Foreign Relations of the United States, 1951, The United Nations; The Western Hemisphere, Volume II

310.265/1–1551

Memorandum of Conversation, by the Secretary of State¹

secret

[Washington,] January 15, 1951.

Subject: Admission of Italy into the United Nations

Participants:	Ambassador Tarchiani, Italian Embassy
	The Secretary of State
	Mr. Homer M. Byington, Jr., WE

Ambassador Tarchiani said that one impression he had received very strongly during his visit to Italy was the concern of public opinion that Italy was tending to be pushed on the sidelines when main issues were discussed. He felt that the Italian people were very much aware of Italy’s failure to obtain admission into the United Nations and that there was some impression that Italy’s allies had not supported her strongly enough in that connection. He said that if Communist China were to be admitted into the UN and Italy not, the resultant reaction on Italian public opinion would be most unfavorable.² I said that as he knew, we were strongly in favor of Italian admission into the UN.

1. Drafted by the Director of the Office of Western European Affairs (Byington). Initialed for the Secretary of State by Francis E. Meloy, Jr., of the Executive Secretariat.
2. For documentation regarding the question of Chinese representation, see pp. 209 ff.