Office of the Historian

238. Memorandum From the President’s Special Consultant (Roche) to President Johnson1

Washington, February 15, 1967.

The press today carried a story from Tokyo that Ambassador Alexis Johnson had made a speech suggesting that the United States wanted the anti-Mao faction in China to win.2

I believe this is a serious mistake for three reasons:

1)
In my judgment we should want Mao to win. A victory for the anti-Mao forces would probably lead to some sort of Sino-Soviet reconciliation—a development which I do not consider to be in the American national interest.
2)
If in fact we do want the anti-Mao forces to win, a speech like Johnson’s works to Mao’s advantage.
3)
If in fact we want Mao to win and Johnson’s speech is an attempt to hurt the anti-Mao faction by giving it “imperialist support,” we are getting too clever for our own good. Machiavelli died broke.

I would suggest that the Secretary of State issue firm instructions to our missions not to dabble in the religious wars of the Communist world.3

JR
  1. Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, China, Vol. XIII. Secret. A note on the source text in Johnson’s handwriting reads: “To Walt for report soon. L.” A note in Rostow’s handwriting reads: “W.J. Check and report, please. W.R.“↩
  2. For text of Johnson’s speech before the Asian Affairs Research Council in Tokyo on February 13, see the Department of State Bulletin, March 13, 1967, pp. 420–424.↩
  3. A February 17 memorandum from William Jorden to Rostow states that Johnson’s speech reviewed U.S. relations with China since 1784 and that his references to current policy were totally consistent with U.S. policy as expressed by the President and Secretary. Jorden commented that given the current situation in China, almost anything said in favor of pragmatism or reason would be interpreted by some as taking a stand in the internal conflict. He concluded: “I don’t think we should stop talking about China and the hope for reconciliation, or the hope that reason will prevail.” (Johnson Library, National Security File, Name File, Jorden Memos)↩