Editorial Note

At the beginning of a memorandum to the President dated March 6, Dulles wrote:

“In the talks on March 5 with Mr. Eden, the Secretary of State outlined the general thinking of the United States with respect to the over-all strategic situation in Asia. He stressed the unity of the whole front extending from Korea to Indo-China and pointed out the necessity of creating a threat of pressures in the center (mainland China) to the end that it would make it less likely that the Chinese Communists would send increased forces to help the Communist rebels in Indo-China or to send additional forces into Korea. Mr. Dulles stated, in response to a question from Mr. Eden, that the United States Government had not as yet made any decisions with respect to specific courses of action to be taken in the Far East but that it was studying the problem from all angles.” (790.00/3–653)

For the full text of this memorandum, see volume XV, Part 1, page 805.