273. Memorandum of Conversation1
SUBJECT
- Chinese Representation
PARTICIPANTS
- United States:
- The President
- Under Secretary of State George W. Ball
- Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs G. Mennen Williams
- Ambassador to Mauritania Philip W. Kaiser
- Officer-in-Charge of Mauritania Converse Hettinger
- Deputy Chief of Protocol William J. Tonesk
- Protocol Officer Jay Rutherfurd
- Interpreter Alec G. Toumayan
- Mauritania:
- President Moktar Ould Daddah
- Foreign Minister Sidi Mohamed Deyine
- Director of the President’s Cabinet Abdoul Aziz Sall
- Charge d’Affaires a.i. in Washington Mohamed Nassim Kochman
- Aide-de-Camp to the President Lieutenant Mohamed Sidina Sidya
President Kennedy then raised the Chinese representation issue, stressing that it would be a serious mistake to admit to the United Nations a country committed to a policy of war. It would be particularly unfortunate to do this at the expense of the Republic of China, a founding member of the organization, which has some equity in the matter. While the situation may change in time and Communist China may abandon its present policy of attempting to communize the world by war, Communist China’s admission to the United Nations at this time would do very serious injury to United States efforts to prevent communist takeovers all around the rim of Asia, where the United States is heavily involved. Commenting that he was aware that President Moktar, in his recent UNGA speech, spoke of the desirability of admitting all nations to the UN, President Kennedy stated that he felt strongly there should be some recognition of a country’s peaceful intent before it is invited to join the UN.
President Moktar recalled Mauritania’s friendly relations with the Republic of China since his country’s accession to independence, and noted that the Republic of China maintains an Embassy in Nouakchott. [Page 603] At the same time, if there is a country in Africa which cannot be accused of being communist, it is certainly Mauritania. On the question of China, however, Mauritania has its own point of view. Mauritania is for universality as are the United Nations. When President Moktar referred to the admission of all independent states to the UN, he meant those which fulfill all conditions of the Charter. When a country fulfills all these obligations, it should be permitted to enter the organization; when not, it should be left out. For Mauritania, the principle of universality has arisen very naturally after the model provided by the UN. The Republic of China is a founding member of the UN and should not be expelled. As for Communist China, Mauritania’s point of view is not based on very precise information, since Mauritania does not have all the information available to the U.S. Nevertheless, Mauritania thinks that if Communist China accepts all conditions of the Charter, it should be admitted to the UN. In an organization where the majority of people are reasonable, Communist China would be influenced by the other members and rendered less dangerous than if left to itself. The evolution of Soviet policy suggests the correctness of this view, and the Western decision to negotiate with the USSR has proven successful in that the Soviets have ended by accepting the dialogue. In conclusion, President Moktar said Mauritania, as an African state, intends to respect OAU solidarity, and his country’s position is that of the majority of reasonable African states.
President Kennedy replied that the United States is militarily committed by treaty to the defense of a number of free countries right under the belly of Communist China. Under the circumstances, and in view of the recent history of Soviet-Chinese relations, it would be a serious blow to both the United States and the UN to admit to the latter this year a country which is committed to nuclear war. While respecting the Mauritanian view, the President emphasized that the admission of Communist China to the United Nations at this time would have a disastrous effect in the United States. It would, moreover, be awkward, at the very time we are trying to do something about Portugal and South Africa, to admit to the UN a country whose policy, judging from its dialectic, is war. Perhaps, in due time, the situation will change: Communist China may abandon its war policy, and a two-China solution may prove possible.
The discussion then turned to United States-Mauritanian relations.
- Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, President’s Memoranda of Conversation: Lot 66 D 149, October–November 1963. Confidential. Drafted by Hettinger on October 31 and approved by the White House on November 5. The memorandum is Part V of VI.↩