Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958–1960, China, Volume XIX

January–August 1958, Background of the Taiwan Strait Crisis: Possible Renewal of the Ambassadorial Talks; Secretary of State Dulles’ Visit to Taiwan in March 1958; U.S. Concern With Growing Tension in the Taiwan Area: Document List

Document 1: Editorial Note

Document 2: Letter From the Ambassador to Yugoslavia (Rankin) to the Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Robertson)

Washington, January 23, 1958.

Source: Department of State, FE Files: Lot 60 D 90, Rankin. Confidential. Marked for action by the Office of Chinese Affairs. Rankin had headed the Embassy in Taipei from August 1950 through December 1957 as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim until April 1953, and thereafter as Ambassador.

Document 3: Letter From the Under Secretary of State (Herter) to President Chiang

Washington, February 11, 1958.

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 793.5–MSP/2–1158. Secret.

Document 4: Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Robertson) to Secretary of State Dulles

Washington, February 24, 1958.

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 611.93/2–2458. Secret. Drafted by Clough and Lutkins and cleared with EUR.

Document 5: Editorial Note

Document 6: Memorandum of Conversation

Taipei, March 14, 1958, 8:30 p.m.

Source: Department of State, Secretary’s Memoranda of Conversation: Lot 64 D 199. Secret. Drafted by Reinhardt and Robertson. Secretary Dulles visited the Republic of China March 14–15 following his attendance at the SEATO Council Meeting in Manila, March 11–13.

Document 7: Despatch From the Embassy in the Republic of China to the Department of State

Taipei, April 3, 1958.

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 611.93/4–358. Secret; Limit Distribution. Drafted by Drumright.

Document 8: Editorial Note

Document 9: Notes of the Meeting of the Operations Coordinating Board

Washington, April 16, 1958.

Source: Department of State, OCB Files: Lot 62 D 430, OCB Preliminary Notes. Secret. The document is headed “Preliminary Notes of OCB Meeting, April 16, 1958.”

Document 10: Letter From the Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Robertson) to the Ambassador to the Republic of China (Drumright)

Washington, April 29, 1958.

Source: Department of State, FE Files: Lot 60 D 90, Drumright. Secret; Official–Informal.

Document 11: Editorial Note

Document 12: Telegram From the Embassy in the Republic of China to the Department of State

Taipei, May 10, 1958, noon.

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 793.5/5–1058. Secret; Limit Distribution. Passed to CINCPAC/POLAD.

Document 13: National Intelligence Estimate

Washington, May 13, 1958.

Document 14: Letter From the Director of the Office of Chinese Affairs (Clough) to John B. Dexter at the Consulate General in Geneva

Washington, June 27, 1958.

Source: Department of State, Geneva Talks Files: Lot 71 D 368. Confidential; Official-Informal. Drafted by Lutkins. Dexter had been assigned to the Consulate General to serve as interpreter for the U.S.–PRC talks.

Document 15: Editorial Note

Document 16: Memorandum of Conversation Between Secretary of State Dulles and Foreign Minister Couve de Murville

Paris, July 5, 1958.

Source: Eisenhower Library, Dulles Papers, General Memoranda of Conversation. Confidential. Drafted by Dulles. The Secretary visited Paris July 3–6.

Document 17: Editorial Note

Document 18: Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in the United Kingdom

Washington, July 17, 1958, 1:42 p.m.

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 611.93/7–1758. Confidential. Drafted by Lutkins, cleared with EUR, and approved by Robertson. Also sent to Warsaw and repeated to Geneva and Bern.

Document 19: Special National Intelligence Estimate

Washington, July 22, 1958.

Document 20: Telegram From the Embassy in the Republic of China to the Department of State

Taipei, July 30, 1958, 6 p.m.

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 793.00/7–3058. Secret; Priority. Also sent to CINCPAC.

Document 21: Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Poland

Washington, July 30, 1958, 8:29 p.m.

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 611.93/7–2858. Confidential. Drafted by Lutkins, cleared with EUR, and approved by Robertson. Repeated to Geneva and Bern.

Document 22: Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Robertson) to Acting Secretary of State Herter

Washington, August 1, 1958.

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 611.61/8–158. Secret. Drafted by Marshall Green, Regional Planning Adviser in the Bureau of Far Eastern Affairs; Josiah W. Bennett, Officer in Charge of Political Affairs in the Office of Chinese Affairs; and Lutkins. A notation on the source text reads: “Noted. C.A.H.”

Document 23: Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in the Republic of China

Washington, August 2, 1958, 4:02 p.m.

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 793.00/8–258. Secret; Priority. Drafted by Lutkins, cleared in substance with INR, and approved by Robertson. Repeated to CINCPAC.

Document 24: Telegram From the Commander, U.S. Taiwan Defense Command (Smoot) to the Commander in Chief, Pacific (Stump)

Taipei, August 4, 1958, 5:40 p.m.

Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 218, JCS Records, 381 Formosa (11–8–48), Sec. 37. Secret; Priority. Received by CNO at 6:16 p.m. Repeated to CINCPACFLT and COMSEVENTHFLT; repeated from CINCPAC to CNO and from CNO to State, OSD/ISA, Air Force, JCS, Army, and CIA.

Document 25: Telegram From the Embassy in the Republic of China to the Department of State

Taipei, August 7, 1958, 11 a.m.

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 793.00/8–758. Secret. Received at 3:20 a.m. Repeated to CINCPAC.

Document 26: Editorial Note

Document 27: Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Robertson) to Secretary of State Dulles

Washington, August 8, 1958.

Source: Department of State, FE Files: Lot 60 D 90, Nationalist China. Secret. Drafted by Lutkins. The documents cited in footnotes 2–5 below are in the Supplement.

Document 28: Memorandum of Meeting

Washington, August 8, 1958, 6:03–6:20 p.m.

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 793.00/8–1158. Secret. Drafted by Fisher Howe on August 11. Howe sent the memorandum to Herter with a covering note dated August 13. The time of the meeting is taken from Dulles’ appointment diary. (Princeton University, Dulles Papers)

Document 29: Memorandum of Conference With President Eisenhower

Washington, August 11, 1958, 8:57–9:10 a.m.

Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, DDE Diaries. Secret. Prepared by Goodpaster. The time of the meeting is taken from Eisenhower’s appointment diary. (Ibid., President’s Daily Appointments)

Document 30: Editorial Note

Document 31: Memorandum of Conference With President Eisenhower

Washington, August 12, 1958, 10:11–10:43 a.m.

Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, DDE Diaries. Top Secret. Prepared by Goodpaster on August 14. The time of the conference is taken from the President’s appointment diary. (Ibid.) A memorandum of the conversation by Dulles is ibid., Dulles Papers, Meetings with the President.

Document 32: Editorial Note

Document 33: Memorandum for the Record

Washington, August 14, 1958.

Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, NSC Records. Top Secret; Eyes Only. Prepared by James S. Lay, Jr. Attached to the memorandum of discussion at the August 14 NSC meeting. An abbreviated version headed “Summary of the Principal Points Made in the Discussion of the Taiwan Straits Situation at the Meeting in the President’s Office Following the NSC Meeting on August 14, 1958,” was sent by Lay with a covering memorandum dated August 15 to Gerard C. Smith. (Department of State, Central Files, 793.00/8–1558) Goodpaster’s record of the meeting is in the Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, DDE Diaries; see Supplement.

Document 34: Memorandum From Acting Secretary of State Herter to Secretary of State Dulles

Washington, August 15, 1958.

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 793.00/8–1558. Top Secret. A notation on the source text reads: “Sec saw 8/16.” Secretary Dulles was away from Washington August 12–22. During most of that time he was in New York for an emergency special session of the U.N. General Assembly.

Document 35: Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of State for Policy Planning (Smith) to Secretary of State Dulles

Washington, August 15, 1958.

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 793.00/8–1558. Top Secret. A notation on the source text reads “I showed this to Gov. Herter. GCSmith.”

Document 36: Memorandum From the Regional Planning Adviser in the Bureau of Far Eastern Affairs (Green) to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Parsons)

Washington, August 18, 1958.

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 793.5/8–1858. Top Secret. Drafted by Green.

Document 37: Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Poland

Washington, August 20, 1958, 8:30 p.m.

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 611.93/8–1858. Confidential. Drafted by Lutkins, cleared with EE, and approved by Robertson. Repeated to Bern and Geneva.

Document 38: Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Robertson) to Secretary of State Dulles

Washington, August 20, 1958.

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 793.00/8–2058. Top Secret. A notation on the source text reads: “Sec saw,” but there is no indication of Dulles’ approval or disapproval of the recommendations.

Document 39: Editorial Note

Document 40: Memorandum of Meeting

Washington, August 22, 1958, 2 p.m.

Source: Department of State, Central Files, 793.00/8–2258. Secret. Drafted by Howe.