Remarks Following a Meeting With President Thieu in Saigon

Mr. President:

I wish to express my appreciation to you and to Madame Thieu for the very warm welcome you have given to Mrs. Nixon and me on our visit to Saigon.

I have been here before, the first time in 1953, and this makes the eighth visit to Saigon and other parts of Vietnam.

As I evaluate the situation today, I wish first to point out that what happens in Vietnam, the kind of peace that we are able to achieve in Vietnam, will have an enormous impact on the future of peace and freedom in all of Asia. I say this based on what I have been told by the leaders of the countries I have already visited on my Asian trip.

So the stakes here, important as they are for the people of North and South Vietnam, are important also to all the people of the Asian area and, of course, the people of the world. That is why the sacrifices that your people, our people, and other allied forces have been making in Vietnam are so important--so important beyond simply the vitally important object of seeing that the people of South Vietnam have the right to choose their own future.

I also wish to point out that when I first came here in 1953, I had the opportunity not only of visiting Saigon, but also Hanoi. Since then, the country has been divided. But as I think back over those 16 years, and as I think of your statement pointing out that for 20 years you have been engaged in what is all of the difficulty of war in this now divided country, I realize how much suffering the people of South Vietnam have gone through, and also the people of North Vietnam. The time has come to stop that suffering.

Mrs. Nixon today, accompanied by Mrs. Thieu, has visited an orphanage. The children in that orphanage are there because their parents, both mother and father, were killed in this war.

These tragedies, whether they are in North or South Vietnam, have been going on long enough, and it is time to bring an end to the war, but to bring an end to the war in a way that will not encourage another war; bring an end to the war in a way which will provide the right to choose the kind of government they want for the people of South Vietnam, and in providing that right, make it more possible for the other nations in Southeast Asia to retain that same fight for themselves.

I say to you, too, Mr. President, that as I look over the period that has elapsed since the time I became President of the United States, I believe the record is clear as to which side has gone the extra mile in behalf of peace. We have stopped the bombing of North Vietnam. We have withdrawn 25,000 American troops. They have been replaced by South Vietnamese. We have made, and you have made, a peace offer which is as generous as any ever made in the history of warfare. It is a peace of reconciliation that is offered, a peace in which the people will decide, a peace that is just for both sides, a peace which is fair to both sides, a peace which offers an equal chance to both sides.

We have gone as far as we can or should go in opening the door to peace, and now it is time for the other side to respond. Otherwise, the other side must assume the responsibility for the continuing suffering among a people who have already suffered much too long both in South and North Vietnam.

And finally, Mr. President, I can say that as I leave Saigon on this very short visit, I go away with, again, the admiration for the brave men who have fought for their freedom and, in fighting for their freedom have helped the cause of freedom and peace for all of their neighbors in the Pacific area, and I go away with a deep appreciation for the hospitality that you and Madame Thieu have extended to Mrs. Nixon and me on this occasion.