751H.00/3–3154
Memorandum by the Special Assistant for Intelligence (Armstrong) to the Secretary of State
Subject:
- Intelligence Note: Viet Minh Creates a “Resistance Government” in Cambodia
Recent Viet Minh broadcasts have referred to the existence of a “Khmer Resistance Government.” This apparent attempt to manufacture a Communist government in Cambodia parallels the earlier Communist creation of a “Resistance Government” in Laos and raises [Page 1195] the possibility that the Communists, at Geneva, may sponsor the participation of three Communist “governments” in Indochina.
On March 20, the Viet Minh radio broadcast a “declaration of the Foreign Minister of the Khmer Resistance Government” protesting US aid to the French in Indochina. Signed by one Keomani, the declaration asserted: “The Khmer people … recognize only the Khmer Resistance Government as the Government which represents all the Nation and people of Khmer.”1
This is the first known Communist reference to a “Resistance Government” of Khmer, or Cambodia. A March 24 commentary by the Ho radio on the above “Declaration” used the term “Khmer Resistance Government” four times and left no doubt of the Viet Minh intention to advertise the “existence” of a Communist “government” in Cambodia.
As recently as February 14, the Viet Minh arm in Cambodia was still referred to as the “Cambodian Committee of National Liberation.” Son Ngoc Minh, identified in the March 20 DRV broadcast as “President” of the “Khmer Resistance Government,” was formerly identified as chairman of the “Committee of National Liberation.” Keomani (possibly known also as Keo Mas), here designated as “Foreign Minister” of the “Resistance Government,” is a prominent Cambodian Communist who served as Cambodian delegate to the Vienna Peace Congress in December 1952.
- Ellipsis in the source text.↩