Transcript of the Reception of a Workers Party of Vietnam Delegation at the Central Committee of the Romanian Communist Party

The Romanian participants at the reception were comrades: Nicolae Ceausescu, Ion Gheorghe Maurer, Gheorghe Apostol, General Ion Ionita, Andre Pacuraru and Ion Moanga, the People’s Republic of Romania ambassador in Hanoi. The delegation of the Workers Party of Vietnam was composed of comrades: Le Duc Tho, Political Bureau member and C.C. Secretary of the Workers Party of Vietnam, Tran Quang Huy, candidate C.C. member, deputy chief of the propaganda and agitation section of the C.C. of the Workers Party of Vietnam and Hoang Tu, D.R. Vietnam Ambassador in P.R. Romania.

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Cde. Le Duc Tho: We are very grateful for the fact that although you are very tired after your Party Congress, nevertheless you have made the time to receive us. That is further proof of the profound sympathy that you have nourished towards us. Personally, it is the first time I have come to Romania and I believe the memory of it will remain indelible.

Cde. N. Ceausescu: We are very grateful to the Workers Party of Vietnam for sending a delegation to our Congress. Of course, the work of the Congress was not easy, but we consider that it is well we use this occasion in order to talk, in order to exchange views.

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Cde. Le Duc Tho:  Even some of the American officials have recognized that through military means they can resolve nothing in Vietnam. This proves that the Americans are not able to win this struggle. However, they desire to engage in immediate negotiations because they are in positions of force. We consider this to be in their interest. Regarding ourselves, the Vietnamese, we have experience with negotiations.

We signed the Geneva accords with the French in 1954. We have drawn the conclusion that if we cannot obtain victory through fighting then it is difficult to obtain that victory at the negotiation table, because the result of the negotiation table is in fact the result of the fight carried out on the front. If we had not won the Battle of Den Bien Phu it would have been hard to win the treaty at Geneva. The Pathet Lao won the Battle of Antara. In this fight they took down 5,000 of the enemy soldiers. As a result of that victory, the comrades from the Pathet Lao achieved the Geneva Accords of 1962.

We oppose negotiations. We have fought against the French and we signed agreements with them. We are signing agreements when we are sure that we win and when these agreements are in favor of the interests of our people.

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