Foreign Relations of the United States, 1950, East Asia and the Pacific, Volume VI

790.5/2–2150

Memorandum of Conversation, by the Director of the Office of Philippine and Southeast Asian Affairs (Lacy)¹

confidential

[ Washington ,] February 21, 1950.

Subject: New Zealand Rejection of Philippine Invitation to Regional Association Meeting in March

Participants:	Mr. F. H. Corner, First Secretary New Zealand Embassy
	Mr. William S.B. Lacy PSA
	Mr. J. Harold Shullaw BNA

Mr. Corner of the New Zealand Embassy called at my request today to discuss the proposed Philippine sponsored Asian Conference to be held at Baguio in March.

Mr. Corner summarized his conversation with Mr. Allison on February 10 concerning the Baguio Conference² and stated that a letter had been sent to General Romulo by Sir Carl Berendsen³ on February 18. The letter, which Mr. Corner read to me, stated that New Zealand regretted that it was unable to accept the invitation extended by the Philippine Government. The reason given in the letter was that New Zealand was already participating to the limit of its ability in international organizations and undertakings and could not, therefore, attend the Baguio conference. The letter mentioned in this connection New Zealand participation in ECAFE and the recommendations concerning South and Southeast Asia produced by the recent Commonwealth Conference at Colombo. Mr. Corner added that among the New Zealand reasons not mentioned in the letter for declining the invitation was the feeling of his Government that such a meeting, or an organization along the lines contemplated, would be of no value unless it included the United States and the United Kingdom. He said that New Zealand was a small country and that perhaps it had already drawn too much attention to itself by the role which it had played in U.N. Mr. Corner added that participation in a regional organization of Asiatic states would inevitably call attention to such matters as New Zealand’s domestic Asiatic exclusion policy.

Mr. Corner was told that we were rather sorry that New Zealand had not seen its way clear to accept the Romulo invitation. He was informed that General Romulo had stated that he did not wish to hold a conference without Australia and New Zealand because the result would be a conference solely of colored nations. For our part, we had considered that attendance of Australia and New Zealand would provide useful guidance to the Conferees. While, as Mr. Allison had stated in his conversation with Mr. Corner, we had no desire to put any form of pressure on New Zealand to accept the Philippine invitation, nevertheless we were watching sympathetically the efforts of the Philippines and other interested countries to develop some means of working more closely together to achieve common purposes. Mr. Corner was told that our attitude toward the Baguio conference had become increasingly sympathetic in recent weeks.

Mr. Corner said that his Embassy had reported receipt of the invitation to the New Zealand Government without any suggestion that it should be accepted. He said that had he appreciated our position more fully, the Embassy might have made some positive recommendations. Mr. Corner said that he would inform his Government of this conversation.

1. Drafted by J. Harold Shullaw of the Office of British Commonwealth and Northern European Affairs.
2. The memorandum by John M. Allison, Director of the Office of Northeast Asian Affairs, of his conversation with Mr. Corner on February 10, is not printed (790.5/2–1050).
3. Ambassador of New Zealand in the United States.