310.2/6–1153
The Secretary of State to the United States Representative at the United Nations (Lodge)1
Dear Cabot: With reference to your letter of June 11 concerning a possible veto in connection with the Chinese representation question, I agree that you should have discretion in following tactics in the United Nations which are best calculated to accomplish our objective of keeping the National Government of China in the United Nations and keeping the Communists out. However, if and when we are confronted [Page 680] with the problem of seeking to veto a Security Council decision on this matter, the political consequences are so great that my present thinking is that the decision to assert and use the veto or not to veto should be made by the President in the light of the precise circumstances existing at the time the decision is to be made. My first reaction is that neither the United States “Representative to the United Nations, the Secretary of State, nor the two acting in conjunction, should make the final decision. If the United States is to be in a position to make its decision either way on the basis of the situation confronting us at the time, it follows that we should avoid disclosing our cards in advance. Certainly, however, we need not, in conversation, exclude the possibility of the veto, nor should we assert an intention to veto.
Incidentally, the first responses from our communications to the field indicate clearly that we shall not immediately be faced with the problem of exercising the veto on this question. For a time, at least, the majority of the United Nations Security Council will vote with us.
As to taking this matter to the NSC, I have discussed this with our people here and I do not believe such a step to be necessary. I feel that this is a matter clearly within our own jurisdiction, subject of course to the President.2
We shall keep you fully informed of all developments. We are herewith enclosing a copy of a memorandum on this subject which is being prepared for the Subcommittee on Far Eastern Affairs of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Sincerely yours,
- Drafted by Bernhard G. Bechhoefer, Officer in Charge, International Security Affairs, Office of UN Political and Security Affairs, and the Special Assistant to the Secretary of State (O’Connor).↩
- On the covering memorandum by Deputy Assistant Secretary Sandifer, June 17, 1953, transmitting the draft of this letter for signing, there appeared a handwritten notation, presumably by Dulles: “Nov 1950—Pres took to NSC—”.↩