48. Telegram From Secretary of State Rogers to the Department of State1
Secto 78/5130. Subject: Secretary’s Conversation With Sato July 8: Textiles.
1. After expressing deep appreciation for President’s decision last fall re Okinawa, which made possible dramatic LDP election victory, PriMin Sato expressed regret that he (Sato) had been unable to achieve resolution of textile problem. Nothing much could be done at the moment, Sato said, but there remains a slender “thread” which he will through political leadership attempt to strengthen with a view to an eventual successful result.
2. Secretary said he saw no prospect of discussing this subject usefully at this time. Mills bill, he said, would undoubtedly be enacted.2 He agreed, however, with PriMin that effects of this unhappy issue not spill over to other aspects of our otherwise productive relationships, e.g. Okinawa negotiations.
- Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 535, Country Files, Far East, Japan, Vol. III, 7/70 to Dec 70. Secret; Priority; Limdis. Rogers visited the Philippines, Vietnam, Japan, and the United Kingdom, July 1–12. While in Japan, July 7–10, Rogers met with Sato, attended a gathering of U.S. Chiefs of Mission to Asian countries, and conferred with senior Japanese officials. A summary report of the Chiefs of Mission Conference is printed in Document 49.↩
- For information on the Mills textile bill, see Document 42.↩