Geneva Conference of 1954

After having resolved the biggest obstacle, namely the issue of representatives for the warring factions, the International Conference on Indochina began on May 8, 1954, with the two foreign ministers of the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union taking turn to chair the meetings. ¹⁸

Right from the beginning of the conference, all parties agreed in principle that the solution for Indochina had to start with a cease-fire supervised by an international body. At the meeting of May 29, 1954, the Viet Minh delegation suggested for the first time the idea of partition: dividing Vietnam into two regrouping zones. On the same day, the Conference issued a communique calling for an immediate meeting of the representatives of the High Command of both sides to discuss details of the issues relating to the regrouping zones. The Conference, however, could not make progress on the issues of Laos and Cambodia, mainly because of the demand made by both Viet Minh and China that Khmer Issarak and Pathet Lao representatives should be allowed to participate.

In June, a series of political developments happening in both camps helped the Conference overcome the stalemate. The Laniel Government, suffering from a non-confidence vote by the French National Assembly, had to resign. One week after that, the new Government was sworn-in after Mr. Mendes-France guaranteed that his government would end the war on July 20, 1954 at the latest. From the Government of Vietnam side, on June 17, the Head of State Bao Dai accepted the resignation of the Buu Loc Government and designated Mr. Ngo Dinh Diem to form a new government. On June 16, Chou En Lai of the Chinese delegation made a concession by dropping his demand for the participation of Khmer Issarak and Pathet Lao.

All Foreign Ministers, heads of their country's delegations, left Geneva, making room for the representatives of the High Command of both sides to meet. Meanwhile, pressures were building on both sides. Premier Chou En Lai made an official visit in India, and on June 28, China and India issued a joint communique, emphasizing the friendship between the two countries based on the "five principles of peaceful co-existence." Mr Chou then met with Ho Chi Minh at the Sino-Vietnamese border from July 3 to July 5. From the British side, both Churchill and Eden flew to Washington on June 24 to confer with Eisenhower and Dulles. On June 28, the United Kingdom and the United States issued a joint communique reaffirming their support for French negotiating efforts and announced their support for the creation of a collective defense system in Southeast Asia. Both governments also sent to the French a memorandum listing the minimum conditions for a solution for Indochina that they could accept.

In July, all negotiations were speeded up, pointing to an imminent conclusion for the Conference. In early July, French military forces withdrew from Nam Dinh, and Bui Chu, Phat Diem. "Panicky citizens among Hanoi's 300,000 population flew out of this delta capital as fast as planes from Air Vietnam, the principal airline, could take them. The airline said all seats on planes to Saigon have been sold out until July 27."¹⁹

All heads of delegations returned to Geneva on July 12. Chinese Premier Chou En Lai suggested that India, Poland and Canada participate in the international commission for the supervision of the cease-fire. On July 14, under the headline "U.S. and U.K Seen Agreed on Indo Split", The Globe & Mail said "The conditions on which the two governments are in general agreement are these: 1) A partition of Vietnam somewhere between the 16th and 18th parallels..."²⁰

After tough negotiations from both sides, in which Mr. Molotov, head of the Soviet Union delegation, played an important role, the partition line, dividing the two grouping zones, was placed at the 17th parallel. On July 18, Mr. Tran Van Do, head of the nationalist Vietnamese delegation, opposed this partition. The next day, July 19, he suggested a plan for a cease-fire without a partition line. This plan was ignored by the Conference because time was running out for the Mendes-France Government, which had promised to reach an agreement on July 20. The heads of the French, British, and Russian delegations had several separate meetings before the final text of the Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities in Vietnam was signed on the 20th of July, 1954 by General Delteil, representing the French Expeditionary Forces, and Mr. Ta Quang Buu, Vice-Minister of National Defence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.²¹