Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, East Asia and the Pacific, Volume XII, Part 1

790.5/1–2954

Memorandum by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the Secretary of Defense (Wilson)¹

top secret

Washington, 4 December 1953.

Subject:

• Report of Operations of the Military Representatives of the Five Power Conference on Southeast Asia.

1. Reference is made to the Report by Staff Planners to the Military Representatives of the Five Powers on the Conference held 15 June to 1 July 1953² at Pearl Harbor, T.H. which was forwarded to you on 9 November 1953.

2. The action taken by the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff and their equivalents in the other countries involved is outlined in JCS 948473 of 18 September 1953 and JCS 950209 of 12 October 1953, copies of which were sent to you, and in CINCPAC letter, serial 000154, dated 22 October 1953,³ appropriate portions of which are included in the summarization below. The actions of these agencies are summarized as follows:

a. Australia: The report has not been considered by the Australian Government. However, the Australian Defense Committee accepted the recommendations for planning purposes.

b. France: The French Chiefs of Staff Committee has presented the recommendations to the National Defense Committee, which has indicated a generally favorable reaction.

c. New Zealand: None of the recommendations affecting the individual courses of action are of direct and immediate application to New Zealand. New Zealand does not think it appropriate to express its approval to a course of action which requires no action by New Zealand. In such cases where action is not called for by all five nations collectively, New Zealand presumes that the nation or nations concerned would take such action under the aegis of the Five Power Military machinery at that stage.

d. United Kingdom: The British Defense Coordinating Committee has authorized approval of the recommendations with certain reservations as to: strengthening the defense of Hong Kong; furnishing one (1) infantry brigade to counter an internal threat to Thailand should one arise; and entering into planning for psychological warfare.

e. United States: The Joint Chiefs of Staff have approved the report for use as a general basis for further development of United States plans related to Southeast Asia, and have indicated reservations regarding U.S. planning for the defense of Hong Kong beyond assistance in evacuation.

For the Joint Chiefs of Staff:

Arthur Radford
Chairman
Joint Chiefs of Staff

1. This memorandum is an enclosure to Vice Admiral Davis’ letter of Jan. 29, 1954 to the Secretary of State. In his letter the Admiral mentioned that the Joint Chiefs of Staff had “not yet acted upon the report of the Staff Planners on the conference held 21 September to 2 October 1953 at Pearl Harbor.” A marginal notation indicates that no copy of the latter report had been received in the Department of State as of Mar. 3, 1954 and no copy has been found in Department of State files.
2. Ante, p. 319.
3. None printed.