693.0031 Tibet/8–3048
Memorandum of Telephone Conversation, by the Assistant Chief of the Division of Chinese Affairs (Freeman)
In a telephone conversation of today’s date with Mr. Ratna, Interpreter of the Tibetan Trade Mission, the latter informed me that the Mission had just returned to Washington from New York and that they were expecting to remain here for two or three days. He stated that the purpose of their return was to have a further conversation with Secretary Marshall and requested, on behalf of the Leader, that an appointment be arranged.
I stated that the Secretary was extremely busy at this time and that I thought it was highly unlikely that it would be possible to arrange for a second appointment for the Mission. I suggested, however, that if they would inform me of the matters they wished to discuss—financial, commercial, trade, etc.—I might put them in touch with the appropriate officials of the Government. The interpreter referred this question to the Leader and, after a long discussion in Tibetan, informed me that they wished to discuss business which concerned the Department of State and therefore desired to see a deputy of the Secretary. I replied that Mr. Butterworth was presently on leave, but that I would endeavor to arrange an appointment for the Mission with Mr. Benninghoff20a for the following day.
- H. Merrell Benninghoff, Deputy Director, Office of Far Eastern Affairs.↩