Vietnam, 1982

On behalf of the delegation of the Socialist

Republic of Viet Nam, I should like to extend to

Mr. Hollai, of Hungary, warmest con¬gratulations

on his election to the high office of Presi¬dent

of the thirty-seventh session of the General

Assembly, and express my conviction that with his

eminent talents and wealth of experience he will,

together with other members of the General

Com¬mittee, guide the work of the present session

to fruitful results.

80. We are living in a period of complex

upheavals and difficult challenges. The creative

labour and the economic and other achievements of

the world's peoples in the past 37 years are in

danger of being destroyed by the tension clouding

the international situation. In the hope of

extricating itself from the prolonged economic

recession and coping with the growth of the

forces of peace, democracy, national independence

and social progress, and in an attempt to

continue to impose its will on other peoples,

during the past three years the United States—in

collusion with other reactionary forces—has

launched a global counterattack against the

independence and sover¬eignty of peoples and

against world peace. It has stepped up the arms

race to an unprecedented level in its quest for

military supremacy. Billions of dollars have been

spent on the production of weapons of mass

destruction, including the neutron bomb. It has

decided to deploy medium-range missiles in

Western Europe, shamelessly proclaimed the

doctrine of a for limited nuclear warfare ,

introduced the rapid deployment force into the

region of the Persian Gulf, reinforced its fleet

in the Caribbean Sea and built new military bases

in the Indian Ocean, with a view to preparing for

aggression and intervention in every continent,

thus creating new hotbeds of tension in various

regions of the globe.

81. This adventurist and bellicose policy

constitutes an extremely grave threat to

international peace and security, and runs

counter to the aspirations of billions of people

throughout the world. The collusion between the

ring-leader of imperialism and international

reactionary forces is a cause of tension and

could lead to an explosive situation. More than

ever before the struggle for international peace

and security is an urgent and primary task for

all peoples. With the exception of the

military-industrial complexes of the imperialist

Powers seeking excessive profits from war and the

arms race, nobody today profits from war. The

profound aspirations to peace of billions of

peo¬ple are what give the peace movement

unprecedented power, capable of staying the

armored hands of the imperialist and reactionary

forces. The united efforts of and the

co-ordinated struggle carried on by the socialist

countries, the non-aligned countries and the

forces of peace and democracy in the Western

coun¬tries have a great opportunity of averting

the danger of a nuclear war and countering the

warlike and aggres¬sive policy of the

imperialists and international reactionaries.

82. Having undergone 35 consecutive years of

war while the rest of the world was enjoying the

longest period of peace in the century, the

Vietnamese people are profoundly conscious of the

significance of peace. Together with all

peace-loving forces on this planet, our people

have waged and are still waging an untiring

struggle for national independence, foiling one

after another all the schemes of imperialism and

inter¬national reaction, aimed at turning

South-East Asia into the hotbed for a new world

war.

83. In the past several months alone, 15

million Viet¬namese have participated in

demonstrations, briefings and seminars and have

signed petitions in response to a nationwide

campaign for peace and disarmament. We

unreservedly support the peace and disarmament

initiatives put forward by the socialist and

non-aligned countries. In particular, we highly

appreciate the unilateral commitment of the

Soviet Union not to be the first to use nuclear

weapons, and see in this a gesture of historic

importance. If, like the Soviet Union, all

nuclear Powers—and first of all the United States

of America—were to make similar commit¬ments, the

possibility of rebelling the danger of a

devastating nuclear war would immediately become

a reality, even at a time when the major Powers

have not yet reached an agreement on disarmament.

The new proposals of the Soviet Union, announced

by Foreign Minister Gromyko to the General

Assembly at the 13th meeting, once again prove

that the Soviet Union spares no effort to prevent

war and to defend world peace. Likewise, we give

our full support to the proposal of the Soviet

Union and the Secretary- General for a conference

of States Members of the Security Council at the

highest possible level to seek a solution to

problems relating to international peace and

security.

84. As an Asian country bordering the Pacific

Ocean and the Indian Ocean, Viet Nam warmly

welcomes the initiatives of India and other

non-aligned countries, aimed at making the Indian

Ocean a zone of peace. Likewise, we firmly

support the proposal of the Mongolian People's

Republic on the signing of a convention on

non-aggression and non-use of force in relations

among countries in Asia and the Pacific. The

implementation of these proposals would

consti¬tute an effective contribution to

international peace and security.

85. Those who have a conscience cannot remain

indifferent to the abominable crimes perpetrated

by the Israeli aggressors against the innocent

civilian population of Lebanon and Palestine. The

atrocious massacres in Lebanon are reminiscent of

the crimes committed by the Hitlerites during the

Second World War, by the American aggressors at

My Lai during the Viet Nam War and by the Pol Pot

clique in Kam¬puchea. As long as murderers in the

Middle East of the Hitler and Pol Pot type remain

unpunished, slaughters such as those committed in

Lebanon will not be the last crimes against

humanity. The Govern¬ment of the United States

cannot clear itself of the crimes of aggression

and genocide of the Israeli Zionists.

86. Together with all of progressive mankind,

the Vietnamese people indignantly condemn the

Israeli aggressors and those who have provided

them with billions of dollars, and weapons, and

we demand due punishment for those aggressors.

Once again, we reaffirm the resolute support of

the people and the Government of the Socialist

Republic of Viet Nam for the just struggle of the

PLO, the Syrian Arab Republic, Lebanon and other

Arab countries against the Israeli aggressors and

their protectors. Israel must withdraw all its

troops from all the Arab terri¬tories it has

illegally occupied. A just solution for the

situation in the Middle East cannot be achieved

unless and until the legitimate rights of the

Palestinian people, whose sole authentic

representative is the PLO, are guaranteed,

including the right to found their own

independent and sovereign State. Any separate

solution is aimed only at dividing the Arab

coun¬tries and encouraging the aggressors, and is

certainly doomed to failure.

87. The present situation in southern Africa

is causing us no less concern. Unless checked in

time, the crimes being committed in the Middle

East may be repeated in southern Africa, where

the Pretoria racists are pursuing a ferocious

policy of apartheid, violently opposing the

struggle of the peoples of Namibia and South

Africa for national liberation, and launching

piratical attacks against Angola, Mozambique and

the other front-line States. The Vietnamese

people wishes to express its profound sympathy

and firm support for the just cause of the

peoples of Namibia and South Africa, under the

leadership of SWAPO and the African National

Congress JVC], respectively, as well as that of

the front-line States. We fully support all

measures taken by Angola to deliver a well-

deserved riposte to the aggressors.

88. We totally support the struggle of the

people of Seychelles and of Madagascar against

imperialist subversion and intervention. We

demand that the United States return Diego Garcia

to Mauritius.

89. The Vietnamese people resolutely stand by

the peoples of Cuba, Nicaragua and Grenada in

their current struggle against the threat of

aggression and in defense of the fruits of

revolution. We fully sup¬port the peoples of El

Salvador, Chile and other Latin American peoples

in their fight against their dictatorial regimes.

Our special sympathy goes to the Puerto Rican

people in their struggle for independence from

colonial domination. In their struggle to regain

sover-eignty over the Malvinas Islands, the

people of Argen¬tina can rely on the solidarity

of the Vietnamese people.

90. The Government and people of Viet Nam

vehemently condemn the policies of the

imperialist countries which use political

pressure and carry out hostile acts to interfere

in the internal affairs of the Polish People's

Republic, with a view to wiping out the socialist

achievements of the Polish people.

91. We resolutely support the Government of

the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and the

fraternal Afghan people in their struggle against

the imperialists' and international

reactionaries' undeclared war, in defense of

their independence and sovereignty, and to

safeguard the fruits of the April revolution. We

unreservedly support the just struggle of the

Korean people for the reunification of their

fatherland. The persistent struggle waged by the

people of Western Sahara for their national

independence as well as that waged by the people

of Cyprus for their territorial integrity enjoys

the constant and firm support of the Vietnamese

people.

92. Having suffered from the yoke of

colonialism and having had to wage a protracted

struggle against the aggressors, the Vietnamese

people fully and consistently support the

struggle of the peoples in Asia, Africa and Latin

America for the elimination of the last vestiges

of colonialism, for the defense of their national

independence and for the building of a new, just

and equitable international economic order.

93. We are of the view that at this juncture,

when the burdens of the economic crisis and of

the arms race are weighing so heavily on the

developing coun¬tries and when the United States

is resorting to its policy of embargo and

economic sanctions to impose its will on other

peoples, the struggle of the peoples of Asia,

Africa and Latin America to build a new

international economic order is of necessity

linked with the common struggle of the peoples of

the world for peace and disarmament and against

the imperialist policy of aggression and

intervention. The experiences of the past years

have taught us that only by waging a struggle on

the economic, political and other fronts can the

peoples of the developing countries become

masters of their own political destiny and

natural resources and force concessions from

imperialism.

94. The causes of world tension in the past

three years are precisely those that threaten

peace and stability in the South-East Asian

region.

95. After failing in their attempts at

collusion with United States imperialism in

holding back the com¬plete victory of the

Vietnamese, Lao and Kampuchean peoples in their

wars of resistance for national salva¬tion, the

reactionary elements in the Beijing ruling

circles have considered the emergence of a

unified Viet Nam as the biggest obstacle to their

strategy of expansionism in South-East Asia.

Since 1975, China has used the Pol Pot clique as

its essential instrument to weaken Viet Nam and

to carry out its policy of expansionism. Since

the overthrow of the Pol Pot clique and China's

defeat in February 1979 in its war of aggression

against Viet Nam, the new leaders of the modern

for Middle Empirefor have waged a war of

destruction in all fields against Viet Nam and

the other Indo-Chinese countries. At the same

time, they have kept oh using the remnants of the

Pol Pot troops and have fabricated the so-called

Kampuchean prob¬lem in a bid to reinforce their

collusion with the United States and other

reactionary forces against the three Indo-Chinese

peoples and to incite confron¬tation between the

Indo-Chinese countries and those which are

members of ASEAN, with a view to under¬mining

peace and stability in South-East Asia so that

China may fish in the troubled waters.

96. In order to conceal its expansionist and

hegemonist schemes, China has fabricated the

so-called Vietnamese threat to the ASEAN

countries, with a view to inciting the latter to

oppose Viet Nam and sowing disorder in South-East

Asia.

97. It is necessary to point out that this is

not the first time that the aggressors have used

such a pretext to justify their acts of

aggression against Viet Nam. As is widely known,

in 1964 the United States con¬cocted the for

Tonkin Gulf incident for as a pretext for

unleashing its air and naval war of destruction

against the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam. What

the Bering expansionists are now doing is just a

repetition of the shameful acts committed in the

past by the colonialists and imperialists against

Viet Nam.

98. At present, China requires the settlement

of the so-called Kampuchean problem as a

pre-condition for the normalization of relations

between Viet Nam and China and claims that it is

the root cause of the Sino- Viet Nam conflict.

Yet it is only too evident that since early 1978

China has used the question of the Hoa

people—Vietnamese of Chinese descent—to launch a

campaign of subversion against Viet Nam, as it

did against Indonesia in 1965 and to invade India

in 1962. They will certainly resort to similar

pretexts when they find it necessary to provoke

conflicts with other coun¬tries in South-East

Asia.

99. History has proved that policies based on

fabrica¬tions are always doomed to failure. At

present more and more people have become aware of

the fact that the so-called Kampuchean problem is

in essence China's opposition to Viet Nam and the

other Indo- Chinese countries, and not in the

least a conflict between the ASEAN and the

Indo-Chinese countries. The latest developments

in South-East Asia have further enlightened world

public opinion about the fact that the Beijing

leaders are the only ones who do not want peace

or stability in that region. China has time and

again rejected all our proposals aimed at easing

tension on the Viet Nam-China border and at

resuming talks between the two countries to find

a peaceful solution to the disputes. Moreover,

China has sought all ways and means to sabotage

the dialogue between the Indo-Chinese and the

ASEAN countries to settle matters relating to

peace and stability in the region.

100. Despite the hostile policy being pursued

at pres¬ent by the Chinese leaders against Viet

Nam and the other countries of Indo-China, the

Vietnamese people never look upon the Chinese

people as their enemies. Bearing in mind the

age-old friendship between the two peoples, we

believe that the present abnormality in the

relations between Viet Nam and China is only a

temporary phenomenon. It has been our consistent

policy, and still is, to persevere in peaceful

negotia¬tions to settle all differences between

the two coun¬tries. We stand ready to resume the

Viet Nam-China talks at any level, at any place

and at the earliest pos¬sible time, with the aim

of normalizing relations between the two

countries.

101. With the desire to promote reconciliation

among the countries in the South-East Asian

region, the

Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Lao People's

Democratic Republic, on behalf of the

Indo-Chinese countries, sent a letter dated 15

September 1982 to the ASEAN countries further

clarifying the proposals made by the Conference

of Foreign Ministers of the Lao People's

Republic, Kampuchea and Viet Nam, held in July

1982 in Ho Chi Minh City, on settling questions

relating to peace and stability in South-East

Asia. We regard these proposals as matters to be

negotiated between the two groups of countries.

We are ready to listen to other views and to

respond positively to the legitimate concerns of

the ASEAN countries. We hold that the two sides

should respect each other's legitimate interests,

that they should respect the principles of

equality, mutual respect, non-imposition of one

side's views upon the other and non-interference

from out¬side. Only in those conditions can all

issues con¬cerning South-East Asia be settled

properly and peace and stability in the region be

guaranteed.

102. The situation in Kampuchea is developing

favorably. Under the leadership of the Government

of the People's Republic of Kampuchea, the

Kam¬puchean people have over the past three years

overcome their most serious difficulties and

hardships and thus have continued the miraculous

rebirth of their nation after the nightmare

caused by the Pol Pot genocidal clique. World

public opinion particularly welcomes the policy

of national unity and concord of the Government

of the People's Republic of Kam¬puchea as

expounded in a recent statement by Mr. Hun Sen,

Vice-President of the Council of Ministers and

Minister for Foreign Affairs, concerning those

Kampucheans who are still in the ranks of the Pol

Pot clique or are collaborating directly or

indirectly with them. If they cease this

collaboration and respect the Constitution of the

People's Republic of Kam¬puchea, they will be

entitled to enjoy all rights of citizenship,

including the right to stand for and vote in

Kampuchea's free elections, in the presence of

foreign observers. With its foreign policy of

peace and non- alignment, the People's Republic

of Kampuchea, together with other countries in

the Indo-Chinese peninsula, is playing an

increasingly active role as a factor for peace

and stability in South-East Asia.

103. We make this appeal to the international

com¬munity: if for the time being it is unable

actively to assist the Kampuchean people in

accelerating their rebirth and to promote

dialogue and reconciliation between the

Indo-Chinese and ASEAN countries, at least

refrain from doing anything that may poison the

atmosphere, which is improving in this region.

104. As a Member of the United Nations, the

Socialist Republic of Viet Nam hopes that the

Organization will do its best to perform the

noble tasks entrusted to it by the peoples of the

world. It is regrettable; however, that

throughout the 37 years of its existence, in

spite of the goodwill and com¬mendable efforts of

many Member States, the United Nations has not

yet fulfilled the aspirations of mankind. The

great changes brought about by the peoples of the

world in that period of time in their struggle

for peace, democracy, national independence and

social progress have all taken place outside the

United Nations.

105. In the course of the struggle of the

Indo- Chinese peoples and countries in the

Moodiest war in history, the United Nations did

not recognize the right of the Indo-Chinese

people to be represented, while the imperialist

and reactionary forces hostile to those three

peoples had an important voice in this

Organization. Today, when the peoples of the

world greatly rejoice at the rebirth of the

Kampuchean people who survived the genocide, the

criminals of the Pol Pot genocidal clique and

their accomplices in the for coalition government

of Democratic Kampucheafor have not yet been

ousted from this body. However, the rebirth of

the Kampuchean people is absolutely irreversible.

All attempts to reimpose the genocidal regime on

Kampuchea will certainly fail.

106. Mankind now faces extremely severe

trials. World peace and international security

are being threat¬ened by the frantic arms race

and the policy of insti¬gating chaos in the

world. In such a situation, the peoples of the

world are urging the United Nations to discharge

its responsibility to history. We believe that in

order to strengthen the role and effectiveness of

this Organization and to turn it into a real

instrument of peace and international

co-operation it is essential that Member States

strictly respect the purposes and principles of

the Charter and refrain from turning this

Organization into an instrument for interfering

in the internal affairs of other States and

infringing the sovereignty of other peoples. The

United Nations can accomplish its historic

mission only if it supports the struggle of the

peoples for justice and responds to the ardent

aspirations of billions of people on our planet

for the maintenance of world peace, the defense

of the national independence of peoples, the develop¬ment

of international co-operation and the building of

a prosperous and happy life for all. The

Socialist Republic of Viet Nam will spare no

effort to make its contribution to that noble

cause.