S.E.A.T.O. Talks Vietnam

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31097, 28 June 1966, Page 17

S.E.A.T.O. Talks Vietnam

(N.Z. Press Assn. —Copyright) CANBERRA, June 27. The Ministerial Council of the SouthEast Asia Treaty Organisation went into private session today determined to close ranks on Vietnam policy. A review of the Vietnam situation was high on the agenda and among speakers expected to address the session was the South Vietnam Foreign Minister, Dr. Tran Van Do.

Five of S.E.A.T.O.’s eight members—the United States,

Australia, New Zealand. Thai-j land and the Philippines— l ere providing some variety of military assistance to the Saigon Government Spokesmen for the five have said they would put no pressure on the other three—Britain. France and Pakistan — to give military aid, but left it plain they welcome any sort of additional assistance for the embattled nations. Vietnam dominated the speeches of delegation leaders to the formal opening

meeting of the council at a Canberra theatre this morning. The United States Secretary of State, Mr Dean Rusk —chief target of an anti-Viet-nam demonstration outside the theatre before and after the meeting—said the defence of South Vietinam was going Well, but his country would keep trying to move the struggle from the battlefield to the conference table. The Thailand Foreign Affairs Secretary, Mr Thanat Khoman, spoke of “cracks and crevices” in S.E.A.T.O. and said Thailand would endeavour to store up its strength. He said appeasement in Vietnam would lead only to more Communist aggression. The British Foreign Secretary, Mr Michael Stewart, repeated that his country would send civilian aid but not troops to the area, and would continue to seek a peaceful settlement “Not So Naive”

New Zealand, too, will increase civil aid to Vietnam. The Prime Minister and External Affairs Minister (Mr Holyoake) said: “We are not so naive as to imagine that Vietnam can achieve peace by military means alone. This is a war that must be fought on two fronts . . . civilian aid is vital.” The Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary, Mr Narciso Ramos, said his nation felt Vietnam was a problem of the greatest concern to members and was doing its best to help the Government there. The Australian External Affairs Minister, Mr Paul Hasluck, who was unanimously elected chairman of the conference, expressed full support for the stand of S.EAT.O. members in Viet-

nam and warned that if the Communist surge was not stemmed there it would spread throughout the region. The S.E.A.T.O. secretarygeneral, Mr Jesus Vargas, said the need for the organisation would exist until the threat of Communist aggression and subversion had been eliminated. France’s observer, Mr Achilles Clarac, was present on the rostrum but did not speak.