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.  

A report on the anti-Soviet materials displayed in front of the Chinese Embassy in East Germany.

Bulganin proposes a halt on nuclear tests among the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom beginning on January 1, 1958.

This East German report, issued after the Interkit meeting in Warsaw, addresses the situation in China under the leadership of Mao Zedong. Among the issues discussed are the ninth congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Mao's anti-Soviet foreign policy, especially China's relations with the US and West Germany. The ninth congress of the CCP is said to have stabilized Mao's position and is seen as the founding congress of a new party. Among other topics, the delegates also discuss ways to improve anti-Maoist propaganda.

In response to Western reports about the Tiananmen Square protests, Chief Erich Mielke alerts State Security to suppress all offensive anti-Chinese activity and propaganda in the GDR.

The US National Security Council discusses recent release of prisoners of war in South Korea. The riots and disturbances in East Germany and Czechoslovakia are discussed in the context of the general “softening” of Soviet policy. The Council also discusses the possibility of a four-power meeting, and other alternative courses of action.