Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, 1943, China

893.9111/47

Memorandum by Mr. Lauchlin Currie, Administrative Assistant to President Roosevelt, to the Chief of the Division of Far Eastern Affairs ( Hamilton )

Washington , January 13, 1943.

You will be interested in the attached excerpt from a letter from John Fairbank,⁵ dated December 30. The Ta Kung Pao editorial did not come out until the fifth.

[Annex]

Excerpt From a Letter From Professor John K. Fairbank to Mr. Currie, Dated December 30, 1942

The latest bombshell here is the story, from Franklin Ho, that the British delegation at the IPE⁶ conference in Canada brought out a proposal to give Manchuria to Russia or to internationalise it. The Gimo⁷ got this report by cable and hit the ceiling; it has not yet been published or reported in detail. It is regarded as the most serious development in a long time (and is rather a climax to the love feast indulged in by both parties to the British Parliamentary Mission here earlier this month.)

5. Representative in China of the Interdepartmental Committee for the Acquisition of Foreign Publications (IDC), of the Library of Congress, and of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS).
6. Institute of Pacific Relations.
7. Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, President of the Chinese Executive Yuan (Premier).