[Vnbiz] Fwd: [Vsg] PARACELS: Chou En-lai Misquoted; Pham Van Dong Misinterpreted

Fri Jan 11 04:51:39 PST 2008

Dear CACC,

Here is an article forward by anh Chuck Searcy about Paracels, FYI.
(Thanks, Chuck. Good info).

Hoanh

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Chuck Searcy <chucksearcy at yahoo.com>
Date: 2008/1/11
Subject: Fwd: [Vsg] PARACELS: Chou En-lai Misquoted; Pham Van Dong
Misinterpreted
To: Tran Dinh Hoanh <tdhoanh at gmail.com>

Hoanh,

I'll leave it to your judgment whether to pass along to the VNbiz group this
memo and attachments from Lady Borton.  Much of the discussion I've seen
about sovereignty and control of the Spratleys and Paracels has occurred
within the VSG discussion group.  However, this is pretty good historical
reference material and might be of interest to some of our VNbiz colleagues
also.  Lady was responding to some statements in the VSG discussion group that
years ago, Prime Minister Pham Van Dong had made a "declaration" where he
"gave away" the Paracels to China. It's your decision whether the VNbiz
group would be interested in sharing this information as well.  (The
continuing incidents in the waters of these islands seem to be the only
point in current relations between Vietnam and China that could heat up and
cause serious concern.)

Chuck

*Lady Borton <Lady at frognet.net>* wrote:

Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2008 03:42:25 -0500 (EST)
From: "Lady Borton" <Lady at frognet.net>
To: vsg at u.washington.edu
Subject: [Vsg] PARACELS: Chou En-lai Misquoted; Pham Van Dong Misinterpreted

Dear friends and colleagues,

I have no point of view on the Paracels and/or Spratleys. I don't know
enough to have a point of view, and I don't expect ever to study the issue
sufficiently to have any point of view.

That said, it might be helpful to point out that recent postings on VSG
misquoted Premier Chou En-lai's statement of 4 September 1958 (aired on
Radio Peiping on 6 Sept). The Radio Peiping text is attached. You will see
that Premier Chou En-lai mentions four islands or groups of islands, in
this order: 1) Taiwan 2) Penghu (Pescadores) 3) Quemoy and 4) Matsu. All
these islands are in the Taiwan Strait. No mention is made of the Paracels
or Spratleys.

Further, from the attached documents, you will see that Pham Van Dong's
quotation has been taken out of context. He refers to the LAW OF THE SEA
and its 12-mile limit in reference to the islands in the Taiwan Strait
only.

The piece that follows was written in response to the "chat" on the Web
here among young Vietnamese. With apologies to VSG friends and colleagues
for the byte-weight of this message, I've taken the liberty of including
relevant documents, including the LAW OF THE SEA, 1956, the law germain at
that time and the one to which both Chou En-lai and Pham Van Dong refer.
I'm aware that the compressed images from NHAN DAN may be hard to read but
hope this helps.

Those of us up in years, our hair turning silver remember "Quemoy" and
"Matsu" quite well...!

Warmly,
Lady

Premier Pham Van Dong Misinterpreted

Recently, a Vietnamese friend told me that, years ago, Prime Minister
Pham Van Dong had made a "declaration" where he "gave away" the Paracels
to China.

"What!!" I said. "Are you sure?"

"The Declaration is on the Web. There's lots of 'chat'."

"Can you give me the exact date?" I said. "Let's check."

Vietnamese friends, Chinese friends, international friends— Let's put
this to rest once and for all: Pham Van Dong's declaration never gave
away the Paracels. Never. Never. Never.

Let me explain.

The declaration in question is dated 22 September 1958. Since Ho Chi Minh
was alive, I checked the chronology of President Ho's life. The day
before, 21 September 1958, Ho Chi Minh wrote an article in NHAN DAN under
the pseudonym T. L. There, he quoted a statement made on 11 September by
American President Dwight Eisenhower.

Next, I checked the Web archives of THE NEW YORK TIMES, an
American newspaper of record. President Eisenhower's statement was
about Quemoy (Kinmen or Jinmen) and Matsu (Mazu), which are
islands in the Taiwan Strait. These islands are about eight miles
off the Chinese mainland, that is, within the traditional
twelve-mile limit for territorial waters. However, in 1949, Chiang
Kai-shek's forces had retained control of these islands after
Mao's forces took control in China. In September 1958, China and
the United States (through Taiwan) openly fought each other over
Quemoy and Matsu. Each side threatened wider war.

The location is clear: The Taiwan Strait, not the Paracels.

Premier Pham Van Dong's letter to Chou En Lai dated 14 September 1958
"acknowledges and approves of" the statement made by Premier Chou En Lai
on 4 September and affirms China's twelve-mile limit. THE NEW YORK TIMES
carried the full text of Premier Chou's statement, which begins (English
text by Peiping radio):

"On Sept. 4, 1958, United States Secretary of State Dulles, under
the authorization of United States President Eisenhower, issued a
statement openly threatening to expand United States aggression
against the People's Republic of China in the Taiwan (Formosa)
Strait area and carrying out war provocation, thereby aggravating
the tension in this area created by the United States and
seriously jeopardizing the peace of the Far East and the world."

The location is clear: The Taiwan Strait, not the Paracels.

Secretary of State Dulles' statement of 4 September mentioned by Premier
Chou begins: "I have reviewed in detail with the President the serious
situation which has resulted from aggressive Chinese Communist military
actions in the Taiwan (Formosa) Strait area. The President has authorized
me to make the following statement…."

Once again, the location is clear: The Taiwan Strait, not the
Paracels.

Premier Pham Van Dong's letter to Premier Chou En-lai and the articles by
Pham Van Dong and Ho Chi Minh in NHAN DAN supported China in the
September 1958 brushfire battle between China and the United States over
control of islands in the Taiwan Strait.

Please, let's put this to rest: Pham Van Dong's letter of 22 September
1958 refers only to islands in the Taiwan Strait. This letter is not
about the Paracels.

-- 
Lady Borton
Box 94
International Post Office
Ha Noi, Viet Nam
Phone: 84-4-8-325-229
Fax: 84-4-8-325-819
Lady at frognet.net_______________________________________________
Vsg mailing list
Vsg at u.washington.edu
http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/vsg

_______________________________________________
Vsg mailing list
Vsg at u.washington.edu
http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/vsg

-- 
Tran Dinh Hoanh, Esq., LLB, JD
Washington DC
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