PARIS, March 13—Discretion surrounds the contacts being made here between the United States and China, which suits the man at the American end—Arthur K. Watson.  Unlike Sergeant Shriver, his flamboyant predecessor as Ambassador to France, he has not made his name familiar to ordinary Frenchmen during his two years in the big office overlooking the Place de la Concorde. He has let it be known that he wants to conduct the discussions with Huang Chen, the Chi nese envoy here, away from the limelight—in the style he has followed since President Nixon unexpectedly took him from his family's concern, International Business Machines, and made him a diplomat.  Ambassador Huang, no chatterbox himself, will face a fairly representative product of modern American capitalism, one with a dynamic and international outlook. If they discuss trade it will be a topic Mr. Watson particularly understands; as director of I.B.M.'s foreign operations before he became Ambassador, he was strong exponent of free trade.  The dynamism is manifest in his appearance and lifestyle. A month from his 53d birthday, Dick Watson, as he is known to friends, is tall and slim—he keeps in shape with as much sailing, and skiing as his job allows—and almost boyish looking despite his close‐cropped silver hair. He also has a boyish way of talking that’ the French diplomatic community does not find scintillating. But if he appears to lack the professionalism the French prize in diplomacy, they find other qualities they consider valuable.  For one thing, he likes France and handles the language well. For another, he is considered ‘to be close to Mr. Nixon and to reflect his outlook.  Though he has managed to stay out of the headlines, he has not shut himself up in the embassy. Piloting his own turboprop plane, he frequently tours France Old the rest of Western Etirope.  Dealing with the Chinese will undoubtedly require considerable patience, but Mr. Watson is not the most even‐tempered of men. Smiling and affable he may be in public, but his bursts of temper and demonstrations of extreme sensitivity have been known to cause some strains in the embassy.  Arthur Kittredge Watson, the younger son of Thomas J. Watson, was born inA Summit, N. J., on April 23, 1919. After attending Hotchkiss and Yale (class of 1942), he served in the Army Ordnance Corps in World War II, rising to the rank of major.  In 1947 he joined I.B.M. as a salesman and two years later was made vice president of its World Trade Corporation. He became president in 1954 and chairman of the board in 1963 while his brother, Thomas Jr., was running the parent company.  The brothers maintain a close relationship but diverge on politics, Arthur active in Republican affairs and Thomas friendly to the Democrats, the Kennedy family in particular.  While traveling extensively and developing I.B.M.'s international operations, Arthur Watson participated in Government work on trade delegations and as a member of Nelson Rockefeller's 1969 mission to Latin America.  In 1948 Mr. Watson married Ann C. Hemingway and they have six children—three daughters, who are in school in the United States, and three sons—ranging in age from 12 to 21.  When the close‐knit family is all together these days, they have enough room to turn around in at the newly renovated embassy residence, a former Rothschild mansion on the Rue du Faubourg St.Honoré. Included in its furnishings are furniture, art and pinball machines from the Watson home in New Canaan, Conn.  We are continually improving the quality of our text archives. Please send feedback, error reports, and suggestions to archive_feedback@nytimes.com.  A version of this archives appears in print on March 14, 1972, on page 16 of the New York edition with the headline: Men in the News. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
biog sketch of Amb A K Watson, who will negotiate in Paris with Amb Huang Chen; Watson's full name is Arthur Kittredge Watson