ANZUS Pacific Security Pact

The Council of the ANZUS Pacific Security Pact met in Washington on October 2, 1958. It was reported that the major emphasis during the meeting was given to the situation existing in the Formosa Straits. Thus in a statement issued following the meeting, the three member governments, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, called on the Chinese communists to discontinue their attacks on Quemoy and Matsu as a first step to a peaceful settlement. According to the press, the statement also expressed the principle that armed force should not be used to achieve territorial ambitions, and indicated agreement among the participants that militant and subversive communist expansionism remained the greatest threat to the peaceful progress of the free world. The member governments of ANZUS were represented as follows: for the United States, Mr. Dulles (Secretary of State), for Australia, Mr. Casey (Minister for External Affairs), and for New Zealand, Mr. Nash (Prime Minister and Minister for External Affairs).