- I DEPAR'I11 E1'IT OF STATE ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERW I SE n OI CAT ED DPC 195 TRANSCRI Pr OF DA ILY PRESS CON FERENCE TUESDAY o SEPTOOER 29 1964 MR McCLOSKEY e have had a number of qu es t i on s in th e Depa r t ment till s mo rn i ng growi ng ou t of a broa dca st l a st n i gh t on the s u bje c t o f Ch inese n ucle ar c a pa b il i t y The f o l l owing i s t o be at t r ibute d to the Secre t a ry Fo r s o me t i me i t h a s b e en known t h a t t h e Chi n e s e Communi s t s were a pp roa c hi ng t he po i nt where th ey mi g ht b e ab l e t o de tona t e a fi r st nuc l ear de vice plos i on mi ght occu r i n the ne a r fUture Such an exIf it does oc c ur we s ha l l know abo ut it a nd wi l l make the informat i on pu bl i c I t has b e en known sinc e the 1950' s t ha t t he Ch i n e s e ComPUn l s t s had b e e n wo rki ng t o d ev e l o p a nuc l e ar de vic e o The y not onl y Ca ile d t o si gn but s trongly op p o s e the Nuc l ear Test Ban Treaty whi c h ha s be en signed by I 100 c ount ri es o v r The de tonation of a t i r at de vi c e does no t mean a s t oc kpi l e o r nuc l ear weapons a nd the pres ence o r 1 mo dern del i very ays t ems The Un ite d States haa f ull y anticipa t ed the pos s ibi li ty of Pe i ping' g e nt ry into t he 1I nucl ear e e e pon s YI e l d a nd has take n it into f ull a c co un t l i l etenn inlng ou r mili t a r y po s t u re and ou r o n nu c l ear wea pol t I ' p rogr a ra I We wou l d depl ore e ceoe pne r-rc t esti ng i n t he f a ce of s e r i o us e ffort s ma le by a l ost all o t he r na tions t o p ro- t ec t th e at mosphe r e f r om f ur t her c on t amina t i on a nd t o be gin t o put lilll i t a t i on s upon a s pi ra l i ng e rras race Tha t i s t u b e tt r lbut 'd t o th Sec r et a r y of St a t e ' - ' I -- - IT Hm i - LASSIHED EB 13g Aumg 1 EH HAWK ats Q What wculd ycu say this statement a There was a brcadcast last night dealing with this subject which raised a number cf inquiries in the Department this mcrning R ch1d ycu identify the brdadcast -- the scurce cf the brcadcast a It was a televisicn brcadcast Q Ecb there have been a number cf brcadcasts and articles an this subject in recent years cculd you tell us what it was Here there allegations cr on this thing that ycu can cite tc which this is directed I mean what the Secretary's statement I a I think there was scme speculaticn as tn the degre cf immin nce Q In cther words it was indicated that it was imminent A That was the speculaticn cf the brcadcast yes as I understand it Q Well in crder to make the make any sense that's what I mean Q sh as I recall Under Secretary Harriman when he was Assistant Secretary Far East said in 1952 the dhinese might a device by the end cf that year Has there been any'further that has ccme tc the Department s attenticn which makes it likely i j I A Well 1 wou l d n ' t wan t to y any th I n e DOTe - and I put this ON BACKGROUND __ from than va ri e t y of source s we know that it 16 quite pos s i b l e t hat a fi r st Chinese nuclear expl osion cou ld oc cur at any tillle Q You say from a va r i ety of s ources ' A Yes a I r Q I be liev e that the Depa r t me nt h o o also s aid tha t more than on ce 1n the pa st I s the cu r r ent inf orma t i on b elieve d t o be so me what mo r e suggestive or c onc l us i ve A I t hi nk that 18 a f air a s s umption y es Q I think I n Sec r etary Harriman1s s peech - - I am Jus t drawing fran memory__he indicated 1n that s peec h t hat it would be by the end o f t hi s decade before the Chinese c ould de live r A Is tha t a ti l l o fai r es t i ma t e He r e agai n I am on BACKQ ROUND - - the matter of de l ive ry s ystems l a I WQuid t hi nk a l ong wa y trom realizati on by t he Chinese CoallIluni8 tS That e f f ort need- l eaa t o s a y i s a long and diffi cult proc esl e ven f or a very highly i ndu6 t ria li e d nat i on with a high degree of sophi s tication Q Taking that int o account a r e you prepared t o add r e8S you r s elf i n ny way t o the psycho l ogica l impac t in SOutheast Asia of the detonation of an ini tial b last A Well onl y t o say tha t from our own po int of Vi ew o the e xplos i on of a Ci r8 t de vi c e by the Chine e wi l l no t aff ect ou r ab i lity o r o ur Willingne ss t o ooailt Asian assassin-so we mac-am kamvss i nations to defend themselves against Communist aggression Q That's an THE a That is DH Q Has there been any or will there be any consultati between Washington and Moscow as the prime signatories of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty on the implications of a possible Chinese atmospheric explosion s I would not want to speculate on just whom we will be discussing this with at this time Q Can you say that there have been any contacts so far regarding this possibility n I don't think I could answer that now I could sa that this possibility has been discussed with our Allies Q Bob is the United States absolutely positive from the techniques and so on that the Chinese have not or didn't make any sort of nuclearckwice up to this time A Yes I think so Q You think that s We are satisfied up until now that they have not detonated any kind of nuclear device Q Has this discussion with the Allies been recent a Yes Q Could you say where and when s No I would not be in a position to be any more Specific n w manna us- AT kill u- Q Is there any evidence at all of outside aid in the construction of this device from any country a No apparently not The Soviet Union it's commonly agreed withdrew whatever technological assistance they were affording several years ago Q Do you have anything to say on what would he the effect on the Test Ban Treaty of a nonusignatory conducting atmospheric tests a No I would not want to speculate on that at this time I would say as a personal guess UN BACKGEUUND that this wouldn t have any drastic effect on the current Test Ban Treaty Q Do you remember offhand whether the treaty con- tains any clause -- escape clause on the possibility of a third pariy conducting tests a As I recall there is some language in the treaty which permits of abrogation if you like in terms of supreme national interest I believe that term is used and I think there is also a clause that calls for a speci- fied period of notification Q It's 90 days a Three months Q But it doesn't refer specifically to the possi- bility of a third partyconducting tests a I don't recall any reference to that but I would want to look at it much more closely to he certain qu urn-J- REFRMED ARCHIVES Q when you're saying there wouldn t be as a persons guess you said there wouldn t be an effect on the Test Ban Treaty were you indicating that the United States would gzek to resume testing if the Chinese explode a nuclear device a Say that again Q Were you trying to indicate that the United States would not seek to abrogate the treaty to resume testing if the Red Chinese detonated the device a Yes I don't foresee any initiative by the U S in this direction Again I don t see that as things now stand that this will have any effect on the treaty And remember too that we are talking about something that hasn't happened yet Q Can you say where in Red dhina an explosion might take place a No a Bob on another subject I understand some more African delegates have arrived Can you say whether anyone in the Department will be seeing any of these representativ a No I am informed that the Foreign Minister of Ghana is here and I checked just before I came down and there have been no appointments scheduled for any of these gentlemen as of now Q Have they met anybody so far from the Department 1 PF - - AT THE HhT'H lul A as you know the Kenya Minister has had talks with Governor Williams Apparently no one else has met anyone in the Department is and when these meetings are set up we'll let you know Q What's the name of the Kenya Minister a Botsio First name is Kojo Q When did he arrive a Uh apparently in the last day or so Q The Guinean one was due in on Monday a Only that we know he was expected to arrive today Q On another subject if I may a few days ago just before the weekend the Chicago Tribune had a story about the burning of some duplicate State Department files The Department issued a statement explaining the procedure How today Mr Miller who is running for office has brought up this question again and has some additional charges to make impugning the Department s motives I douht if you ha time I gee this story since it Just moved Do you have any commen1 a No I ll look at it and see what the remarks are and if there is something that our statement of Friday does not cover 1 11 let Q There are a few things particularly in connection with the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee relationship on this thing which was not covered in your statement a I'll read them with some interest DECLASSIFIED Ame 9 a HAPA one 8 Q That's the spirit Q Bill Bundy oted in Tokyo as saying the war could be expanded outside Viet Nam if that is forced upon us by the Communists and in the same cycle of news the President is saying he would be very cautious in dropping bombs and not going North at this stage of the game and know some folks that think starting a war would be mighnreasy I have been asked as to whether there is a conflict or discrepancy between these two viewpoints A I don't think so I have taken note of those remarks and I don't see that there is really any incon- sistency For a long time there have been two constant themes in U S Government statements regarding Viet Nam one essentially that the U S does not want a wider war and further that Communist aggression in South Viet Nam is dangerous to the peace Now these themes if you will seem to me to be whatweze eXpressed yesterday neither 'are new and neither are inconsistent Q Bob is there anything new to report on -- A Excuse me Just a second I hope to have the text of the Bill Bundy speech reproduced and have it available late today And I was corrected a minute ago I referred to the Minister of Kenya -- he is properly the Minister of State a-naw in the investiga PH A Ha I m afraid net Q De yen have anything en Brnsin's series nf talks here in the Department yesterday a He sir There is nething I ean say annut that at this time Q Thank ynu Press ennferenee concluded at 1 00 P M Pf a0rlen This document is from the holdings of The National Security Archive Suite 701 Gelman Library The George Washington University 2130 H Street NW Washington D C 20037 Phone 202 994-7000 Fax 202 994-7005 nsarchiv@gwu edu