Who declared that the only way he would meet Chinese delegate Zhou Enlai in Geneva was if their cars collided?

Answer 1

John Foster Dulles, Secretary of State to President Dwight D Eisenhower, is credited with saying the two of us (he and Zhou En-lai) might yet meet someday, if our cars should collide.

This was reported as an overheard exchange between Dulles and an 'associate' shortly after the opening of the Geneva conference on Indochina, in 1954, when Zhou, then Chinese Premier and Foreign Minister, extended his hand to the US Secretary of State, only to have it refused.

We know that incident is true because the great US diplomat, Dulles, was the centre of astonished attention from the world's press and diplomats at the time.

As for the quote, it isn't easy to give a lot of credence to an overheard remark to an unnamed associate, but given the character of Dulles it's something he might have said, which is perfectly sufficient for many people.

History is as much about who said what and to whom, as it is about who might have said what, and to whom. Provided it's plausible, it might as well be fact.