790.00/9–550
Memorandum by the Director of the Office of Philippine and Southeast Asian Affairs (Lacy) to the Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Rusk)1
Subject: Proposed Action Regarding PSA Nations “on the fence”
Several recent events seem to me to indicate that the time has come to make the issues in world politics so clear that the nations in the PSA area would realize that they must decide whether to side with Communism or against it; that they must take action in accordance with the fundamental truth that “He who is not with me is against me.” Recent actions of the Burmese Government in connection with the Melby Survey Mission point up the fact that Burma is prepared to receive military and economic aid from the US while avoiding any appearance of commitment to the cause against Communism. The attached memorandum to Mr. Jessup and telegram from Djakarta are indications that Indonesia is in somewhat the same general situation.2 The Philippine Government has been only slightly less reluctant than Indonesia and Burma, perhaps because impelled by fiscal troubles from which it hopes to be saved by the US. The other countries of Southeast Asia do not present the same problem. Thailand is forthrightly committed to the UN cause; the Governments of Indochina are aligned against the Viet Minh forces of Communism, and the British administration in Malaya is in full cooperation with us.
Burma, Indonesia, and the Philippines are organic situations, each different from the other. Consequently, action aimed to bring each of these countries into full cooperation with the United Nations must be patterned to suit each individual case. I suggest that some or all of the following actions be taken in regard to Burma, Indonesia, and the Philippines according to their suitability to each country:
- 1.
- We should begin an informational campaign, both through our Informational Services and our Chiefs of Mission to convince the governments and the peoples of the countries that we have a genuine interest in the welfare of the Far Eastern peoples and have had for the past century.
- 2.
- We should begin a well-considered campaign through the same media to convince the governments and peoples of the nations involved that isolation, neutrality or being a “third power” is impossible in the present world. It should be demonstrated that the present conflict is not of a sort which requires two to make a quarrel, and that there is a malicious and evil political force at work throughout the world which requires either subservience or conflict.
- 3.
- We should be prepared to make it known at the appropriate [Page 141] time, which may be within the next few weeks, that we are considering drawing the lines more sharply between the supporters of the UN and its enemies in the firm conviction that those which are not with us are against us. This might be done initially simply by withholding military and economic aid from unfriendly or neutral nations. In the case of Indonesia and the Philippines, such action should be adequate. Burma, however, might require more emphatic treatment. The Burmese in their history have not shown themselves to be politically astute. Further steps might be necessary to convince the Burmese that the road to survival lies with the UN. PSA is prepared to study with the Policy Planning Staff additional steps which might be taken with respect to Burma. Consideration might be given, for instance, to treating an obdurate country as we treat a “curtain” country such as Poland.