795A.5/10–750: Telegram
The Minister in Switzerland (Vincent) to the Secretary of State
[Received October 7—9 a. m.]
518. Depcirtel 9, October 5. Swiss have no information which would indicate that Chinese, or Russians, plan direct participation in hostilities North Korea or elsewhere at this time. Zehnder, Under Secretary, states that on contrary, intelligence reaching Political Department indicated that Kremlin continues to desire localization of Korean conflict and does not favor direct Chinese participation. Mao Tze-tung is reported to have informed Indian Ambassador Peking in this sense some time ago. He feels this is still the case in spite of Chou En-lai’s statement. Kremlin, he thinks would like to have Korean struggle prolonged while it prepares indirect aggressive action elsewhere. Our reaction to Korean move caught Kremlin off balance and it will require some time to recover offensive. This, he figures, is the logic of situation based on his intelligence but he admits that emotional factors such as “face” might upset calculations.
Personally, I believe we should cross the 38th parallel when set to do so irrespective of whether Chou En-lai is bluffing or not.