283. Letter 12 from Johnson to McConaughy1
Yesterday I received your letter of October 10. This will be a very short note as I have little to add to what I have already said.
Peter Colm has arrived and I am very glad to have him. He seems like a good man.
Received my instructions this morning for 21st meeting and again feel that they are excellent. I greatly appreciate your getting them to me in time to ponder a little before the meeting.
I do not plan to tie my presentation on implementation to their newspaper articles or broadcasts. I have avoided this as it simply opens the door for Wang to throw USIS and American newspapers at me, and he can almost always find something to quote to serve his purpose. In any event the articles so closely follow his presentation in the meetings that there are ample statements by him to which I can tie.
I am a little concerned by the questions it is suggested that I ask him, if necessary, under paragraph 5 of the Department’s 870. It seems to me that I should avoid any implication that such multilateral subjects as Chincom and U.N. resolutions could be discussed here, or that these are matters within the control of the U.S. However, I think the idea of asking the questions is very good but will try to formulate something along these lines for use, if necessary, which avoids what I believe [Facsimile Page 2] are the undesirable implications of the questions as presently framed.
I fear that the presentation of unaccounted for military personnel at this stage would fuzz my position on priority for renunciation of force, and I am, therefore, reluctant to make it at tomorrow’s meeting. On the other hand, I don’t want Wang to so freeze his position on this that he is obliged to reject the lists when I hand them to him. Therefore, I will play it by ear and make the decision at the meeting as to what I will do.
Chincom people have been very helpful in giving me information on their present negotiations in Paris. Certainly the present moment would be the worst possible time to release the Chincom controls, but I can see that the pressures are extremely strong. What I have trouble thinking through is how effectively to relate what [Typeset Page 392] may or may not happen in these talks to how things are handled in Chincom.
Sincerely,
American Ambassador
- Source: Department of State, Geneva Talks Files, Lot 72D415. Secret; Official–Informal. Johnson signed the original “Alex.”↩