893.24/1687
Memorandum by the Assistant Secretary of State ( Acheson ) to the Under Secretary of State ( Stettinius )
Mr. Stettinius: The attached memoranda from Mr. Van Buskirk,36 FEA,37 and Mr. Vincent of the Far Eastern Division in the Department38 refer to lend-lease aid to China.
A lend-lease administration has always had great difficulty in arranging for the transfer of non-military lend-lease goods to the Chinese. (Military lend-lease aid to China is consigned to General Stilwell who may transfer it to the Chinese Government at his discretion, retaining supervision over its use.) The difficulties limiting civilian aid to China arise not only from short supply and limited transport, but also, when supply is adequate and transport available, from the attitude of the War Department, which looks at the Chinese program purely in military terms. OLLA and the Department of State have been strongly of the opinion that, aside from military considerations, there are political factors of extreme importance which must be taken into account. The War Department has frequently regarded these political considerations as of minor importance, and only under specific directives from the White House has it, in certain cases, modified its supply decisions concerning China to conform with political commitments.
OLLA has therefore suggested the creation of a high ranking committee, to be under the chairmanship of Mr. Harry Hopkins if possible, which would review the present status of our lend-lease program for China in the light of political as well as military considerations. This committee would prepare recommendations concerning the extent and nature of the non-military aid which should be provided to China during 1944, apart from the Army Supply Program Schedule of [Page 514] Material to be consigned to Stilwell. If these recommendations are approved by the President, the committee could be charged with the implementation of the program, having much the same responsibility with regard to the Chinese program as the President’s Soviet Protocol Committee has with respect to the Russian program.
This proposal has been approved by the Far Eastern Division and by General Burns.39 If it meets with your approval, I suggest that you might wish to hold a meeting, to be attended by the appropriate people in OLLA and by General Burns, to consider the way in which this suggestion should be presented to the White House.