674. Letter 50 from McConaughy to Johnson1
Enclosed is a copy of a disturbing letter from [text not declassified] to his parents dated April 30. You will see from this that the Chinese Communists have done a most thorough job on him. It is significant that they have indoctrinated him with false information on the Geneva talks and on the status of the Chinese in this country.
It would seem that the Chinese Communists are determined to prevail on some of our Nationals to “elect” to remain in Communist China after their terms are completed, as a counter to the lack of interest of most Chinese in this country in returning to Communist China.
[text not declassified] father, [text not declassified] naturally is quite upset over this letter and wants all publicity avoided, at least for the present.
We are debating whether you should make any reference to this letter in the meeting tomorrow. We will probably send a summary of it by telegram later today. In the meanwhile, we want to get the [Facsimile Page 2] full text off to you before the pouch closes a few minutes hence.
Regards and good wishes,
Sincerely,
Enclosures:
- 1.
- Copy of letter from [text not declassified] / dated April 30.
- 2.
- Copy of letter from [text not declassified] / dated June 29.
- Source: Department of State, Geneva Talks Files, Lot 72D415. Secret; Official–Informal.↩