Aiken made an immediate impression on his arrival in the Twelfth Session of the UN General Assembly in September 1957. He adopted an impartial posture of assessing each issue on its merits and campaigning to remodel international politics around self-determination, humanitarianism, and peace. His exhortation was that only the UN had the moral authority and political legitimacy to put forward global solutions. While he did not propose nuclear disarmament measures specifically, his intent was signaled by his recommendation for a mutual drawback of foreign forces (including their nuclear weapons) in central Europe and his endorsement of a proposal to discuss the representation of China in the United Nations. The Eisenhower administration was hostile to Aiken’s course as outlined in the U.S. ambassador’s audience with Taoiseach Eamon de Valera and Aiken in Dublin on 2 October. The record underlines the Irish concerns about accidental nuclear war due to the proximity of opposing U.S. and Soviet forces in central Europe.  

This issue begins with a joint declaration from China and the German Democratic Republic about their Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation. It also discusses an encounter in which South Korean naval ships shot at and attempted to seize Chinese fishing boats. Other sections cover an agreement to import rice from Myanmar in exchange for Chinese goods, agriculture, and tax exemptions for medical organizations.

The CIA’s National Intelligence Daily for 5 December 1989 describes the latest developments in Philippines, East Germany, the Soviet Union, South Korea, Cambodia, Chile, Warsaw Pact, European Community, Czechoslovakia and Eastern Europe.

Zhou reports on the initial plans for his visit to Moscow and some of the conversations he's held concerning the Korean War.