151. Letter From the Counselor of the British Embassy (de la Mare) to the Director of the Office of Chinese Affairs (Martin)0
Dear Ed: My Ambassador wrote yesterday to Mr. Dulles enclosing a summary of Chinese views on the present crisis as expressed to the Indian Embassy in Peking.1
Since this summary was written we have heard further from our High Commission in New Delhi that, according to information given them by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, Chou En-lai also told the Indian Ambassador in Peking, possibly during the same conversation, that an attack on the Chinese mainland or the use of tactical nuclear weapons would result in a general war.
The Indian official who gave this information to our High Commission added that the Indian authorities did not attach any special significance to this: the remark did not go any further than public Russian statements to the same effect.
The Indian view may very well be the right one but my Ambassador thought that the State Department should nevertheless be aware of Chou’s statement and he asked me to pass it on to you.
Yours sincerely,
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 793.00/10–258. Secret.↩
- See Document 147.↩