGON: The following is a summary of the military situation in the country to date: l-In the North: The evacuation of the last units at Haiphong carried out normally. 2 -In the Central Region; The reoccupation by a division and a half of the national Armed Forces of the zone 200 km. long and 50 km wide which had been occupied by the Viet Minh, inhabited by over one million people, and comprising a section of S outh C.uang-Ngai and all of Binh Dinh province was accomplished with­ out incident. VOL. 1 NO. 11 - 3 - PRESS & INFORMATION SERVICE

Our troops advanced from North to S outh. They left Sa Huynh last April 2 6th and arrived at Phu My on May 12th. During their advance our troops w ere everywhere warmly and enthusiastically welcomed by the people. W ith the reoccupation of C uinhon on the 16th of May by the Vietnamese Armed Forces, the liberation of all the zones that up to now had been under the com­ munist yoke was completed.

3- In the S outhern Region : In S outhern Viet Nam there are presently two operations, one to the south and the other to the of Saigon. They both have the aame goal which is the destruction of the Binh Xuyen forces and the general cleaning up of the region.

(A) - South of Saigon: Operating to the south of Saigon, two columns out of Tan Thuan and Go Cong have been carrying on probing operations within a radius of ten kilomaters of the swampy plain some 35 km. south of the canal dividing the two are as. Up to now, the National troops have been unable to make contact. The enemy has r e fused to fight. The Binh Xuyen have abandon­ ed their vehicles and the ir arms as they fled. It may now be assumed that at the present time, the r e bels have no more equipment. Since the beginning of the operations the National Army has recovered 600 individual weapons , fifteen automatic weapons, one hundred and eighty rifles, nine automatic guns, ten machine guns, ten radio posts, more than a ton of ammunition and twenty cars.

(B) - S outheast of Saigon : Contrary to rumors concerning the operations to the S outheast of Saigon, traffic on the Saigon-Cape St. Jacques road has never been interrupted by the clean- up operation now under way.

In Southwest Viet Nam: In spite of reports in the foreign press, peace has never been disturbed in S outhwest VietNam, and the roads connecting the provinces and Saigon have never been the object of sabotage.

NATIONALIST ARMY TROOPS TAKE OVER FORiv1ER COMMUNIST ZON£ :

SAIGON: The National Army units that have just complete d the reoccupation of the former communist zone in the central coastal region of South Quang­ Ngai and Binh Dinh p rovinces have found much evidence of harsh rule imposed by the communists. The inhabitants say that the taxes were exhorbitant and those who failed to p ay were imprisioned. Civilians were forced to transport supplies for the troops and for must of the people th~ee months out of the year were spent in forced labor for the Red government . An all pervasive police system made freque nt arrests, and torture and imprisonment were common.

The communists d e stroyed all large buildings, saying that they would provide quarters for invading troops if the Fre nch came into the area. Roads were found destroyed in many places and bombing during the long years of war des­ troyed most of the railway bridges .

This region along t h e coast was the largest bloc of communis t territory in Viet VOL. 1 NO. 11 - 4 - PRESS & INFORMATION SERVICE

Nam south of the 17th paralle. The evacuation of the communists simultaneously with the withdrawal of the last French contingents fro~ Haiphong marks the completion of the regrouping of forces called for under the Geneva agreements.

NATIONAL ARMY AND BINH XUYEN LOSSES SINCE APRIL 28:

SAIGON: A report has been issued on the losses cf tthe National Army and the Binh Xuyen since the beginning of hostilities at Saigon on the 28th of April. It showed fifty five killed and three hundred and fifty wounded for the National Army and for the Binh Xuyen, one hundred killed, five hundred wound­ ed and under treatment in the Saigon hospitals, one hundred and fifty prisoners and one thousand rallied to the National Army.

In addition to the above, the report showed that government forces had retrieved eight hundred weapons of all types, thirty cars, six mortars and ten machine guns.

A spokesman for the General E:taff indicated that the Binh Xuyen who rallied would be sent to instruction camps and some of them incorporated into the National Army according to their abilities.

STATEMENTS ON VIETNAM:·

The Honorable John Foster Dulles: Broadcasting a report on his recent visit to Paris where he had many talks with the British Foreign Minister, Harold MacMillan and Premier Faure, the Secretary of State, Mr. John Foster Dulles, said that the events he attended might "really mark a turning in the tide of world history. 11 He pointed out that the United States is doing the same thing in Asia as in Europe by defending ''freedom where there are free men and supporting collective security. 11 He said: "And the 1nain point I made there was that we had to accept the fact that Viet Nam is now a free nation- -at least so that half of it is and it's not got a puppet government, it's not got a government that we can give orders to and tell what we wanted to do or we wanted to refrain from doing.

If it was that kind of a government, we wouldn't be justified in supporting it, be­ cause that kind of government is not going to last there. You can only hold free Viet Nam with a government that is nationalistic and has the l?urpose of its own and is responsive to the will of its own people and doesn't take orders from any­ body outside, whether it be from Paris or Cannes, for that matter, or from Washington.

And that we've got to coordinate our policies to acceptance of the fact that it is really a free and independent country.

And the government of Premier Ngo dinh Diem which seemed to be almost on the ropes a few weeks ago, I think is re-established with strength. It's been through VOL. 1 NO. 11 - 5 - PRESS & INFORMATION S.2RVICE a hard experience and I think it 1 s going to have more support within and with­ out than it's had before and I look to that situation with more hope than we've had before. "

Premier Edgar Faure: At a press conference on May 14th, the French Premier, Mr. Edgar Faure discussed the results of the recent Franco-Anglo-American talks on Viet Nam. In speaking of support for the National Government of Viet Nam, he noted complete agreement among the three countries on the matter. We are seeking, he said, to help VietNam undertake and face the trial of elections set for 1956 in the best possible conditions. Neither France nor the United States"intends to intervene in the internal politics of VietNam." He added: "Vve may act through advice if our objectives are in harmony, but the United States, like France, has no right to interfere in the affairs of Viet Nam nor to exercise authority or direct pressure on the Government of Viet Nam.

The Honorable Malcolm MacDonald: The British High Commissioner in South­ east Asia stated as he left Saigon that Great Britain wishes to do everything possible to help the maintain their national independence and is pleased wrth the progress already made by the government and the people of VietNam.