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Mr. Pickles Mr. Wiggin
We need now to take stock in the light of the exchanges of telegrams with Washington.
2.
(a) On the question of a message from the
Prime Minister to the President (Washington telegram No. 2757);
(b) The talks in Geneva in the CTC (Geneva
telegram No. 543);
(c) The US/Hong Kong talks, chaired by Sir E. Melville, in Geneva (Geneva telegram No. 551).
Mr. Jordan and Mr. Herman were able to give us further impressions of the outcome of the Geneva meetings on their way through London yesterday at a meeting taken by Mr. Wilford.
·3.
The present position can I think be summarised as follows:
todoh I/3
DINA
(a) The Americans are concentrating on
an attempt to secure comprehensive bilateral agreements with low cost countries (at present Hong Kong and Japan):
(b) Hong Kong has stood firm and, despite some
rumours of doubt as between the
different Japanese authorities concerned, discussions with the Japanese have indicated that their position remains equally firm.
(c) Hong Yong has offered to discuss any
items of particular difficulty and it is possible that the Japanese will take a similar line. Both would be strongly opposed to a comprehensive bilateral agreement.
(a) The Americans have rejected a selective
approach. It is of course possible that in the last resort, if they cannot get anything better, they will probe the possibilities of a selective approach but according to Mr. Jordan, the figures I which the Americans produced in Geneva
indicate that, even on a selective basis 1 the Americans would find it hard to come up with a tenable case for restraint on any particular item.
(e) There would be little point in encouraging the Americans to take a selective approach unless it were envisaged that in the end one or two individual restraint agreements should be conceded to them.
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