China


1. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in the Republic of China

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 793.5-MSP/1-1261. Confidential; Presidential Handling. Drafted by Deputy Director of the Office of Chinese Affairs LaRue R. Lutkins; cleared by Assistant Staff Secretary to the President Colonel John S.D. Eisenhower, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs John M. Steeves, and Under Secretary for Political Affairs Livingston T. Merchant; and approved by Raymond L. Perkins of the Executive Secretariat.


3. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 793.00/2-361. Secret. Drafted by Martin and approved in S on February 8. The time of the meeting is from the Secretary’s Appointment Book. (Johnson Library)


4. Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Parsons) to Secretary of State Rusk

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 611.93/2-1961. Secret. Drafted by Officer in Charge of Chinese Political Affairs John H. Holdridge.


5. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in the Republic of China

Source: Department of State, Central Files 793.551/2-2261. Top Secret; Niact; Eyes Only. Drafted by Rusk and approved by Parsons. According to a memorandum of February 21 from Director of the Department of State Executive Secretariat Walter J. Stoessel, Jr., to Ralph A. Dungan of the White House staff, this telegram was sent as a result of a discussion that morning between Rusk and Kennedy. At Rusk’s suggestion, Stoessel attached a February 20 memorandum from Rusk to Kennedy, enclosing a paper entitled “United States Efforts To Effect Cessation of Government of Republic of China’s Support of Chinese Irregulars in Burma-Laos Border Area.” (Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, China)


6. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: Department of State, Presidential Memoranda of Conversation: Lot 66 D 149. Secret; Limit Distribution. Drafted by Parsons and approved by S and by the White House on March 27. The meeting was held at the White House. The source text records only the discussion of China. A memorandum of the entire conversation is filed with a covering memorandum of March 2 from Stoessel to Dungan. (Ibid., Central Files, 033.4311/3-261)


7. Telegram From the Embassy in the Republic of China to the Department of State

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 793.551/2-2561. Top Secret; Priority; Eyes Only.


8. Memorandum From Robert W. Komer of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy)

Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, China. Secret. Also sent to Deputy Special Assistant to the President Walt W. Rostow.


9. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 793.00/3-361. Secret. Drafted by Parsons and approved in the White House on March 27. The meeting was held at the White House. A memorandum of conversation between Prime Minister Holyoake and Secretary Rusk is ibid.


10. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Poland

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 611.93/3-461. Confidential; Limit Distribution. Drafted by Holdridge, except paragraph 6, which was drafted by Robert G. Sturgill of the Disarmament Administration; cleared by Parsons and cleared in draft in the Bureau of Security and Consular Affairs, the Bureau of Public Affairs, the Legal Adviser’s Office, the Disarmament Administration, and the Department of Defense; approved for transmission and signed by Rusk. A memorandum of March 2 from Parsons to Rusk enclosing the draft telegram for his approval states that it was drafted in accordance with Rusk’s oral comments to Parsons on his February 19 memorandum (Document 4).


11. Telegram From the Embassy in Poland to the Department of State

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 611.93/3-761. Confidential; Niact; Limit Distribution. Repeated to London, Moscow, and Hong Kong.


12. Draft Memorandum from the Counselor of the Department of State (McGhee) to Secretary of State Rusk

Source: Department of State, S/P Files: Lot 67 D 548, China, 1959-1961. Secret. It is not clear whether the memorandum was sent to Rusk. The source text is an unsigned copy. A handwritten note dated March 10 reads: “Discussed with IO/FE/L. IO and FE to prepare papers.”


13. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: Department of State, Secretary’s Memoranda of Conversation: Lot 65 D 330. Secret; Limit Distribution. Drafted by Swihart and approved in U on March 31. The time of the meeting is from the Secretary’s Appointment Book. (Johnson Library) A U.S.-British agreed minute of this conversation is in Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 65 D 366, CF 1832.


14. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 303/3-1761. Secret. Drafted by Martin and approved in S on April 6. The time of the meeting is from the Secretary’s Appointment Book. (Johnson Library)


15. Telegram From the Embassy in the Republic of China to the Department of State

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 611.93/3-2061. Secret; Priority; Limit Distribution.


16. Memorandum From the Deputy Assistant for Special Operations to the Secretary of Defense (Lansdale) to Secretary of Defense McNamara

Source: Washington National Records Center, RG 330, OSD Files: FRC 65 A 3464, 091 China. Secret. Also sent to Deputy Secretary of Defense Roswell L. Gilpatric, and copies were sent to Lemnitzer and Nitze.


17. Special National Intelligence Estimate

Source: Department of State, INR/EAP Files: Lot 90 D 110. Secret. According to a note on the cover sheet, the Central Intelligence Agency and the intelligence organizations of the Departments of State, the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Joint Staff, and the National Security Agency participated in the preparation of this estimate. All members of the USIB concurred in this estimate except the representatives of the AEC and the FBI, who abstained on the grounds that the subject was outside their jurisdiction.


18. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 65 D 366, CF 1833. Secret. Drafted by Swihart. A notation on the source text indicates it was uncleared. The meeting was held at the White House. According to Kennedy’s Appointment Book, those present for this portion of the discussion, which took place between 4:30 and 6:10 p.m. were Kennedy, Rusk, Stevenson, Bruce, Cleveland, Steeves, Kohler, and Bohlen, and on the British side, Macmillan, Home, Caccia, Permanent Under Secretary of Foreign Affairs Sir Frederick Hoyer Millar, Representative to the United Nations Sir Patrick Dean, Cabinet Secretary Sir Norman Brook, and Macmillan’s private secretary Philip de Zulueta. (Kennedy Library, President’s Appointment Books) Macmillan visited Washington April 4-8; see vol. XIII, pp. 1035-1039.


19. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in the Republic of China

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 303/4-561. Secret; Limited Distribution. Drafted by Martin, cleared by Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs Harlan Cleveland, and approved by Steeves.


20. Memorandum From the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Steeves) to Secretary of State Rusk

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 303/4-1561. Secret. Drafted by Lutkins, cleared in draft by Sullivan, and initialed by Rusk, indicating that he had seen it.


21. Letter From President Kennedy to President Chiang

Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 204, Kennedy/Johnson Correspondence with Chinese Officials. Confidential. Limit Distribution. The letter was pouched to Taipei on April 24. It was drafted in the Office of Chinese Affairs, except the last sentence which was added in the White House, and was sent to the White House with a covering memorandum of April 14 from Rusk stating that it had been drafted to take advantage of the occasion to reassure Chiang of U.S. support. (Ibid., Central Files, 303/4-1461)


22. Telegram From the Embassy in Poland to the Department of State

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 611.93/4-1861. Confidential; Niact; Limit Distribution. Repeated to Taipei, Hong Kong, and Moscow.


23. Memorandum From Robert W. Komer of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy)

Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Meetings and Memoranda Series, Staff Memoranda, Robert W. Komer. Secret. Also sent to Rostow.


25. Memorandum From the Deputy Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (Johnson) to Acting Secretary of State Bowles

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 611.93/5-1061. Top Secret.


26. Telegram From the Embassy in the Republic of China to the Consulate General in Hong Kong

Source: Johnson Library, VP Security File, VP Johnson’s Trip—Far East, May 1961. Secret; Priority; Limit Distribution. Repeated to the Department as telegram 717 from Taipei. (Department of State, Central Files, 033.1100 JO/5-1561) Also repeated to Bangkok.


27. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, China. Secret. Drafted by Cleveland. A note on the source text indicates it was not cleared by the President or the Secretary. The time of the meeting is from Kennedy’s Appointment Book. (Kennedy Library) The meeting was held at the White House.


28. Memorandum From Secretary of State Rusk to President Kennedy

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 303/5-2661. Secret. No drafter is indicated on the source text but an attached covering memorandum of May 25 from Cleveland to Rusk indicates that it was drafted in the Bureau of International Organizational Affairs. A handwritten note on the source text states that the original was returned to the Secretary and sent at his request to Deputy Under Secretary Johnson on May 29.


30. Memorandum From the Counselor of the Department of State (McGhee) to Secretary of State Rusk

Source: Department of State, S/P Files: Lot 67 D 548, China. Top Secret. Concurred in by McConaughy. Filed with a June 29 covering memorandum from Rusk’s Special Assist-ant Emory C. Swank noting that Rusk had approved the first of the recommendations but had taken no action on recommendations 2, 3, and 4. A handwritten note on Swank’s memorandum reads in part: “I spoke to McConaughy, Alex Johnson & Swank. All agreed that the Secretary probably withheld action on 2, 3, & 4 because of current delicate situation.”