now persist in a course of military aggression which would threaten
world peace, with all that would be involved. We believe that
diplomacy can and should find a way out. There are measures that can
be taken to assure that these offshore islands will not be a thorn in
the side of peace. We believe that arrangements are urgently required
to stop gunfire and to pave the way to a peaceful solution.

If the bilateral talks between Ambassadors do not fully succeed, there
is still the hope that the United Nations could exert a peaceful
influence on the situation.

In 1955 the hostilities of the Chinese Communists in the Formosa area
were brought before the United Nations Security Council. But the
Chinese Communists rejected its jurisdiction. They said that they were
entitled to Formosa and the offshore islands and that, if they used
armed force to get them, that was purely a "civil war" and that the
United Nations had no right to concern itself.

They claimed also that the attack by the Communist north Koreans on
south Korea was "civil war," and that the United Nations and the
United States were "aggressors" because they helped south Korea. They
said the same about their attack on Viet-Nam.

I feel sure that these pretexts will never deceive or control world
opinion. The fact is that Communist Chinese hostilities in the Formosa
Straits area do endanger world peace. I do not believe that any
rulers, however aggressive they may be, will flout efforts to find a
peaceful and honorable solution, whether it be by direct negotiations
or through the United Nations.