Xuan Thuy

Xuan Thuy was Foreign Minister of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam between 1963 and 1965; official head of the North Vietnamese delegation to the Paris Peace Talks but really subordinate to Le Duc Tho. His role was as a professional, if abrasive, diplomatic technician rather than as a top policymaker.

In the early, public and inconclusive talks, Xuan Thuy was the official DRV representative, with Averell Harriman as his counterpart.

Henry Kissinger describes being greeted by Xuan Thuy at the first session of the secret Paris talks, at the apartment of Jean Sainteny between the United States and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on August 4, 1969. Kissinger said that Le Duc Tho used the title of "special adviser" to Xuan Thuy, although as a member of the governing Politburo, he outranked him by several levels.