DABERNAT'S REVELATION ABOUT PEKING AND VIETNAM
Has the Mao regime used indirect diplomatic channels to inform the Johnson administration on how far it can go in escalating the war in Vietnam without touching off a powerful series of actions by the People's Republic of China? A report of such a move was sufficient to make headlines in the Western press and cause a stir in a number of capitals.
The report came from René Dabernat, foreign editor of the magazine Paris-Match and a contributor to the Paris daily Le Monde. In a copyrighted interview in the Janu-~ ary 243 U.S.News & World Report, he was asked, "Do you see Communist China getting into the war?" This was his reply:
"I won't. make predictions. I'd rather stick to facts. First, Communist China and the U.S. have given each other assurances not to extend the war in Vietnam. Last spring, a diplomat from the Red Chinese Embassy in Paris asked the Quai d'Orsay [the French Foreign Office] to let Washington know that Peking would not enter the war on three condi- ‘tions. These were that the U.S. not invade Red China, that they not invade North Vietnam, and that they not bomb the dikes of the Red River in North Vietnam. France transmitted the message. I verified this in Washington. Later, President Johnson, Rusk, Mc- Namara and Harriman gave the necessary signals to Peking in various public speeches to show that they agreed to these conditions.
"IT have to point out, however, that all this happened before the Red Guards started running wild in China.
"Then, after the Manila Conference, Communist China was informed through diplomatic channels that President Johnson wanted to bring about a process of stabilization and peace in the Pacific, if only Red China did not try to use force to extend its influence in Asia."
Dabernat's supposed revelations were at once denied by both Washington and Paris officials. Spokesmen for the State Department and Quai d'Orsay said it was news to them. In view of the well-known credibility gap in both capitals, particularly in their diplomatic departments, the denials meant little.
The question arises, however, as to why Peking would choose Paris as an intermediary in view of the fact that its own representative in Warsaw is able to.see an American diplomat whenever he wishes. The two countries have in fact maintained a tenuous contact in this way for a number of years, most of the interchanges being off the record. One explanation might be that in using a French go-between, Peking would be in better position to deny it. A proposal for a. limited deal at the expense of the Vietnamnese people and their heroic struggle would scarcely redound to the credit of the Mao regime if it became known. .
A still more likely explanation is that the State Department utilized Dabernat to float a trial balloon. Thus, instead of "revealing" a proposal made by Mao, Dabernat is relaying a question from Johnson, the gist of it being, "If the U.S. stays within these limits in Vietnam, can we count on China continuing to stay out?"
Most likely of all is that the "revelation" was masterminded in Washington as propaganda aimed at feeding dissatisfaction -in Hanoi with Peking's attitude. The clear import of Dabernat's story is that Peking deliberately stabbed the Vietnamese revolution in the back.
Still another possibility is that it was planted by Moscow as counterpropaganda to the Chinese claims that the Khrushchevists have made a deal with Johnson at the expense of both China and Vietnam.
"MYSTERIOUS DEATHS" IN AFTERMATH OF KENNEDY ASSASSINATION
By Arthur Maglin
(Second of three articles)
It would appear that Ruby's death is not the only mystery-shrouded demise that has occurred in the