Office of the Historian

255. Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Robertson) to the Secretary of State1

Washington, May 24, 1955.

SUBJECT

  • American Fliers Detained in Communist China

According to a memorandum received this morning from USUN,2 Secretary General Hammarskjold informed Ambassador Wadsworth on May 21 that he had received a new communication from Chou En-lai concerning the imprisoned American fliers, and asked that this information be brought to your attention. The communication acknowledged receipt of Hammarskjold’s last communication to Chou (sent a few days earlier)3 in which Hammarskjold had asked if there was anything specific which Chou felt Hammarskjold could do regarding the fliers. Chou’s new communication stated that he was giving very close attention to the matter and expected to have an answer by the end of this month.

A telegram received from Paris today reports that Mr. Hammarskjold had failed to inform Ambassador Wadsworth, in the conversation referred to above, that he had sent a letter to Sobolev reporting this latest development in the negotiations with Chou.4 Hammarskjold said that the last paragraph of his letter to Sobolev was intended to convey to Molotov the idea that Molotov’s appearance in San Francisco5 would be under a serious cloud unless Chou had previously [Page 571] acted on the fliers. Mr. Hammarskjold is reported to have expressed a reasonable degree of confidence that Chou would agree, in his reply, to release at least four fliers.

Hammarskjold expects to return to New York, Saturday, May 28.

  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 293.1111/5–2455. The source text bears the notation that it was seen by the Secretary.↩
  2. Memorandum for the files by Charles D. Cook of the U.S. Mission at the United Nations, dated May 23. (Ibid., UNP Files: Lot 58 D 742, American Fliers in China)↩
  3. Summarized in telegram 783 from New York, May 16, which stated that Hammarskjöld showed Babcock a message to Chou which he had sent that day. It reminded Chou that Hammarskjöld had received no reply to his question whether there was anything he could do to facilitate the release of the prisoners, pointed out that no replies had been received to the letters from the fliers’ families, and emphasized the importance of early action for the fliers’ release. (Ibid., Central Files, 611.95A241/5–1655)↩
  4. Telegram 5112 from Paris, May 23, reported a conversation with Hammarskjöld in which he informed the Embassy of his letter to Sobolev. (Ibid., 611.95A241/5–2355)↩
  5. At the meetings commemorating the 10th anniversary of the signing of the U.N. Charter in San Francisco, June 20–26.↩