893.00/1–1049
Memorandum by the Director of the Policy Planning Staff (Kennan)52
The concern of this Government for the re-establishment of peace and order in China is beyond question. (Record)
In the present instance, the initiative for disorder and bloodshed has clearly come from the Chinese communists, who are attacking the legitimate and recognized government of China. It is primarily to the communists that appeals for a cessation of hostilities would have to be addressed.
We have no reason to expect that the communists would be amenable to any appeals based oil humanitarian considerations or on the obvious need of the Chinese people for the restoration of peace and order.
We have also no reason to believe that the Chinese communist leaders would be inclined to pay serious heed to the views of the United States people, whose motives and aspirations they have been [Page 27] maliciously maligning and distorting for years in their press and radio.
We recall that on other occasions, when this Government has endeavored to mediate, jointly with the Soviet Government, between communist parties and other political groupings of the same country, the only result was that these efforts were exploited by the communist side as one more stepping-stone on the road to the establishment of communist totalitarian dictatorship.
For these reasons, we doubt that any useful purpose would be served by a four-power effort at mediation.
- Copies sent to the Director of the Office of Far Eastern Affairs (Butterworth) and the Counselor of the Department (Bohlen).↩