9. Editorial Note
In the course of his remarks to the first session of the Far East Chiefs of Mission Conference, held at Taipei March 14–17, Secretary Dulles commented on the SEATO Council Meeting as follows:
“As to the SEATO meeting, it was, I think, a very good meeting—the best we have had. I have been to all the meetings of SEATO, as well as to the organizational meeting. I think that the public impression of SEATO is shaking down, so that its limitations are understood and its usefulness also understood. When we started, people thought SEATO should be created in the image of NATO with commanders, area forces, etc., and unless we did, SEATO would not serve a useful purpose. Even if we wanted to do this, the geographical nature of SEATO does not lend itself to that. We have been preaching that dependence should be placed not on U.S. forces but on commitments expressed in treaties and backed up by mobile power which could be brought to bear where necessary. I felt no large resistance to that concept; it is now pretty well accepted. I felt that there was less effort to pull and haul in different directions. A great effort was made to concentrate on areas of agreement and on the purposes of SEATO.
“We had a new member in the sense that the New Zealand Government, represented by Nash, was new. He came into power, committed to policies which are somewhat neutralist in character and which also considered the possibility of recognition of the Chinese Communists. I think that owing at least in part to the excellent relations Ambassador Russell has established with him as well as to our talks at SEATO, progress has been made in bringing Nash’s thinking into line with the members of SEATO. He is going from there to see Nehru, whom he admires, so he might change back. It may become a question of getting him back again if he gets off the track.” (Transcript of the Secretary’s remarks is filed with an unnumbered despatch from Taipei received May 2; Department of State, Central Files, 120.1493/5–258; included in the microfiche supplement)