679. Letter 40 from Johnson to McConaughy1
Thank you very much for your letter of July 6 which I received on the 9th. Also thanks for the telegram with regard to MacKensen and the Indians having asked to give the prisoner letter to the Chinese. As you will have seen I had no reaction from Wang on this probably not having had time to have reached him. I expect I will get some reaction at the next meeting. I would very much hope that by the next meeting there may be some news with regard to the Chinese prisoners so that we will know where that is going. Also, is it not about time that O’Neill ask to see the Americans?
I have not much to add to what I have said in my comments telegram. There is one point though that I would like to mention. It is whether I now, but more particularly in the future, if there is a break, play the note that they have by their December 1 draft to a large extent renounced force, or whether I play the note of implicit threat in their position. This is more important in regard to our public position than the position that I take in the meetings but the two are, of course, closely related. I could, for example at yesterday’s meeting, have taken the position that a virtual refusal to further discuss renunciation of force carried with it the implication of intent to attack in the Taiwan area. However, I refrained [Typeset Page 1102] from doing so and also [Facsimile Page 2] deliberately refrained from saying anything with regard to their position threatening peace in the Far East as I felt that the latter might carry with it the implication of a threat on our part. From the standpoint of both the talks here and our public position, it seems to me that it would be wise to soft-pedal threat aspects so as not in these talks or publicly to build-up any crisis atmosphere even if they were to be broken off, but rather to emphasize the degree to which they have, particularly in their December 1 draft, accepted the principle of renunciation of force, leaving it to them to deny it.
I am driving back to Prague, arriving there tomorrow night. Because of engagements I had already made and cannot be broken, I will be remaining there until the next meeting. Therefore, If you have anything to send me, you can send it there. I will probably come down on Tuesday, July 24.
Regards to all.
Sincerely,
American Ambassador
- Source: Department of State, Geneva Talks Files, Lot 72D415. Secret; Official–Informal. Johnson signed the original “Alex.”↩