Thomas J. Hamilton of New York Times phoned to ask China’s attitude on admission of Outer Mongolia. I replied, “We are opposed to admission of Outer Mongolia; if necessary, we would use the veto.” Why? “Because we consider Outer Mongolia is not a state at all. There is no such thing as independent Outer Mongolia.” How about the four European Communist states? “My instructions have not arrived.” I did this, partly because it was an open secret and partly because Walter Lippmann and others had been attacking U.S. delegation for opposing Outer Mongolia. I thought it only fair to draw part of the fire to me.
I told Francis Carpenter of AP 【美聯社] exactly what I told Hamilton, because I didn’t want him to lose out in professional competition.
Then I cabled home what I had done.
To my surprise, U.S. delegation reacted very unfavorably. Cabot Lodge told one of his boys to say to the press “China is committing suicide” and “U.S.A. is not going to ask anybody to vote against Outer Mongolia or to abstain.”