Chinese Foreign Ministry Report, Burmese Attitudes toward Problems in Vietnam

Regarding the United States’ continuous air raids of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, Burma fears that the fires of war will widen, endangering Burma itself. It is deeply displeased with the U.S. course of action, however it does not dare to openly condemn America. Instead, it only shares its attitude with neighboring countries. On February 10 [1965] the Burmese-language Workers Daily newspaper published a letter from a reader who criticized America for its air raids in North Vietnam, extrapolating that they must want to ignite all of Southeast Asia in war flames. What was needed was for the Burmese people to prepare themselves for changes and to hem in their national strength at the borders. On February 21 the English-language Workers Daily published a press release by a Burmese leftist leader from the Asian-African People's Solidarity Organization condemning the U.S. invasion and maintaining that there had been nothing like this in the past. On February 20, [Prime Minister] Ne Win, after consultations with India, published a coordinated announcement for the Burma and India, voicing their concern for the situation in Southeast Asia. They advocated for a Geneva Convention meeting to resolve issues related to the peace in Southeast Asia and [within] India.

Ne Win demonstrated to Wu La [sic], editor of the People’s Daily, that for India to cede from the United Nations and move toward China would mean the loss of its position as a representative neutral party in Asia. Ne Win’s principal objective for his visit to Bali was to reinforce neutrality in Asia.

[Chinese] Embassy, 1965.2.27.