CONFIDENTIAL
HONG KONG TELEGRAM NO. 883 TO C.0.
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6. IN CONSIDERING FUTURE POLICY WE MUST REGARD ENTERPRISE' AS SUI
GENERIS AND AN EXCEPTIONAL CASE, SHE IS NOT ONLY A HUGE CARRIER BUT
NUCLEAR-POWERED. SHE HAS STIMULATED A FORMAL PROTEST AFTER EACH OF
HER THREE VISITS CAS NO OTHER SHIP HAS) AND WE MUST NOW ACCEPT SHE
ALWAYS WILL. ANY FUTURE VISIT WILL NEED MOST CAREFUL THOUGHT, BUT,
AS SHE HAS FINISHED HER TOUR HERE AND IS UNLIKELY TO BE PROPOSED FOR
ANOTHER VISIT UNTIL THE MIDDLE OF NEXT YEAR AT THE EARLIEST, I
WOULD LIKE TO LEAVE HER OUT OF OUR PRESENT CALCULATIONS.
T
7. AS REGARDS OTHER LARGE SHIPS, I AM CONVINCED THAT THEIR SIGNIF-
ICANCE HAS BEEN OVER-ESTIMATED. THERE WERE ADMITTEDLY TIMES IN 1965
AND 1966 WHEN THE BIG CARRIERS GOT INTO THE WORLD PRESS FOR THEIR
ACTIVITIES IN VIETNAM WATERS AND AS A RESULT THEIR VISITS HERE WERE
ATTACKED BY THE LOCAL COMMUNISTS. AMERICAN SECURITY HAS STOPPED THIS
PUBLICITY AND SUCH ATTACKS HAVE CEASED. ALTHOUGH I STILL REGARD A
STRIKE CARRIER AS POTENTIALLY CONTROVERSIAL, THEY HAVE NOT BEEN SO
RECENTLY AND THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT ANY OTHER LARGE SHIP IS OR
EVER HAS BEEN. THE ONLY 'PARTICULARLY CONTROVERSIAL SHIPS ARE,
HOWEVER ILLOGICALLY, THOSE WHICH ARE NUCLEAR-POWERED.
8. THE COMMUNISTS CERTAINLY KEEP A TALLY OF THE TOTAL NUMBER OF
VISITING SHIPS BUT THERE IS LITTLE EVIDENCE THEY DISTINGUISH BETWEEN
THEM, THE VAST VARIETY OF SILHOUETTES IS AGAINST IT. THE VISIT OF A
NUCLEAR-POWERED SHIP IS INEVITABLY SINGLED OUT FOR COMMENT CAS IS THE
VISIT OF AN ADMIRAL 'TO PLOT ACTIVITIES' BUT NO OTHER SHIP HAS
BEEN, UNLESS SPECIFICALLY PUBLICISED BEFOREHAND IN THE WORLD PRESS.
I DO NOT BELIEVE, THEREFORE, THAT THE EXISTENCE OF A GAP BETWEEN THE
VISITS OF MAJOR UNITS HAS THE LEAST SIGNIFICANCE IN CHINESE EYES.
I FULLY AGREE, HOWEVER, THAT THE OVERLAPPING OF LARGE SHIPS SHOULD
CONTINUE TO BE AVOIDED: AFTER SO LONG, THE ABANDONMENT OF THIS
PRINCIPLE COULD JUSTIFIABLY BE REGARDED AS AN ESCALATION AND THERE-
FORE PROVOCATIVE,
CONFIDENTIAL
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