The Delegates of Australia, France, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Republic of the Philippines, the Kingdom of Thailand, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America;

DESIRING to establish a firm basis for common action to maintain peace and security in Southeast Asia and the Southwest Pacific;

CONVINCED that common action to this end, in order to be worthy and effective, must be inspired by the highest principles of justice and liberty;

Do HEREBY PROCLAIM:

First, in accordance with the provisions of the United Nations Charter, they uphold the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples and they will earnestly strive by every peaceful means to promote self-government and to secure the independence of all countries whose peoples desire it and are able to undertake its responsibilities;

Second, they are each prepared to continue taking effective practical measures to ensure conditions favorable to the orderly achievement of the foregoing purposes in accordance with their constitutional processes;

Third, they will continue to cooperate in the economic, social and cultural fields in order to promote higher living standards, economic progress and social well-being in this region;

Fourth, as declared in the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty, they are determined to prevent or counter by appropriate means any attempt in the treaty area to subvert their freedom or to destroy their sovereignty or territorial integrity.

PROCLAIMED at Manila, this eighth day of September, 1954.

(1) S. Exec. K, 83d Cong., 2d sess. No Senate action required. Back