Nation: War and Talk: a Chronology

FROM the outset of the Viet Nam peace talks, the formal meetings at Paris’ Hotel Majestic have been counterpointed by private sessions between the U.S. and North Vietnamese delegates. These in turn have apparently influenced Hanoi’s conduct of the war. In nearly six months since the talks started, there have been three distinct phases before the present hopeful one:

I: OPENING GAMBITS

May 10: Cyrus Vance and Colonel Ha Van Lau hold “procedural meeting” to work out details for the talks. In Saigon, Viet Cong infiltration of previous ten days tapers off, random sniper and rocket fire ebbs.

May 13: Averell Harriman and Xuan Thuy hold first plenary session.

May 15: At second plenary session, U.S. is reported to have said that it “is prepared to accept a role for the Communists in political life of South Viet Nam.” Hanoi shows interest. U.S. leaves coalition possibility open, but Hanoi insists that the bombing be ended before any progress can be made.

May 17: Possibly to signal a willingness to cool the conflict, U.S. withdraws sizable reconnaissance force from A Shau Valley.

May 18: In Saigon. Premier Nguyen Van Loc resigns, and Tran Van Huong, a former Premier, is named to replace him.

May 22: Harriman’s plea for secret sessions is spurned by Hanoi.

May 28: President Johnson confers with Vance, then says he sees no evidence that Hanoi is ready for “serious, quiet discussions.”

II: READING THE TEA LEAVES

May 31: First “tea break” session held outside formal conference room, affording negotiators opportunity to talk without inhibitions imposed by agenda. Hanoi announces that Politburo Member Le Due Tho is flying to Paris to serve as “adviser”—obviously an influential one.

June 3: Le Due Tho arrives and tea breaks continue.

June 24: Tran Van Huong tells South Vietnamese National Assembly that, before 1960, “patriotic fighters took to the jungle to fight the Ngo Dinh Diem dictatorship.” This is an indication that he feels that not all guerrillas are Communists, could pave the way for eventual amnesty.

July 4: Russia signs new aid agreements with Hanoi.

July 11: Secretary of Defense Clark Clifford reports North Vietnamese have “up to eight divisions, possibly more,” concentrated near the DMZ. Central Committee presidium of the National Liberation Front, political arm of the Viet Cong, meets somewhere in South Viet Nam.

July 12: Harriman says “serious matters” are being discussed during tea breaks.

July 16: U.S. intelligence reports Communist pullback from Saigon area.

July 17: Names of released U.S. airmen announced over tea. Hanoi drops insistence on a South Vietnamese settlement “in accordance with the program” of the N.L.F.

July 20: Johnson and Thieu in Hawaii issue joint communique reiterating strong stand.

July 30: South Vietnamese Alliance of National Democratic and Peace Forces states willingness to negotiate with U.S. for withdrawal of U.S. troops. Dean Rusk says U.S. is waiting for word from Hanoi before calling off bombing.

July 31: North Vietnamese denounce Rusk, return to insistence upon N.L.F. demand.

Aug. 2: Three captured U.S. airmen released by Hanoi arrive in Laos.

Aug. 7: U.S. announces impending release of 14 North Viet Nam sailors.

Ill: SLUGGING IT OUT

Aug. 13: Le Due Tho, after visits to Peking, Moscow and Hanoi, shows up again at Paris meetings.

Aug. 14: Hanoi takes hard line on all points. U.S. says “totality of indicators” points to new warfare.

Aug. 15: U.S. troop strength in South Viet Nam reaches 543,000.

Aug. 18: Nineteen separate Red attacks across South Viet Nam end lull in fighting.

Aug. 19: Johnson pledges no further move without evidence of Red willingness to de-escalate.

Aug. 28: Hanoi again demands U.S. negotiate with N.L.F.

Sept. 10: Rusk says there are “large and difficult questions” to be resolved in Paris. Johnson says stopping the bombing would endanger U.S. lives near DMZ.

Sept. 14: Thieu announces that Major General Duong Van Minh (“Big Minh”), leader of anti-Diem coup in 1963, will return from exile to become a presidential adviser. Minh is one of few South Vietnamese deemed acceptable to Hanoi and N.L.F.

Sept. 25: Communists attack U.S. Special Forces camps at Phuoc Tan and Thien Ngon.

Sept. 30: Battleship U.S.S. New Jersey goes into action near DMZ.

Oct. 2: Le Due Tho absent from the 24th plenary session; Vance flies to Washington immediately after meeting. It is later learned that Le returned to Hanoi via a Moscow meeting with Soviet Premier Kosygin.

Oct. 5: Big Minh returns to Saigon, and the present period begins.