851G.00/9–1146
The Ambassador in France (Caffery) to the Secretary of State
No. 6131
[Received September 17.]
Sir: I have the honor to report that at his request I received a visit this morning from M. Ho Chi Minh, “President of the Republic of Viet-Nam”, who confirmed the news published in the local press that the Fontainebleau negotiations between the Viet-Nam representatives and the French representatives have practically broken down and the Viet-Nam delegation will be returning to Indochina within the next few days.
The principal point on which they failed to reach agreement concerns Cochin China: the French representatives insist that Cochin China be an “independent” entity in an Indochinese federation, while the Viet-Nam representatives insist that one central government in Indochina must dominate the whole country. He said that he and his party aspired to Viet-Nam “independence” in an “Union Franchise”. He said that they would like to receive some “help” from us, but did not specify what he meant by that. He took occasion to say that he was not a communist.
From the general fuzziness of his remarks, I gathered that he would like us to get into the game and he would be very pleased if he could use us in some way or other in his future negotiations with the French authorities.
I expressed our interest in Indochina and the people of Indochina but made no commitments.
Respectfully yours,