855. Letter 62 from Johnson to Clough1
This is my final letter from the Geneva Ambassadorial talks. I cannot say that from a personal standpoint I am sad as the last year, in particular, has been very sterile. However, I am sad that more has not been accomplished.
As far as the future is concerned I feel that we may well be in for a long hiatus with their reply being that they stand ready to resume the talks at any time we appoint an Ambassador, but that they see no purpose in meetings at a lower level. Frankly, I do not feel that they will feel any pressure to take action along the lines of releasing additional prisoners to persuade us to resume at the Ambassadorial level. I think that their line will be that the sterility of our talks is an argument for the Foreign Minister level meeting rather than for reducing the level below Ambassadors.
You, of course, know that they are extremely sensitive on the subject of corresponding levels and we can be sure that even if they do agree to resume with Martin they will be very careful also to appoint a First Secretary, to correspond with Ed’s rank in London. This will, in fact, mean that their man will be considerably below Ed in competence [Typeset Page 1472] and authority as Ed would normally be a Counselor in any post but one such as London. Thus any meetings Ed may have will be on an even more routine level than those I have been having. I think, for example, that they will refuse even to enter into any discussion whatever of matters such as renunciation of force. This [Facsimile Page 2] was foreshadowed by Wang’s remarks today.
In any event it was clear that at today’s meeting Martin’s appointment was an eventuality for which they were in no way prepared. My main satisfaction from the meeting was that for the first time in two years I had the initiative with him.
I am sorry about the mix-up on the press guidance telegrams. When I received 557 I thought that was all there was and that I had better get our lines clear on press matters. Late that evening we received 556, long after I had sent out my message to you. It turned out 556 had been badly garbled in transmission and that they had been working all day to clear it. The press here are very unhappy with me but I am sticking to the line of no comment. Of course, with the upcoming NATO meeting in Paris and all the other news I don’t think that the matter is going to make a very big splash any place.
I felt a little bit at a loss to expand on the theme of why a judicial assistance agreement was “impossible and unnecessary” and hope that I did not say any of the wrong things. I was also somewhat at a loss to handle his emphasis on a U.S. Court having communicated with the PRC and tried to shift it back to the subject of Wirin.
As a final note, my thanks and appreciation to you, Dave and the others in CA who have borne the brunt of the work of giving me such excellent backstopping. Give Walter Robertson my best and say that I am looking forward to seeing him soon.
Now signing off from Geneva.
Sincerely,
American Ambassador
P.S. We have arranged with the Consulate here promptly to telegraph to Ed and the Department anything the Chicoms send over. Ed will write you directly about the future administrative matters mentioned in your last letter to me. Incidentally, Ekvall has never got paid for that trip from France to here last summer. Can we not see that he gets paid before he leaves?
UAJ
[Typeset Page 1473] [Facsimile Page 3]PPS. I keep thinking of things. When I came here I was given $300 (Frs. 1285.50) to be used for representation and any other such purposes. This amount of francs was simply given to me through the Consulate disbursing officer and it is my understanding that they required no accounting. There are Frs. 750.- remaining. Rather than returning them with perhaps the necessity of again requesting some such fund I am turning them over to Ed and if he doesn’t use them he can turn them over to an Ambassador if one is again appointed. I have taken a receipt from Ed, of which I am enclosing a copy. If the Department wants anything else done with them he will, of course, do whatever he is instructed.
UAJ