The Foreign Ministry instructed Wang that China would not have a determined time to release all the American citizens, as the US requested. However, China could agree to deal with the issue “as soon as possible” in the amendment.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs agreed the postponement of the twelfth meeting. The Ministry instructed Wang to invite Johnson to a private dinner immediately on receipt of this telegram.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry offers Ambassador Wang instructions for his upcoming dinner with U. Alexis Johnson.

The Foreign Ministry suspected that the US was trying to buy time using ridiculous excuses. China must prevent the US from doing so. The Ministry instructed Wang different responses to give in various scenarios, and asked Wang to change the word in the text “as soon as possible” to “expeditiously.”

According to the Ministry, it seemed that the US had agreed with the text of the agreement, and that the US was about to drop its emphasis on having China promise an exact time to release American civilians. The Ministry still instructed Wang to stand firm on China’s stance in case the US pressed the issue once again in the next meeting.

The Foreign Ministry's instructions regarding revising the draft, the preferred words, and the exchange of text and the information to release to the US after reaching an agreement.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry sends instructions for the Sino-American ambassadorial talks.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry suspected that China’s release of 11 American spies had put pressure on the US side, making the US open to the idea of having a higher level meeting. The Foreign Ministry instructed the Chinese representatives to urge the US to promise to release Chinese students in the US in the next meeting, and also urge the US to accept the suggestion of bringing in third country (India) to help the release process, including financial support.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry instructed Wang Bingnan how to counter-argue when Americans objected China’s suggestions regarding release of Chinese students in the US.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry instructed Chinese Representative Wang Bingnan to have the following major agreements in writing on the fifth meeting:
(1) Any nationals who were willing to return to their countries should be granted permission;
(2) China designated India and the US designated the UK to facilitate the repatriation of each other’s nationals.