Preface

This microfiche supplement to Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, Volume III, China, presents documents concerning the ambassadorial talks between representatives of the United States and the People’s Republic of China held in Geneva from August 1955 through December 1957. It includes all the reports and comments on the meetings from Ambassador U. Alexis Johnson, the U.S. representative at the talks, instructions sent to him by the Department, related messages exchanged between Geneva and the Department, and a series of official-informal letters between Johnson and the Director of the Office of Chinese Affairs. The documents are arranged in chronological order.

Most of the documents are in the Department of State central files, chiefly the 611.93 file, which includes almost all the documentation directly related to the talks. The official-informal letters are in the Geneva Talks Files, Lot 72D415, which consists of files relating to the ambassadorial talks at Geneva and Warsaw for the years 1955–1968. These files were maintained by the Office of Chinese Affairs, which had responsibility for drafting and coordinating the clearance of the Department’s instructions to Ambassador Johnson.

A small proportion of the documents presented in this supplement and additional documents relating to the ambassadorial talks, including some from the Dwight D. Eisenhower Library, are printed in Foreign Relations, 1955–1957, Volumes II and III. The diplomatic exchanges which led to the initiation of the talks are documented in Volume II. Conversations with [Facsimile Page iv] leaders or diplomatic representatives of other governments concerning the talks are documented in Volume III. The documents included both in Volume III and in the supplement consist primarily of the brief, summary reports that Johnson sent to the Department immediately after each meeting in advance of his detailed reports, which are presented in the supplement.

The documents in the supplement were declassified by the Department of State’s Classification/Declassification Center, which reviewed them according to the guidelines and procedures by which it customarily reviews documents selected for publication in the printed volumes of the Foreign Relations series. The Center reviews the documents, makes declassification decisions, and obtains the clearance of geographic and functional bureaus of the Department of State and other appropriate agencies of the government. In coordination with the geographic bureaus of the Department of State, the Center also conducts communications with [Typeset Page IV] foreign governments regarding documents or information of those governments proposed for publication in the series. Documents which were declassified with excisions appear in the supplement with the excised portions indicated by ellipses.

The supplement was prepared in the Office of the Historian under the supervision of General Editor John P. Glennon and David W. Mabon. Harriet D. Schwar selected the documents and prepared the introduction. Rosa D. Pace prepared the list of documents and the list of persons.