GENERAL
1.
Australian
attitude toward Pacific defense pact -- US Embassy Canberra has been informed by Australian Minister of
External Affairs Spender that his government desires to do everything possible
to promote a Pacific pact which would include military commitments. In
Spender’s view, however, no Pacific nation or group of nations can be expected
to embark on a course which without US backing might prove “futile and even
disastrous.” Spender believes that discussions at the forthcoming Baguio
Conference (called by the Philippine Government) will be futile, because of the
lack of support by Asian countries themselves and the absence of support from
the US.
EUROPE
2. GERMANY: Reform of German interzonal trade set-up urged -- The Berlin
branch of the US High Commission in Germany believes that “the time has come
for the Bonn Government to clean house” and remedy the unsatisfactory situation
regarding German interzonal trade. The Berlin branch recommends that the
Federal Republic’s interzonal trade negotiator be replaced and that more
adequate customs supervision be established on the Soviet Zone border; the
branch also suggests that preparations for sanctions which could be applied to
the German Democratic Republic whenever it departs from the interzonal trade
agreement should be completed. The branch proposes to ban at once iron and
steel shipments and 40 percent of other shipments to East Germany until the present
trade unbalance ends.
NEAR EAST-AFRICA
3. IRAN: US views on recent developments -- The Department of State, in
connection with the Shah’s recent appointment of Ali Mansur as prime minister
and his reported statement that the “fight against corruption” must be
postponed, has authorized US Ambassador Wiley to impress upon the Shah the need
to bring forward “less questionable” political leadership without too much
delay. The Department adds that unless key officials who symbolize policies of
progress and reform are named in the near future, the effect will be to
disappoint the US Government and people and to discourage Iranians sincerely
working for the benefit of their people. Wiley is also authorized to ask the
Shah about the truth of reports that secret Irano-Soviet negotiations are being
carried on, supposedly because Iran failed to receive what it considered
adequate US assistance.
FAR EAST
- MALAYA: US aid for Malaya recommended -- US representative Griffin, in continuing
the analysis of prospects for US assistance to various Southeast Asian
countries, concludes that Malaya’s strategic, political, and economic
importance justifies a small but urgent US aid program. Griffin believes
that Malaya’s long-run political orientation is at stake and suggests the
extension of immediate US assistance to provide:
(a) communication equipment for civil police;
(b) earth-moving equipment for the clearing of jungle roads, resettlement areas, and airstrips; and
(c) educational personnel to assist in reorienting the present pro-China and pro-Communist teaching in Malaya’s Chinese elementary schools.
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