° PRESS STATEdENT
MALCOLM FRASER :
March 28th, 1965
The main debate in this last week concerned foreign affairs.
Mr. Paul Hasluck, Minister for External Affairs, began the debate in a masterly review of the major power conflicts in the world. He then devoted a considerable time to an analysis of the position in south-east Asia and between Indonesia and Malaysia.
The news in recent weeks has clearly led to a deep concern amongst all of us - a. concern that the problems in south-east Asia may develop into a much larger and wider war. Since this is a possibility it is important therefore to know what the issues are, to know what is happening and why.
For a very long while North Vietnam and communist China have been directing, re-enforcing and supplying the Viet Cong in South Vietnam. This is not just a civil war. There are reported to be ten thousand members of the North Vietnamese army operating with the Viet Gong in the South.
Until quite recently the United States and the- South
Vietnamese have been restrained in this matter. They have tried to contain the guerilla movement from inside South Vietnam. However, the increasing aid from North Vietnam has made it impossible to do this and therefore there have been attacks by aeroplanes on targets in that country.
The attitude of the two sides at the moment is inflexible.
The United States rightly will not negotiate while North Vietnam and commnnist China help the Viet Cong. The North Vietnamese and the Chinese say that they won't negotiate unless all American forces and all American aid to the South Vietnamese is withdrawn. This, of course, would mean that South Vietnam would inevitably fall behind the communist curtain and it would not end the war because this is not a war that can be regarded in isolation. The communist Chinese are now turning their attention to Thailand which has, for some time, been peaceful and prosperous - a happy country, but communist infiltration and activity on its northern borders is increasing. If South
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Vietnam falls the pressure will turn on Thailand then Peking would say -
"we will negotiate about Thailand when all outside support is withdrawn".
Next it would probably be Malaysia and where would it stop?
I am all for withdrawal from these areas so long as the withdrawal is realistic and so long as it is two sided. If the communist Chinese will remain at home and not subvert their neighbours then there would be no need for the Americans to be there or for our own country to have people in south-east Asia. However, to suggest that the West should withdraw and leave a vacuum which the communist Chinese would quickly fill is to advocate suicide. It would not only leave the country open to communist subversion but would destroy the confidence of independent countries around the world ih the ability of the West to prevent this kind of aggression. Three times over Berlin, Western Europe and the United States were resolute, three times the Russians knew that if they pressed their claims the West would use all the power at its command. The Russians learned the same lesson in Cuba and since these events the Russians have appeared more willing to co-exist with the West. The Chinese have not yet learned this lesson, their tactics are different. It is not the tactic of brute force so much as the tactic of subversion, to destroy the confidence of a people in their own Government by the use of terror and guerilla activities which will grow until the threatened country's army can be openly challenged. It is more like a slow disease which slowly grows but ultimately consumes the whole body.
For this reason it is more difficult to understand why a stand must be made at any one particular point of time, especially so since there have been many wars of subversion in recent years, and in all of them the terrorists have had safe havens of supply in another country. We will be cursed with this kind of war until the countries that practice subversion learn that their bases are no longer inviolate and immune to attack. South- east Asia is now moving to crisis point because the Americans have decided at long last that this lesson must be taught. If there is to be peace in this part of the world subversion must be stopped and this will probably involve risks as large as those that were run in maintaining thw freedom of Berlin or the safety of the United States over Cuba.
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The United States is prepared to run these risks because She knows full well that the right of the people to live their own lives, the right of a country to be left unmolested is one that will only be
maintained if countries concerned for peace are prepared to help each other.
In this sense freedom and peace are not divisible.
There could be two developments from this present
situation. If the North Vietnamese and communist China continue to help the Viet Cong movement in the south, if they move in more and more forces as a result of American raids, then a much larger war would seem inevitable.
If North Vietnam and mainland China make a decision to stay behind their own boundaries, to let their neighbours alone, then negotiations which could lead to removal of all foreign troops from these areas could begin.
All Australians will be waiting anxious to see what happens.
Amongst ourselves we should know that Australia has made a conscious choice to help other countries in south—east Asia who want our help and to stand by those countries who believe in the same kind of things as we do. This is the only choice that we can make, and in making it we know that it could involve a heavy cost. At the same time, however, it provides the best guarantee of our own security. I think we all now recognise that we cannot in any sense stand apart from the main stream of events that are happening in south—east Asia, and that it is in our own interests to help other
countries who wish to maintain their independence. Only by doing this can we have some assurance that we will get help if Australia herself should ever become subject to direct attack.
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Author/s:
Fraser, Malcolm Title:
Foreign affairs Date:
28 March 1965 Persistent Link:
http://hdl.handle.net/11343/40160 Terms and Conditions:
Copyright courtesy of Malcolm Fraser. Contact the University of Melbourne Archives for permission requests.
