Statement by the President on United Nations Negotiations With Communist China for Release of American Airmen and Other Personnel

THE SECRETARY GENERAL of the United Nations has returned from his mission to Peiping. He has not yet formally reported but has indicated that his visit represented only a first stage in United Nations negotiations to achieve the release of the American airmen and other United Nations personnel detained in Red China. He believes that progress has been made and urges that restraint be exercised to permit of further efforts.

Quite naturally, the immediate reaction of all Americans to the Secretary General's announcement is disappointment. All of us are rightly aroused that our airmen have not long since been released by their Communist captors in accordance with the clear terms of the Korean Armistice.

We must never forget one fundamental thing: We want our airmen returned safely to their homes.

All Americans are united and dedicated to this cause. Truth and right are on our side. We must have faith in the community of nations and in the tremendous influence of world opinion.

It will not be easy for us to refrain from giving expression to thoughts of reprisal or retaliation. Yet this is what we must not now do. We must not fall into a Communist trap and through impetuous words or deeds endanger the lives of those imprisoned airmen who wear the uniform of our country.

They are fighting men, trained to discipline. We now owe them discipline from ourselves. We must support the United Nations in its efforts so long as those efforts hold out any promise of success.