41. Editorial Note
President Nixon and British Prime Minister Edward Heath met on October 3, 1970, at Chequers. During their discussion, Heath stated:
“‘One advantage of our presence in the Far East is to keep Australians in Singapore.’ The President said he hoped this would be so because he wanted to continue to cooperate. Prime Minister Heath responded, We are concerned with the Indian Ocean. The Soviets are building up. Our strength from Simonstown is not too great. We will help you via communications equipment and personnel for Diego Garcia. The problem that concerns us is a blackmail situation vis-à-vis us and Europe. No one suggests war is likely, but a blackmail capability along the vital routes around the Cape is serious enough.’
“Prime Minister Heath therefore said he believes the Simonstown Agreement should be maintained. He continued that the U.K. was having a major problem with the black African countries about this agreement, but that its position would not change. The President replied that the U.S. would do nothing to embarrass the U.K.
“Prime Minister Heath continued, ‘The disagreements do not seem to me to be enough for other countries to leave the Commonwealth. We do not ask your support but if your Ambassadors could (1) tell the Africans that Heath is not a racist and (2) that they shouldn’t leave the Commonwealth on this issue, it would be a big help.’ The President said the U.S. would do that. Heath said he thought that Apartheid was breaking down for economic reasons.” (Memorandum of conversation, October 3; National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 727, Country Files, Europe, United Kingdom, Vol. IV) The Simonstown Agreement referred to is a mutual naval cooperation agreement between Great Britain and South Africa, which involved the British sale of arms to South Africa and the use of the Simonstown Naval Base.
In an earlier meeting on September 23, British Foreign Secretary Sir Alec Douglas-Home expressed to Secretary of State Rogers “his concern about the possibility of the Indian Ocean’s becoming a Soviet sea. He said that Britain cannot do anything about that problem at a reasonable cost. If South Africa could do something, it would be regarded as a Western presence in the area. He also noted that Nyerere of Tanzania was probably the only leader of the Commonwealth who might insist on leaving if Britain made arms available to South Africa. He also observed that, if Nyerere took such action, he might start a procession.
“The Secretary replied that, if Britain started arms sales to South Africa, there would undoubtedly be a considerable amount of critical comment in the U.S., with contributions from those who had something to gain politically. He said that the U.S. Government would be quite restrained and would try to strike a note of understanding.
[Page 132]“The Foreign Secretary suggested that the U.S. might talk to other countries interested in the security of the Indian Ocean, such as Australia and Singapore. He wondered whether we might consider it useful to talk to India, although he observed that the Indians might repeat their traditional argument and say that a Western presence in the Indian Ocean would incite a Soviet presence.
“Secretary Rogers said we might be in a better position to discuss this matter after the President’s trip. The President is, of course, concerned about the Soviet naval buildup and he might wish to talk to the Prime Minister about this.” (Ibid., RG 59, Central Files 1970–73, POL UK–US)