330/10–450: Telegram
The Chargé in the United Kingdom (Holmes) to the Secretary of State
niact
1978. Prompted by concern over danger possible Chinese intervention in Korea following statement to Panikkar by Chinese Communist Foreign Secretary (Embtel 1934 to Department, repeated Moscow 67, New Delhi 46) Bevin has cabled Foreign Office from Queen Mary recommending that Franks and Younger consult urgently with US Government with view to a statement being made in course of General Assembly debate on Korea which will have the dual purpose of discouraging China from intervention and offering China prospect of being heard. Bevin states that if US agreeable he is prepared to have UK delegate propose hearing of Peking Government on Korean resolution. Message came somewhat garbled. Foreign Office interprets it to mean that proposed statement should be made by US in current debate in Political Committee and thereafter UK delegate should propose that Chinese Communists be given hearing if this can be arranged without undue delay.
Subsequent telegram from Bevin directs Foreign Office to inform me of suggested action and to convey message from Douglas to Acheson that unless there are factors of which he is unaware Douglas considers this action should deprive China of any excuse for military intervention in Korea without producing compensating unfortunate result. Armed intervention by China would be a great catastrophe.
Department pass New York, repeated info niact New York 39, New Delhi 48, Moscow 68.2
- A note on the source text indicated that this message was relayed to New York at 3:50 p. m. and that advance copies were sent to the Bureaus of United Nations Affairs and Far Eastern Affairs and the Secretariat at 4:45 p. m.↩
- A manuscript note by the Deputy Director of the Office of U.N. Political and Security Affairs (Wainhouse) in the margin of the source text stated that this message came in after debate was over and during the voting in the First Committee (see editorial note, p. 873).↩