635. Letter 45 from McConaughy to Johnson1
I plan to wait until Monday the 4th to write the regular weekly letter. That letter should reach you well before the next meeting on June 8. This is merely a short note to transmit a copy of the Aide-memoire we delivered to the Indian Embassy yesterday, together with the full list of Chinese alien prisoners. We have just received your 1965 and we feel you should have this list in any event. If it should be decided that you should transmit this list to Wang at the next meeting (and this question will probably be decided on Monday), you should have this list in advance in order to be prepared. It would be difficult and expensive to transmit this list by cable, and the incidence of garbles would probably be high. Unless this pouch is delayed you will be all set for whatever course may be decided upon next week.
[Facsimile Page 2]Indian Ambassador Mehta seemed highly pleased at our decision. He told Dudley Withers after he left Mr. Robertson’s office that he felt this was a constructive move which should lead to some progress. He seemed to feel definitely optimistic. He obviously thinks it will be up to the Chinese Communists to make a reciprocating move now. I believe we have at least the local Indian representatives on our side on the prisoner question now, and we have high hopes that they will exert whatever influence they may have in the right direction. We will send you a memorandum of the Robertson-Mehta conversation on Monday. The Indians intend to arrange the interviews with the prisoners as soon as they receive word that we have delivered notifications and copies of the Agreed Announcement to the prisoners. We hope to get the draft circular letter to the prisoners cleared today. You will also get a copy of this.
Minister Tan was quite unhappy when I gave him the news half an hour before Mehta came in. He feels that both the propriety and the consistency of our action are questionable. Obviously he feels that the position of the GRC as the sole representative and protector of Chinese interests in this country is somewhat compromised. He wants a list of the prisoners, and Mr. Robertson and I both feel that we should give it to him. However, it has not been done yet. Tan believes the Indians will try to bring pressure to bear on the prisoners to elect return to the mainland. He thought we might have the same sort of tug-of-war [Typeset Page 1027] on these criminals which was experienced with the Chinese POW’s in Korea. He also feels that if and [Facsimile Page 3] when the news leaks out the effect on the peace of mind of law-abiding Chinese residents of the US will be adverse. He thinks it might be construed by them as the thin edge of a wedge.
FE/P is worried about the publicity angle. They feel if the news leaks out or is released by the Chinese Communists we will be at a serious disadvantage. They wonder if we should not put the news out first so that we can retain control, insure that a garbled version does not gain currency, and avoid being placed on the defensive. We are awaiting your comments on the publicity problem. So far there has been no leak that we know of.
Congratulations on the way you handled the presentation of our decision yesterday. You really took Wang by surprise. Wang was caught off balance most conspicuously and you handled his predicament very well indeed.
The British Embassy here has informed O’Neill in detail of our move and our reasoning in showing restraint at this stage. O’Neill will, of course, make no move until we ask him to. We have invited his suggestions as to the best way to play our cards if we get no prompt, favorable reaction from the Chinese Communists.
Congratulations on the fine commendation which the Secretary wrote you. No commendation could have been more merited in our view.
Judge Phleger has been away most of this week on two speech-making trips. Of course, the Secretary has been away too, taking a short rest at Duck Island. Bill Sebald left on Tuesday for a six-weeks tour of the entire FE area.
[Facsimile Page 4]Regards and every good wish to you, Dave and Helenka and Colonel Ekvall,
Sincerely yours,
Director for Chinese Affairs
Enclosure:
Aide-memoire to Indian Embassy.
- Source: Department of State, Geneva Talks Files, Lot 72D415. Secret; Official–Informal. Drafted by McConaughy.↩