Office of the Historian

174. Backchannel Message From William Hood to the President’s Deputy Assistant for National Security Affairs (Haig), Washington, December 29, 1972, 1711Z1 2

Washington, December 29, 1972, 1711Z

TO :

  • GENERAL HAlG

291711Z DEC 72

CITE NEW YORK 0007

FM: HOOD

THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE WAS PICKED UP AT 1130 HOURS, 29 DECEMBER 1972.

BEGIN TEXT:

AT ABOUT 2020 HOURS ON DECEMBER 23, 1972, WHILE CARRYING OUT WANTON BOMBINGS OF THE DRV’S LANG SON AREA, WHICH ADJOINS CHINESE BORDERS, U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT WENT TO THE EXTENT OF FIRING A MISSILE INTO THE AREA OF TUNGHSING COUNTRY, KWANGSI PROVINCE, CHINA. THE POINT OF IMPACT WAS AT 21 DEGREES 39’ 15” N, 107 DEGREES 29’ 25” E. ON THE SPLINTERS ARE MARKINGS SHOWING THAT THE MISSILE WAS MADE THE U.S.A. THE CHINESE SIDE HEREBY LODGES A STRONG PROTEST WITH THE U.S. SIDE AGAINST THIS AND DEMANDS THAT IT TAKE EFFECTIVE MEASURES TO ENSURE AGAINST THE RECURRENCE OF SIMILAR INCIDENTS.

END TEXT.

  1. Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 850, President’s File-China Trip, China Exchanges, Oct 24, 1972-Dec 31, 1972. Top Secret; Sensitive; Exclusively Eyes Only. Hood indicated that the message had been picked up at “1130 Hours, 29 December 1972.”↩
  2. Hood relayed an official Chinese protest that a U.S. missile had been fired into China.↩