301. Memorandum of Conversation0

SUBJECT

  • Secretary’s Conversations in Ottawa1

PARTICIPANTS

  • Canada
    • Prime Minister John G. Diefenbaker
    • Minister of External Affairs Howard C. Green
    • Under Secretary of External Affairs Gorman A. Robertson
    • Canadian Ambassador to U.S. A.D.P. Heeney
  • United States
    • Secretary of State Christian A. Herter
    • Assistant Secretary of State Livingston T. Merchant
    • Counselor of the Department G. Frederick Reinhardt
    • Minister, American Embassy, Ottawa, Tyler Thompson

Place and Time of Meeting:

The meeting was held at the Prime Minister’s residence, 24, Sussex Street, Ottawa, from 12:10 p.m. until 3:15 p.m. The discussion continued during lunch. The Prime Minister left at 2:40 p.m. to keep a speaking engagement at Winnipeg.

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Preliminary Remarks:

The Prime Minister told the Secretary how much he appreciated his coming to Ottawa and expressed with obvious sincerity the deep impression made on him by the warm welcome given the Queen in Chicago.2 The Secretary conveyed the President’s greetings to the Prime Minister who replied, “I like him.” The Secretary, referring to the President’s visit to Canada,3 hoped the Prime Minister would be able to pay a reciprocal visit to the United States.

Geneva Negotiations:

The Secretary outlined in considerable detail the developments with respect to Berlin which took place during the Geneva negotiations4 and outlined present United States thinking with respect to the future course of these negotiations. He expressed guarded optimism based on Gromyko’s June 28 statement.5

In response to the Prime Minister’s query, the Secretary said he was not taking a new package proposal to Geneva as reported in the New York Times.

Summit Conference:

The Secretary said there were no specific conditions precedent which would have to be met before the United States would agree to a Summit Conference, but that it could not agree to such a conference unless there was some possibility of results and unless summit negotiations took place free from Soviet threats. The Secretary informed the Prime Minister that the President would take a liberal approach in judging whether there was some possibility of results. The Secretary added that there would be no reason to hope for progress at a Summit Conference if the present situation at Geneva were turned over to such a conference. The Secretary explained the problems the President would face if a Summit Conference did take place towards the end of the present session of Congress. The possibility of holding such a conference at Quebec City was discussed.

The Prime Minister emphasized that eighty percent of the Canadian people favored the holding of a Summit Conference and that there would be great disillusionment in Canada if such a conference were not held. He believed that if there were no Summit Conference Canadians would consider that the possibility of a negotiated solution of difficulties [Page 758] with the Soviet Union had been discarded and that war was all that was left. The Prime Minister also stated that if war occurred without a Summit Conference having been held the Canadian people would feel that an important effort to avoid war had not been taken and that they consequently would not give the same support in such a war.

Preventive War:

The Prime Minister stated he had seen two United States military officers in the last seven days who advocated a preventive war. The Secretary replied that a war which would cost the United States some 60,000,000 casualties, Canada some 10,000,000, and the Soviet Union 120,000,000 without counting those in Europe would not be much of a war to win.

Removal of United States Planes from France:

The Prime Minister with some heat stated that the United States decision to withdraw certain planes from France6 had been reached without consultation with its NATO allies. Mr. Merchant replied that there had been consultation. (The facts and chronology of the consultation which took place will be obtained for the Prime Minister’s information.)

Continental Defense:

The Secretary emphasized the importance of the joint character of the requirements for certain military projects in Canada in connection with continental defense. He stressed the need for some machinery so that such requirements could be presented as joint requirements rather than as a United States request to Canada. It was agreed that the possibility of a greater use of the Permanent Joint Board on Defense (PJBD) for this purpose should be looked into. Mr. Merchant said that the Cabinet level Canada-United States Defense Committee could usefully complement the PJBD in this connection. It was also agreed that the periodic informal sub-cabinet level meetings had proven effective.

Canada-United States Defense Committee:

The Canadians expressed an interest in having a meeting of the Cabinet level Canada-United States Defense Committee. The Secretary said that the United States would initiate plans for holding such a meeting with the date dependent on the length of the Geneva Conference and the possible holding of a Summit Conference.

[heading and paragraph (12 lines of source text) not declassified]

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Recognition of Red China:

The Prime Minister inquired whether with the resignation of Walter Robertson7 there had been any change in United States policy with respect to the non-recognition of Red China. The Secretary replied that no change in our policy had taken place. He added that Germany, which did not recognize Red China, had more trade with it than Great Britain which did recognize it. He also referred to the jailing of United States citizens, to Tibet, and to the readiness of the United States to reconsider its policy towards Red China when it was in its national interest to do so.

Military Training Program in Laos:

Mr. Green stated that his legal advisers considered the plan for United States participation with the French in training the Laotion Army as contrary to the Geneva Agreement.8 The Secretary replied that his legal advisers were convinced that this program did not violate the terms of the Geneva Agreement. Mr. Robertson asked if the United States could not help the French financially to enable them to do the whole training job. Mr. Merchant replied that he did not think Congress would provide funds for such a purpose.

Atomic Weapons:

The Prime Minister stated that his government faced a difficult problem from the viewpoint of both public opinion and the opposition parties in connection with the storage of nuclear weapons in Canada. He added that the lack of any Canadian share in the control of their storage or use was a great worry. He explained that the limiting to four months of the agreement regarding overflights of Canada by United States planes armed with nuclear weapons, was to strengthen the government’s position in handling opposition questions.

Disarmament:

The discussion touched briefly on disarmament. The Secretary said that he had little hope of progress until a formula was found for setting up a smaller group which would tackle disarmament problems realistically.

Atomic Weapons Testing:

The Secretary stated the United States was willing to reach immediate agreement on the cessation of atmospheric and high altitude testing as violations of such tests could be detected. This would stop the [Page 760] dirtying of the earth’s atmosphere. He added that the key to the banning of other types of tests was effective inspection as no scientist was at this stage able to say that it would be impossible to conceal such tests.

Award of Turbine Contract to Inglis Firm:9

The Prime Minister stated that he greatly appreciated the decision that the award of a contract to Inglis for electric turbines would not endanger United States security. He added that he considered the principle involved more important than the amount of the contract.

Canadian-United States Economic Relations:

The Prime Minister also expressed his appreciation for the United States contribution during the past year or two to the solution of the economic problems which were irritants in relations between the two countries.

General De Gaulle:

The Secretary stated that de Gaulle’s insistence on sharing atomic secrets, control of atomic weapons, support of his country’s policies in Algeria and establishment of a tripartite directorate posed difficult problems. The Prime Minister described the Secretary’s reference to the unhappiness of many NATO allies with such a tripartite directorate as an understatement as far as Canada was concerned.

The Secretary expressed the belief that progress can be made in solving the problems with France only through a meeting between the President and General De Gaulle. He said that General De Gaulle had been invited to come to the United States many times. He added that possibly the President and General De Gaulle could get together if a summit meeting took place.

  1. Source: Department of State, Secretary’s Memoranda of Conversation: Lot 64 D199. Secret. Drafted by Thompson on July 13.
  2. Herter stopped at Ottawa en route to Geneva for the second session of the Geneva Foreign Ministers Conference July 13-August 5. He arrived at 11:15 a.m. and departed at 6:07 p.m. Five memoranda of his conversations covering the Geneva Conference, General De Gaulle, continental defense, disarmament, atomic weapons, the Far East, the St. Lawrence Seaway, and U.S.-Canadian economic relations, are ibid., Central Files, 110.11-HE/7–1159.
  3. Queen Elizabeth II visited Chicago on July 6 following the ceremonies opening the St. Lawrence Seaway.
  4. See Documents 279 ff.
  5. Documentation on the Geneva Foreign Ministers meeting May 11-June 20 and July 13-August 5 is printed in volume VIII.
  6. For text of this statement, see American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1959, pp. 721–723.
  7. In June the United States redeployed nine fighter and fighter-bomber squadrons based in France to airfields located in West Germany and the United Kingdom.
  8. Walter S. Robertson resigned as Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs effective June 30.
  9. For text of the Geneva Agreements on Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, July 20–21, 1954, see Foreign Relations, 1952–1954, volume XVI.
  10. On June 26, the Army Corps of Engineers announced the awarding of a $6,512,313 contract for eight hydroelectric turbines to Inglis Ltd. of Canada.