Office of the Historian

Conference files, lot 60 D 627, CF 358

Minutes of Meeting Held in the Department of State1

secret
[Washington,] August 24, 1954—5–6 p.m.

Subject:

  • Meeting on Southeast Asia Pact

Participants:

  • The Secretary
  • Mr. MacArthur
  • Mr. Merchant
  • Mr. Robertson
  • Mr. Waugh
  • Mr. Bowie
  • Mr. Baldwin
  • Mr. Stelle
  • Mr. Galloway

The Secretary gave Mr. MacArthur, the U.S. Representative in the Working Group which will meet in Manila beginning September 1, the following guidance and instructions:

A. Arrangements

1)
Plenary Meetings—The sessions should be closed except for the usual photographs at the opening of the first session and, if the meeting so decided, for any signing ceremonies which might take place.
2)
Entertainment—Only informal, except for any entertainment by the host Government.
3)
Chairmanship—The Philippines should chair the meetings as host Government.
4)
Seating—On the assumption that there will be at least three seats at the conference table for each delegation, the Secretary indicated that the two Senators2 should be seated at the table. Mr. [Page 788] MacArthur should also be at the table on the Secretary’s left if facilities permit; otherwise he should sit directly behind the Secretary.
5)
Language—It is hoped that it will be necessary to have not more than two official languages (French and English).

B. Substantive Points

1)

Hong Kong—The Secretary approved the position that we would not agree to having the Treaty cover Hong Kong (for purposes of an armed attack) unless by some suitable means it also covers Formosa.

The Secretary added that he believed there were strong arguments for the inclusion of Hong Kong but that this would involve an extremely significant additional commitment on the part of the U.S. He said that he would attach a lot of weight to the Senators’ judgment on this matter. He believed that the UK would prefer that any understanding on Hong Kong be an informal one with us rather than included in the treaty.

2)
Use of the word “Communist Aggressor” in the Preamble and in Article IV-The Secretary instructed the Working Group to hold fast to this language.
3)
Organization—The Secretary instructed the Working Group to maintain the position of no permanent site and no permanent organization, along the lines of the ANZUS Treaty.
4)
Observers from Cambodia and Laos—The Secretary said we would have no objection to observers from Cambodia and Laos if this question arose.
5)
Informing Cambodia, Laos and Free Vietnam of their possible Coverage Under the Treaty—It was agreed that Mr. Robertson should on Wednesday inform the representatives of Laos, Cambodia and Free Vietnam that we anticipate that in addition to the treaty area itself, there will be provisions in the treaty for coverage of Laos, Cambodia and Free Vietnam against aggression, This would, of course, be subject to their agreement and we would like to know the reaction of their governments before the departure of the U.S. Working Group on Saturday.3
6)
Defense Representation—Mr. Merchant said that Admiral Stump would be the Military Representative on the Philippine-US Council meeting and that Admiral Davis will be present from the Defense Department. Admiral Davis will be the Senior Defense Representative for the SEAP Meeting. We have been informed that no other military advisers are desired except for Admiral Davis’ staff.
7)
Coverage of Colonial Possessions in the Area—The Secretary said that this depends upon the formula agreed upon in Article IV. If we obtain agreement to the inclusion of the words “Communist Aggressor” then we would wish to react quickly with our Allies to meet Communist aggression anywhere in the area. On the other hand, if the Article IV language does not specifically define the aggression as “Communist”, we would not wish to be in a position of becoming involved in disputes in this area, involving the individual members or their possessions.
8)
Economic Provisions in the Treaty—The Secretary said that the Working Group should stick with the language in Article III as presently drafted, since it was flexible enough to cover anything we might wish to do later. He said that he would discuss this with General Smith on Wednesday.4

The Secretary said that he wished to give further thought to the idea of using the Colombo Plan as the device for economic assistance to the area.

  1. The source text is attached to a covering note dated Aug. 25, not printed, from Jeffrey C. Kitchen, Deputy Director of the Executive Secretariat, to the Under Secretary.

    Minutes drafted on Aug. 25 by Trulock. Trulock is not listed among the participants.

    ↩
  2. The Department had announced on Aug. 20 that Senators H. Alexander Smith of New Jersey and Mike Mansfield of Montana, both members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, would be “congressional advisers” at the Manila meeting. For text of the press release, see Department of State Bulletin, Aug. 30, 1954, p. 296.↩
  3. Aug. 28.↩
  4. Aug. 25.↩