THE PW/MIA TALKS: WHAT HAPPENED TO THACH?

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85T01058R000201840001-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 10, 2010
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: August 27, 1985
• Content Type: REPORT

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Central Intelligence Agency
Washington, D. C.20505
DIRECTORATE OF INTELLIGENCE
27 August 1985
The PW/MIA Talks: What Happened to Thach?
Summary
The weight of the evidence available to us
suggests the Vietnamese--and Foreign Minister Nguyen
Co Thach, in particular--hoped for a successful
visit by the US PW/MIA delegation. Although we
cannot rule out the possibility that Hanoi tried to
manipulate the, visit by having Thach conspicuously
absent, we believe it is more likely that the
Vietnamese proceeded in good faith, assuming that
the necessary groundwork for successful talks had
been prepared, with or without Thach's personal
This memorandum was prepared by Southeast Asia
Division, Office of East Asian Ana ysis. Research was completed
on 27 August
Comm
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.
en
s an
queries are welcome and may be
directed t
Chi
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S
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,
outheast Asia Division, OEA
Copy -ofI
EA M 85-10159C
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Hanoi has increased its emphasis on normalization of
relations with the United States over the past several months as
part of a broader strategy to break out of the isolation caused
b its Cambodia olic .
Thach
may have fe t that, having estab fished a firm foundation for the
talks, his own personal presence during the US delegation's visit
would not be vital to its success. We doubt, given the apparent
importance Hanoi has assigned to improving prospects for
normalization with Washington, that Thach would deliberately
absent himself from the talks simply to demonstrate Hanoi's
concern that it be treated as an "equal" in dealing with the
i
C---
Un
ted
Furthermore, planning for
Thach's Moscow trip was under way as of 13 August, three days
before Hanoi agreed to accept the US delegation. This sequence
would appear to rule out any late "summons" from Moscow- as the
reason for his absence from Hanoi during the PW/MIA talks. A 26
August press report indicates Thach was scheduled to spend only
one day in Moscow for a possible meeting with Foreign Minister
Schevardnadze before proceeding to the nonaligned meeting in
Luanda, Angola* that begins 2 September. It appears that Thach's
attendance at the NAM meeting, which probably was planned for
some time, is the primary reason for his absence from Hanoi
during the US delegation's visit. We have no information whether
Hanoi considered cancelling the Moscow and Luanda visits in light
of the later agreement to host the PW/MIA talks.
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Thach's stand-in, Vice Foreign Minister Vo Dong Giang, is
the most senior of, eight officials of that rank and serves as
Acting Foreign Minister during Thach's absences from Hanoi. He
is known as a forceful spokeman and has travelled widely in the
past several years. Although we have little firm information on
his political standing, we believe he is fully empowered to act
in Thach's stead. He will probably represent Vietnam at the UN
General Assembly as Thach indicated in mid-June that he would not
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SUBJECT: The PW/MIA Talks: What Happened to Thach?
Distribution:
Copy 1 - OEA/SEA/ITM
Copy 2 - James Kelly, Department of Defense
Copy 3 - Jay Taylor, INR/EA/State
Copy 4 - Richard Childress, NSC
Copy 5 - Alan Kitchens, INR/State
Copy 6 - Dottie Avery, INR/State
Copy 7 - Lyall Breckon, EAP/VLK/State
Copy 8 - Paula Causey, INR/State
Copy 9 - Joseph Winder, EAP/IMBS/State
Copy 10 - Frazier Meade, EAP/TB/State
Copy 11 - NSA
Copy 12 - DIA
Copy 13 - DIA
Copy 14 - IA
Copy 15 - DIA
Copy 16 - DIA
Copy 17 - Richard Rice, Department of Defense
Copy 18 - William Wise, Department of Defense
Copy 19 - Alice Straub, INR/State
Copy 20 - Nicholas Mauger, State/Thai Desk
Copy 21 - John Monjo DASecretary/EAP/State
Copy 22 - DIA/AT-3
Copy 23 - Commodore James Cossey, OSD/ISA/DoD
Copy 24 - DDI
Copy 25 - NIO EA
Copy 26 -
Copy 27 -
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OCR/ISG/DDI
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