Washington, 18 September 1971
5184. Secret Priority
Chinese Representation
Your telegram 4666.1
I informed Marshall Green (Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs) today. He hopes Australia will still co–sponsor as whole exercise could collapse if delay continues before resolutions are submitted.
2. I hope that your telegram 4666 does not repeat not mean that if Japan does not co–sponsor Australia will not do so either. We are at a point where I think great damage could be done to future Australian–American relationships if the United States has to go to the United Nations with a resolution which does not have Australian co–sponsorship or if alternatively the United States has to abandon its present course because of failure by Australia to join with it.
3. It is true that the two resolutions under consideration are not assured of success. It may well be that a different approach would have had better prospects. But the stage has been reached where a decision has to be made about co–sponsoring two concrete resolutions and if they are to have any chance of success they need as much support as possible and at once. Newspaper reports already refer to Australian hesitancy and as I have reported previously these stories are worrying the Administration because of their likely adverse effects on possible supporters of the resolutions. If the United States introduces the resolutions without Australian co-sponsorship and the Republic of China is removed from the United Nations Australia will be widely regarded publicly and privately as bearing a share of responsibility for that removal.
4. But in any case a more important consideration in my view than whether the proposed tactics will succeed is the future of the Australian–American alliance.
I believe harm has already been done. We have been urging the Americans to act quickly in a way that would keep the Republic of China in the United Nations and we have urged them to specify in their resolution that the Security Council seat should be occupied by Peking. They have done so. We said we would co–sponsor the resolution if a representative group joined in doing so. A group does exist. While the group so far is not as wide as one would have hoped it includes the United States itself and the Philippines as well as some others and it might grow if Australia joins. If we now back out it will result in a weakening in our intimate co–operation with the United States at a time when we should be working to preserve and strengthen the links. Our motives will not be understood and accepted. The repercussions could extend to other parts of our co–operation in the Far East.
5. The Americans have been aiming at lodging their resolution on Monday. I hope that Australia will join them whatever the Japanese do.2
Plimsoll.
[NAA: Al838, 3107/38/19, ii]
1 18 September. Plimsoll was asked to advise the US Government that the Japanese were to be informed that if they co–sponsored the US resolutions; Australia would do likewise.
2 Bowen announced on 20 September that the Australian Government had decided to co–sponsor the resolutions.