Office of the Historian

690B.9321/9–1653: Telegram

No. 98
The Ambassador in Thailand (Donovan) to the Department of State1

secret
priority
Bangkok, September 16, 1953—4 p.m.

524. Part I.

Joint Committee meeting September 16 Burma representative in prepared statement reviewed committee proceedings:

(a)
Stated mission committee.
(b)
Tentative draft agreement reached one month after convening.
(c)
Monghsat leaders arrived Bangkok with no apparent benefit to committee to date.
(d)
Made reference Chinese proposal deletion place names, evacuation plan and lack information on number evacuees.
(e)
Referred statement United States representative September 72 stating it was correct.
(f)
Only complete evacuation foreign forces can be considered complete or satisfactory. Cannot compromise this point.
(g)
Made proposal: (1) All foreign forces must be evacuated; (2) not less than 5,000 must evacuate within 21 days signing agreement (and evacuation plan); (3) considers utmost importance agreement (and plan) signed not later than 23 September 1953; (4) if Chinese fail to accept above three points Burma delegation will be forced withdraw.

Part II.

Chair proposed recess permit Burma restudy proposal because: (1) time required governments approve evacuation plan after signed in committee; (2) time to assemble control teams; (3) Thailand requires approximately two weeks complete preparations after approval of plan; (4) in present plan maximum number evacuees that can be flown out in three weeks is 3,150. (Note: CAT has stated it can handle 2,000 per week. This will require increased daily flow evacuees and larger facilities in Thailand.) Burma agreed restudy and asked acceptance 21 days as period in which 5,000 must be evacuated. Chinese Nationalist representative stated Burma proposals entirely unacceptable to him.

Comment: Appears Chinese must make counterproposal within one week or talks will be finished with negative results. Such proposal should be both reasonable and yet far more than they have yet seen fit to give. Extremely doubtful if Burmese here can be persuaded soften demands except to extent they are technically impractical.

Donovan
  1. Repeated to Taipei and Rangoon.↩
  2. See Document 94.↩