Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961–1963, Volume XXII, Northeast Asia

37. Telegram From the Embassy in Poland to the Department of State⁰

Warsaw, June 29, 1961, 7 p.m.

1930. Beam-Wang Talks. 105th meeting 1 hour 20 minutes.¹

Wang opened saying in two months since last meeting US had not only not taken steps to improve relations with his country but instead seemed to be trying to worsen these relations. Visit of Vice President Johnson to Taiwan showed the US Government was set upon continuing interfere in Chinese internal affairs and make Taiwan stronghold for conducting anti-Communism in Asia. Furthermore, US planes and ships continued intrude into China’s territorial sea and air. If US really wanted to live in amity with China as President Kennedy had said in Paris US must stop interfering in Chinese internal affairs and cease occupying Taiwan.

I briefly refuted his allegations and stated our position along lines paragraph two, unnumbered Deptel June 26.²

Brushing aside my statement concerning imprisoned Americans with assertion his side had consistently carried out agreed announcement Wang reiterated Taiwan was central issue and since his side was injured party it was up to US to take next step. They had hoped new administration would alter situation but so far no such indication. Regarding newsmen they had studied US proposal but found it unacceptable. Newsmen exchange must be brought about in such manner as to promote solution of problem of withdrawal US forces from Taiwan. He urged acceptance their September 1960 proposal.

Further give and take on Taiwan issue followed. Then I again urged him to accept our latest proposal which differed little from their proposal of 1957³ and did not contain political condition as their September proposal did. Wang replied they had once thought solution Taiwan problem [apparent omission] and they had made proposals to end. Such efforts had proved futile and they had reached conclusion that only when progress was made on main problem could agreement be reached on other matters. I told him my government reserved right to make public statement concerning our newsmen proposal.

I then mentioned food parcel proposal along lines paragraph four, unnumbered Deptel June 26⁴ to which Wang replied that although China was suffering from effects of several years of natural calamities it was overcoming its difficulties by its own efforts including purchase of food stuffs abroad and did not require “relief” from any quarter. I emphasized proposed arrangement was to be purely private but he repeated that no “relief” was required. Next meeting August 8, 2 p.m.⁵

Beam

0. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 611.93/6-2961. Confidential; Priority; Limit Distribution. Repeated to Taipei, Hong Kong, and Moscow. Received at 5:49 a.m. on June 30.
1. Beam sent his comments and recommendations for the next meeting in telegram 1932, June 30, and sent a detailed, apparently verbatim report of the meeting in airgram G-572, June 30. (Both ibid., 611.93/6-3061)
2. Reference is to telegram 1519 to Warsaw, June 26. It instructed Beam to take a low-key approach and avoid polemics. Paragraph 2 instructed him to reject Wang’s thesis that the essence of the issue between the two sides was the “withdrawal of U.S. forces from Taiwan and the Taiwan Straits,” to remind Wang of the original agenda of the talks, to stress the continuing U.S. concern about American prisoners in China and missing and unaccounted-for servicemen, to assert that the question of renunciation of force was a fundamental one, and to tell Wang that the United States had repeatedly put forward constructive proposals on these and other topics, such as newsmen. (Ibid., 611.93/6-2661)
3. Reference is to a draft agreed announcement proposed by Wang on September 12, 1957, under which both governments would agree “to give permission, on an equal and reciprocal basis,” for correspondents to enter their respective countries. For text, see Foreign Relations, 1955–1957, vol. III, p. 601, footnote 2.
4. Paragraph 4 of telegram 1519, cited in footnote 2 above, instructed Beam to state that many private U.S. citizens had asked permission to send food parcels to individual Chinese on the China mainland, that the U.S. Government proposed to grant such permission on humanitarian grounds, and that it hoped Wang’s side would be willing to receive such parcels, which would be purchased and sent by private individuals.
5. Telegram 120 from Warsaw, July 20, reported that the meeting had been postponed until August 15 at U.S. request. (Department of State, Central Files, 611.93/7-2061)