620. Letter 44 from Clough to Johnson1
Walter is away for two days in Omaha and Colorado Springs where a group of senior Departmental officers are being briefed by the Strategic Air Command and the Continental Defense Command on their current capabilities and problems.
We have the preliminary report on your meeting of yesterday. Wang’s concentration on the first paragraph of their latest draft and his implied threat to make it public reinforces the suspicion that the Chinese Communists are seeking to build a strong propaganda position. I have not yet had a chance to discuss the meeting with anyone. There will probably be a meeting on Monday to consider tactics for your next meeting.
The behaviour of the Brazilian Parliamentary delegation is very puzzling. We certainly understood here that they were scheduled to visit Communist China.
[Facsimile Page 2]Thank you for calling our attention to the “Ta Kung Pao” proclamation on registration of families with students abroad. I do not know why this was not brought to our attention earlier by Hong Kong or DRF. We now have a copy of the text of the Peiping proclamation which I am enclosing. There are also enclosed two memoranda showing how the drive to gather information on Chinese in this country is developing. The attempt to utilize the American Red Cross is a particularly clever move. The Red Cross may wish to make some gesture toward providing information in order to preserve their relationship with the Chinese Communist Red Cross which is helpful to our prisoners but it would be most unfortunate if they began to supply the very names and addresses which we have refused, for good reasons, to give the Chinese Communists.
Regarding Bob Ekvall’s situation, Walter called a Mr. Zander, who is temporarily in Bill Godel’s place, and he agreed to take the matter up with G–2. We will follow up on this and hope that there will be no difficulty in obtaining the necessary extension of detail.
There is enclosed a memorandum giving the latest developments in arranging deportation of Chinese prisoners in this country. We expect today the final report on this from General Swing. We are awaiting with interest your suggestions, in response to our last guidance telegram, as to how the matter can best be handled to gain the greatest advantage. [Typeset Page 1002] We are agreed that the Chinese Communists are not really interested in getting these prisoners back and that they will therefore not constitute a strong bargaining counter. However, we feel it is possible to place the Chinese Communists in an awkward public [Facsimile Page 3] position on this issue and thus create some pressure for them to release Americans.
I have just seen Maggie Higgins’ lengthy article in today’s “New York Herald Tribune” revealing publicly that the Chinese Communists have demanded that all Chinese in American jails be let out. I have no idea who the “high administration source” who revealed this is. Questions are already coming in from the press. What the results of this will be on our plans is anybody’s guess.
Sincerely yours,
Deputy Director for Chinese Affairs
Enclosures:
- 1.
- Memorandum re “Chinese Communist Pressure on Chinese in the US.”
- 2.
- Memorandum re “Latest Developments on Deportation of Chinese Prisoners”
- 3.
- Two memoranda re Chinese Communist Red Cross Inquiries.
- 4.
- “Peking Daily” proclamation re registration of families of students in US.
- 5.
- Korean Briefing Meeting, May 16, 1956.
- 6.
- Article by Marguerite Higgins.
- Source: Department of State, Geneva Talks Files, Lot 72D415. Secret; Official–Informal. Drafted by Clough.↩