124. Memorandum of Conversation, Camp David, Maryland, July 5, 1975.1 2
MEMORANDUM
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
MEMORANDUM OF CONVERSATION
PARTICIPANTS:
- President Gerald R. Ford
- Dr. Henry A. Kissinger, Secretary of State and Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
- Lt. General Brent Scowcroft, Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
DATE AND TIME: Saturday, July 5, 1975
PLACE: Camp David Maryland
Kissinger: The major thing with the Indonesians is they always smile. But Suharto is a tough cookie. He is anti-Communist but he has doubts about our steadfastness. He likes the idea of special emissaries.
It might be awkward if I was in the first meeting. I would be as firm as possible about the American role in Asia. They are pathological about the Chinese, and worried about Vietnam and the Soviet Union.
The President: The Chinese Communists under Sukarno were most influential weren’t they?
Kissinger: Yes, but they loath the Chinese racially. We have to be careful about Indonesia. We tend to take things for granted. Remember they used to get all their military equipment from the Soviet Union. Here is a list of the equipment we could give them.
Ask his views about how Southeast Asia is and how we can organize it. You could send a note for me after about 30 minutes. By then I could have the other group organized. Simon isn’t here, so we can’t have an OPEC lecture.