Bangkok rebuffs talks request

Press, 9 March 1984, Page 6

Bangkok rebuffs talks request

NZPA-Reuter Bangkok

The Vietnamese Foreign Minister, Mr Nguyen Co Thach, will launch a diplomatic drive today to defend Hanoi’s continued presence in Kampuchea pending a settlement acceptable to all ■ *

He will stop in. Thailand on his way. to official visits to Indonesia and Australia. Mr Thach’s main aim is to bridge the differences between Vietnam and its

non-Communist neighbours over Kampuchea. But there is concern, especially in Thailand and Singapore, that he may try to exploit cracks in regional unity on the issue. - .

Thai Foreign Ministry sources laid that their Foreign Minister, Air Chief Marshal Siddhi Savetsila, had" brushed aside Mr Thach’s request for a meeting today because “there was nothing new to talk about’’ China, a which supports Kampuchea’s ousted Khmer Rouge, sees the trip as an attempt by Vietnam to drive a . wedge between Peking and the Association of South-east Asian Nations - - Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, and Brunei. ‘‘Vietnam imagines that it

could sow discord between China and the A.S.E.A.N. States, find an excuse for its refusal to withdraw from Kampuchea and legitimise its occupation of Kampuchea” the official “China Daily” said in a commentary on the eve of Mr Thach’s tour. Thailand is concerned about the reaction of Indonesia and Australia because of their independent policies on Kampuchea. Although both emphasised that they share A.S.E.A.N.’s fundamental objective of ending Vietnam’s occupation of Kampuchea and ensuring self-determination for the Kampucheans, they feel that nd progress can. be made

without talking to Hanoi.

AS.E.A.N. has repeatedly called for a unilateral pullout of Vietnam’s estimated 180,000 troops in Kampuchea. But Hanoi says that it can withdraw only if China ends what it sees as a threat to Vietnam and guarantees peace and security in Kampuchea. Thai Foreign Ministry sources said in response to Mr Thach’s request for a meeting today that Air Marshal Siddhi had suggested it be put off until the return journey. “They (the Vietnamese) have not been in touch since then,” the sources said. They said it was unlikely that Mr Thach would propose anything new on Kampuchea during his visits to Indonesia and Australia later this month.

A.S.E.A.N. diplomats in Bangkok said that there was no split among the nonCommunist countries in the region on the issue that Vietnam should get out of Kampuchea. They said that any differences that existed lay in emphasis and perception which was of no concern to Vietnam. Mr Thach’s visit to Jakarta comes after a recent trip to Hanoi by the Indonesian Armed Forces commander. General Benny

Murdani, who declared that Vietnam posed no threat to South-east Asia.

Indonesia regards China as the main long-term threat to regional security, largely for domestic political; reasons. Diplomats said that Mr Thach was likely to take advantage of this ingrained fear of the Indonesians to press home similar views.

China actively supported the now banned Indonesian Communist Party, which backed an abortive coup attempt in 1965. In Canberra Mr Thach is likely to receive a warm welcome from the Australian Labour Government, which has been at odds with its A.S.E.A.N. allies over the Kampuchean issue since coming to power a year ago. Diplomats in Bangkok said that a key problem in the Kampuchean equation was the Peking-backed Khmer Rouge, the dominant force in the coalition government of anti-Vietnamese resistance forces.

They said that the coalition’s supporters generally agreed that the Khmer Rouge should be prevented from returning to power. But that ran against the principle of self-determina-tion if Kampucheans freely

chose to vote them back after Vietnam’s withdrawal. The Khmer Rouge have been widely blamed for the deaths of up to three million people during nearly four years in power before being ousted by Vietnamese troops in 1979. In Canberra, the Opposition has urged the Federal Government to investigate alleged atrocities by the Vietnamese in Kampuchea.

The Foreign Affairs spokesman, Michael MacKellar, told Parliament that Australia had a responsibility to confront Mr Thach on Vietnam’s occupation of Kampuchea. “If they (the atrocities) are found to be true... then our position of abhorrence and rejection of those Vietnamese actions should be made perfectly clear to the Vietnamese Foreign Minister when he visits here next week,” Mr MacKellar said. “It will be important to bring home to him the concern Australians feel about his country’s continued occupation of Cambodia and its continued interference in the internal affairs of that country.” Mr MacKellar was speaking to his motion condemning the continued occupation of Laos and Cambodia by Vietnam.