We often say that former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger is an old friend of the Chinese. Because, in the 70s of the last century, he pushed for the normalization of relations between China and the United States. After leaving office, he still cared about the development of Sino-US relations, visited China more than 100 times, and was praised as the "lubricant" of Sino-US communication.
What many friends don't know is that Kissinger is also a Nobel laureate. In 1973, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize together with Le Duc Tho, head of the organization department of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
In January 1969, when the 46-year-old Kissinger was appointed assistant for affairs, the Vietnam War had been going on for 14 years. It has been eight years since the United States intervened, and it has spent a lot of human, material, and financial resources, but it has not made much progress. The morale of the US troops on the front line is also getting lower and lower, and the anti-war voice at home is getting louder and louder.
In fact, in the beginning, Kissinger was a supporter of American involvement in the Vietnam War. But later, he and many Americans realized that this was a war that could not be won, and instead became a huge burden for the United States.
Therefore, Richard Nixon, then **, brought Kissinger into his cabinet, and had an important task, which was to end the Vietnam War and allow the US troops to withdraw from Vietnam with dignity. Of course, this is not an easy task, and there are many factors involved.
Negotiations between the United States and the Viet Cong, held in Paris, France, began in May 1968, and the two sides have been fighting and talking. After Kissinger took office, he believed that it was necessary to take advantage of the "Sino-Soviet hostility" and improve relations with the Soviet Union and China at the same time, so as to weaken the military support of these two countries for the Viet Cong, so that the United States could gain more bargaining chips at the negotiating table.
Kissinger's idea was for U.S. troops to withdraw from southern Vietnam when they joined Vietnam, sign an armistice similar to the Korean War, and then have the Viet Cong and South Vietnamese authorities form a coalition**. In this way, it is in the best interests of the United States and makes the United States more dignified.
However, the Viet Cong was becoming more and more powerful on the battlefield. On the other hand, the South Vietnamese authorities were reluctant to withdraw US troops and tried to prevent the Paris negotiations from proceeding. So Kissinger found a modest house on the outskirts of Paris and held secret talks with the Vietnamese negotiator, Le Duc Tho.
In March 1972, Vietnam launched a large-scale offensive to liberate many southern provinces, and the defeat of the South Vietnamese authorities could no longer be changed. In July, the U.S. Congress passed a bill requiring the U.S. to unconditionally withdraw from Vietnam as long as the Viet Cong released all U.S. prisoners of war.
At the same time, in November of that year, the United States** will vote. Nixon, who was anxious to seek re-election, hoped to reach a cease-fire agreement with the Viet Cong as soon as possible to withdraw US troops from Vietnam in order to fulfill his previous campaign promises.
Because of these factors, in October of that year, in the course of negotiations with Le Duc Tho, Kissinger significantly softened his attitude and abandoned the terms of the armistice agreement calling for the withdrawal of the Viet Cong troops and the formation of a joint alliance with South Vietnam.
Upon learning of the news, the South Vietnamese authorities expressed strong opposition, believing that the United States had betrayed them and threatening to refuse to sign the ceasefire agreement. But by this time, the United States had completely indifferent to what the South Vietnamese authorities thought. Finally, in January 1973, the United States and the Viet Cong signed a cease-fire agreement in Paris, known as the Paris Peace Entente.
According to the agreement, over a period of 60 days, the United States would gradually withdraw its troops from Vietnam. At the same time, the Viet Cong would also release American prisoners of war. In addition, the United States also needs to clear the ports of northern Vietnam from mines and mines, and provide financial assistance to the Indochina region for "war wounds", which is equivalent to war reparations.
As a result of this peace pact, Kissinger and Le Duc Tho were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in December 1973. However, the award was fraught with controversy. First, two members of the Nobel Committee resigned as a sign of **.
Secondly, Le Duc Tho refused to accept the award on the grounds that he believed that peace had not yet fully restored to Vietnam. Kissinger did not attend the award ceremony, but only wrote a letter to the Nobel Committee, saying that he humbly accepted the award, but donated all the prize money to the children of the American ** who died and disappeared in the Vietnam War.
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