Manila Summit Conference

{{Infobox summit

| summit_name = Manila Summit Conference

| other_titles = Seven Nations Summit Conference

| image = File:CongressBuilding SEATO.jpg

| caption = The leaders of the participating countries in front of the Congress Building in Manila on 24 October 1966

| country = Philippines

| venues = Congress Building

| cities = Manila

| date = 24–25 October 1966

| participants = Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, South Korea, South Vietnam, Thailand, and the United States

}}

The Manila Summit Conference was a seven nation conference to discuss the Vietnam War. It was held in Manila 24–25 October 1966.

Participants

The summit conference was hosted by president Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines. The other attendees were prime ministers Harold Holt of Australia, Keith Holyoake of New Zealand, and Thanom Kittikachorn of Thailand as well as presidents Park Chung Hee of South Korea and Lyndon B. Johnson of the United States. South Vietnam was represented by Chairman of the National Leadership Committee Nguyễn Văn Thiệu and prime minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ.{{cite web|url= https://vietnamwar.govt.nz/photo/manila-summit-conference-1966|title= Manila Summit Conference, 1966|date= 12 September 2012|publisher= New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage|location= Wellington, New Zealand|website= vietnamwar.govt.nz|archiveurl= https://archive.ph/2025.06.20-013608/https://vietnamwar.govt.nz/photo/manila-summit-conference-1966|archivedate= 20 June 2025|url-status= live|df= dmy-all|quote= New Zealand Prime Minister Keith Holyoake met with other Asian and Pacific leaders at the Manila Conference in the Philippines to discuss the escalating conflict in Vietnam.}}{{cite news|last1= Pardico|first1= Juanito M.|last2= Headland Jr.|first2= Andrew|url= https://www.stripes.com/news/1966-10-24/manila-rolls-out-red-carpet-for-six-world-leaders-1890756.html1|title= Manila rolls out red carpet for six world leaders|date= 24 October 1966|newspaper= Stars and Stripes|location= Washington, D.C.|archiveurl= https://archive.ph/2025.06.21-005819/https://www.stripes.com/news/1966-10-24/manila-rolls-out-red-carpet-for-six-world-leaders-1890756.html1|archivedate= 21 June 2025|url-status= live|df= dmy-all|quote= The city was set for an enthusiastic welcome Sunday for President Johnson and five other chiefs of state arriving for a 7-nation summit conference.}}

Events

The summit opened on 24 October. The two South Vietnamese leaders and General William Westmoreland, the Commander of Military Assistance Command, Vietnam provided reviews of the political and military situation in South Vietnam. On the following day, a communique was discussed and approved.{{cite web|url= https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v04/d281|title= Office of the Historian: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968, Volume IV, Vietnam, 1966 Document 281|date= n.d.|publisher= United States Department of State|location= Washington, D.C.|website= history.state.gov|archiveurl= https://archive.ph/2025.06.20-014105/https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v04/d281|archivedate= 20 June 2025|url-status= live|df= dmy-all}} Three conference documents were publicly announced: the Declaration of Goals of Freedom, the Joint Communique, and the Declaration of Peace and Progress in Asia and the Pacific.{{cite web|url=

https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/manila-summit-conference-documents|title= Manila Summit Conference Documents|date= 25 October 1966|publisher= The American Presidency Project|location= Santa Barbara County, California|website= presidency.ucsb.edu|archiveurl= https://archive.ph/2025.06.20-014459/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/manila-summit-conference-documents|archivedate= 20 June 2025|url-status= live|df= dmy-all}} The seven nations endorsed a six-point peace proposal and offered to withdraw the allied forces from South Vietnam completely within six months after "the other side withdraws its forces to the North, ceases infiltration, and the level of violence thus subsides."{{cite news |title= LBJ, Allies Offer Troop Pullout Within 6 Months After a Peace|newspaper= Bridgeport Post |location= Bridgeport, Connecticut|date= 25 October 1966|page=1}}{{cite book |last=Nguyen |first=Phu Duc |title=The Viet Nam Peace Negotiations: Saigon's Side of the Story |publisher=Dalley Book Service|year=2005 |location= Christiansburg, Virginia|page=35|ISBN= 978-0923135829}} North Vietnam rejected the conditions and the war continued.{{cite news |title=No Munich for Vietnam Reds |newspaper=Kansas City Times|location= Kansas City, Missouri|date= 25 October 1966 |page=1}}{{cite book|first= Wallace J.|last= Thies |title= When Governments Collide: Coercion and Diplomacy in the Vietnam Conflict, 1964-1968|publisher= University of California Press|year= 1980|location= Berkeley, California|page= 339|ISBN= 978-0520046467}}

After the conclusion of the Manila Conference, President Johnson visited South Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and South Korea, before returning to Washington on 2 November.{{cite web|url= https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/travels/president/johnson-lyndon-b|title= Office of the Historian: Travels of the President Lyndon B. Johnson|date= n.d.|publisher= United States Department of State|location= Washington, D.C.|website= history.state.gov|archiveurl= https://archive.ph/2025.06.20-015122/https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/travels/president/johnson-lyndon-b |archivedate= 20 June 2025|url-status= live|df= dmy-all}}

Prime minister Holt reported on the results of the conference to the Parliament of Australia on 27 October 1966.{{cite web|url= https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/original/00001426.pdf|title= Speech by The Rt. Hon. Harold Holt, M.P., on Manila Summit Conference Ministerial Statement|date= 27 October 1966|publisher= Parliament of Australia|location= Canberra, Australia|website= pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au|archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20250620015733if_/https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/original/00001426.pdf|archivedate= 20 June 2025|url-status= live|df= dmy-all|quote= Mr. Speaker, I report to the House upon the Manila Summit Conference from which I have just returned.}}

References

External links

[https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/121631/ "Philippines: President Johnson arrives for seven-nation Vietnam summit conference: Demonstrators outside his hotel (1966)"] newsreel dated 25 October 1966 at Pathé News
[https://youtube.com/watch?v=ANRPQZNqVqM&feature=shared "Seven Nations Summit Conference, Manila 1966"] at YouTube
[https://youtube.com/watch?v=6-WAFz5at8w&feature=shared "LBJ at 1966 Manila Summit Conference on Vietnam War archival footage"] at YouTube

Category:1966 conferences

Category:1966 in international relations

Category:1966 in politics

Category:1966 in the Philippines

Category:20th-century diplomatic conferences

Category:Australia–Philippines relations

Category:Diplomatic conferences in the Philippines

Category:Diplomatic visits by heads of government

Category:Diplomatic visits by heads of state

Category:Events in Manila

Category:New Zealand–Philippines relations

Category:Philippines–South Korea relations