106. Telegram From the Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Aldrich) to the Department of State1
3578. Eyes only Secretary. I saw Eden this afternoon. He asked me to tell you how thoroughly he appreciated your difficulties regarding Formosan situation and how much he sympathizes with you in having to solve these problems. He had on his desk a copy of Paris edition of Herald Tribune for Feb. 10 and he asked me to say that Walter Lippman’s article entitled “Toward a Cease-Fire”2 expressed the consensus of opinion of the Prime Ministers at the Commonwealth conference to an extraordinarily exact degree. He pointed particularly to the sentence which reads, “These considerations apply to the other offshore islands, and the sound American policy would be to follow up what is being done in the Tachens by doing the same thing in Quemoy and Matsu.” He said that this sentence expressed the hope of everyone who was at the Conference.
Eden was very much pleased when I told him that you were arranging to see Pearson on Sunday and said that he felt sure that you would find his visit helpful in enabling you to get atmosphere of conference.
Eden would like to get your thinking about what should now be done outside United Nations. He has already taken position that no conference should be held without Chinese Nationalists present, but he would like to know what sort of a conference if any you think might properly be arranged assuming Chinese Nationalists would be invited to participate. If you do not think it wise to have a conference, do you think some sort of a committee or group might be set up to consider possible solutions of present situation.