14. Letter From the Director of the Office of Chinese Affairs (Clough) to John B. Dexter at the Consulate General in Geneva0
Dear John: I can appreciate that you must be growing somewhat restive at the continued suspension of the talks and wondering whether you will ever have a chance to put your interpreting training to use. As you are aware, there has been little eagerness here to resume at the ambassadorial level what has been for the past two years a sterile exercise. However, now that the two priests have been released and their release [Page 28] cannot be interpreted as resulting from resumption of the talks, it has been decided to resume them primarily to keep before the world the continued violation by the Chinese Communists of their agreement to release the remaining four Americans.
It has tentatively been decided that it would be desirable to shift the venue of the talks to Warsaw and that the Chinese Communists should be sounded out to determine whether they are agreeable to such a move. The latter step is necessary, since if we were to propose the shift in a formal way and the Chinese Communists rejected it, we would be placed in the embarrassing position of having to back down or making an issue over what is a technical point.
We believe that the most suitable way to ascertain Peiping’s reaction to the contemplated Warsaw arrangement is through an approach from you to your opposite number, Wang’s interpreter. This is the channel we have used in the past to communicate with the Chinese Communists on administrative matters related to the talks. As soon as feasible you should seek an opportunity to inform Wang’s interpreter that we are considering appointing our Ambassador to Warsaw as our representative at the talks, and meeting henceforth in Warsaw, with a view to obviating time-consuming travel on the part of the two ambassadors. You should ask him to report your approach to his superiors and obtain their reaction to our suggestion.
Not unnaturally, you must be wondering how such a shift, if it goes through, will affect you personally. We would hope to be able to arrange your transfer to Warsaw, preferably in a newly created FE slot but possibly in an EUR one as is the case at present. However, there is no point of our trying to work out these arrangements until we receive a response from the Chinese Communists. In the meantime, it would be helpful if you would notify us whether there are any personal problems regarding your lease or any other matters that would stand in the way of your transfer.
Sincerely yours,
- 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.↩