VIETNAM TALKS SITE U.S. Urges Hanoi To Act Faster

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31656, 17 April 1968, Page 11

VIETNAM TALKS SITE U.S. Urges Hanoi To Act Faster

(N.Z P.A.-Reuter—Copyright)

HONOLULU (Hawaii), April 16.

President Johnson will begin Vietnam strategy talks today after an indirect warning to Hanoi that United States patience in limiting bombing might wear thin without progress towards peace contacts.

Mr Johnson s*aid on his arrival yesterday for talks with top military advisers and with President Chung Hee Park, of South Korea, that precious time was being lost in disagreement with North Vietnam over a talks site.

He said during his welcoming ceremony that despite his twoweek bombing limitation there had been no official response from Hanoi yet to his suggested five “neutral sites” for the talks— Geneva, Vientiane, Rangoon, Djakarta and New Delhi.

neutral capitals where both of us have representatives and communications. . . . “It is now two long weeks since I restricted our bombing and urged North Vietnam to come to the conference table. We are eager to get on with the task of peace-making. Precious time is being lost. “Asians and Americans alike are ready to let diplomacy go to work—now—without further delay.” President Johnson, who has set no definite length for his stay in Honolulu, will confer today with Admiral Ulysses Grant Sharp, the Pacific area commander-in-chief. Bombing Advocate* Here with the President for the talks are the chairman of the joint Chiefs of Staff, General Earle Wheeler and the former Deputy Defence Secretary, Mr Cyrus Vance—who is to accompany the roving Ambassador, Mr Averell Harriman for the preliminary contacts with Hanoi. The “New York Times” news service reported that the pacific command was led by some of the most ardent advocates of continued bombing of North Vietnam, which the President had curtailed

sponsible for coping with the tensions that resulted from North Korea’s new incursions into South Korea in recent weeks and the seizure of the American intelligence ship Pueblo last January. N.Z.P.A.-Reuter reported that while today’s talks were likely to centre on Vietnam, the President would probably also seek a report on the latest Korean situation, where tension has been increasing between North and South. As the President left the United States, there were suggestions that the situation might prompt him to call on President Park to resist internal pressures for strong military retaliation against the North. Pueblo Problem Newspaper reports linked the United States desire to cool off the Korean situation with Washington’s desire to obtain the release of the Pueblo and its surviving 82 crew still detained in North Korea. In Seoul, however, there has already been criticism that the United States is softpedalling North Korean aggressiveness because of the Pueblo. This has been coupled with complaints that recent intrusions across the Demilitarised Zone are not being taken seriously enough in Washington. During the talks, expected to last one day, President Johnson will undoubtedly reassure President Park of the United States commitment to defend South Korea, whose 50,000 troops in South Vietnam form the largest contingent allied with the Americans there.

At the same time, the President virtually ruled out North Vietnam’s choice of Phnom Penh and Warsaw when he noted the United States had responded “by pointing out certain obvious reasons why each of the sites was not suitable.” “For us, this is not a propaganda exercise. We have sent serious and considered messages aimed at bringing about the earliest possible contacts,” Mr Johnson said. Neutral Sites

Urging North Vietnam to come to the conference table, the President continued: “What is needed now is an equally serious and considered reply, reacting to our proposal for neutral sites, or offering additional suggestions or

These officers also were re-