This declassified government record documents a critical diplomatic exchange concerning China's potential intervention in the Korean War. It is a summary of a message from His Majesty's Charge d'Affaires in Peking, dated October third, nineteen-fifty, available via The Black Vault at documents2.theblackvault.com.
This document was released under the Freedom of Information Act and declassified on October twenty-ninth, two thousand six, by the F-B-I. It is part of a larger collection of U.S. intelligence on China.
The document, titled "Message Received from His Majesty's Charge d'Affaires, Peking, dated 3rd October, 1950," states:
"Chou En-lai received the Indian Ambassador at Peking time morning of October third and informed him that if 'American' Armed Forces crossed thirty-eighth parallel the People's Government of China would send in troops across the frontier to participate in the defense of North Korea. Chou said this action would not be taken if only South Korean troops were to cross the thirty-eighth parallel. (The Indian Ambassador said that in this context 'American' Force is synonymous with United Nations troops)."
The document continues: "Chou said he had had a report (not yet confirmed) that American troops had in fact already crossed thirty-eighth parallel. Chou went on to say that the Chinese Government was prepared to accept the Indian Government's position regarding Korea as stated by Nehru at Press Conference on September twenty-sixth, but that China would accept no settlement of Korean question to which China was not a party."
The document concludes with distribution notes, indicating it was sent to various offices including U.L., G., S.M.A., H.E.A., C.A., W.A., L., and S/S.
The Black Vault, an archive of declassified government documents, notes that this message indicates that "China was prepared to send troops into North Korea if U.S. forces crossed the 38th Parallel."
This is what the public record looks like at its most ordinary. Find this document and others at storyflo.com, and its canonical U-R-L at archive.org/download/us-china-intel-CI00502/CI00502_djvu.txt.
