137. Memorandum From the Acting Secretary of State to the Secretary of State1
Mr. McConaughy advised me last evening that Ambassador Heeney had called to inform the Department that Mr. Pearson would make a statement in the Canadian House of Commons on the subject of a “cease-fire” along the lines of the attached memorandum.2
I asked Mr. McConaughy to pass the following to the Ambassador: That as you and your party would not return until Sunday,3 and as there had been many developments in your absence with which only you were familiar, we would prefer that Mr. Pearson not make the proposed statement until you had returned and he had an opportunity to check it personally with you.
This morning the Ambassador called me to say that he had talked with Mr. Pearson, who agreed not to make the statement until next week. I promised to call it to your attention soon after your return and to let the Ambassador know as soon thereafter as possible of your reaction.
I also told the Ambassador that our recent intelligence indicated that the Communist propaganda on Formosa and the offshore islands had declined within the last few weeks to the lowest point since last summer. I ventured the opinion that perhaps the Communists were, in effect, adopting a tacit cease-fire rather than a formal one. If such should prove to be the case, it might be better for all concerned if the issue were allowed to lay dormant for a while and we do our utmost to keep from stirring the issue up. The Ambassador agreed [Page 320] that this might well be the case, and said they would watch developments closely.