The Press TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 1969. The Midway Talks

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32010, 10 June 1969, Page 16

The Press TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 1969. The Midway Talks

The communique from the Midway talks between President Nixon and President Thieu does not at first sight suggest the sort of document to prove a turning point in the Vietnam war. The real meaning of the talks may not emerge until some progress is made in the Paris negotiations and until the proposed American troop withdrawals are effected. Nevertheless, there are many points in the communique of importance—to Saigon, to Washington, and to Hanot The most striking feature of the meeting is that it has shown President Nixon still firmly resolved to prosecute the campaign in South Vietnam. Many commentators have been predicting that he would show himself more or less ready to abandon the South Vietnamese. His announcement that 25,000 United States troops will be withdrawn is a token —to be interpreted in different ways in different capitals. The smallness of the number is rio doubt intended to be seen in Saigon as a sign that there will be no American sell-out. The fact that the withdrawal is not conditional on any reduction of North Vietnamese troops in the South may be accepted in. Hanoi as an earnest of American willingness to scale down the war. Significantly, however, the communique talks of the troop “ replacement programme ” being “ in “consonance with the security situation prevailing “at the moment”. This gives notice to Hanoi, and to the American people, that if the war is stepped up by the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese the withdrawals might be called off. In the United States, the decision will confirm the worst fears of those who were dismayed by the hard line Mr Nixon took in his speech in Colorado last week. On the question of coalition rule in South Vietnam the communique is clear. If Mr Nixon ever believed in the idea, or if he ever privately promoted it, President Thieu has persuaded him to come out firmly against a coalition in Saigon before elections are held. Mr Nixon’s Secretary of State, Mr Rogers, recently said a coalition was “ negotiable ” in Paris. Although the two Presidents spoke of elections in South Vietnam there is nothing in the communique to suggest that President Thieu has accepted the idea that elections should be held before their con-stitutionally-appointed time —that is, in September, 1971. Both these points will strengthen Thieu’s hand at home among his own supporters. Some of Thieu’s supporters in the Army are reported to have been disturbed by his earlier offer to talk with the National Liberation Front It is worth noting that he reiterated the offer in the Midway talks and, as a further sign of a conciliation the communique mentions that the Presidents noted the 10-point peace proposals from the N.L.F. Although the communique is framed to suggest that the two leaders were in complete agreement, it may be doubted whether they resolved their earlier differences on peace negotiations. The communique says that they reviewed the points listed by President Thieu on April 7 and the points listed by President Nixon on May 14. “The two Presi- “ dents are convinced that the proposals they have “ put forward represent a reasonable basis for “ peace ”, says the communique. There is more than a suggestion here that agreement was not reached, for their differences have attracted such wide attention that any substantial progress towards bridging them would have warranted special notice. This may be why the Presidents have agreed to meet again “ in the near future ”.