800.796/6–1044
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Director of the Office of Far Eastern Affairs (Grew)
Mr. Chang called this morning at his request and said that he had reported to Chungking the points brought up in our talks on post-war civil aviation, but that there had been a certain delay in receiving replies owing to the necessity of consulting several different departments of his Government. Now, however, replies to some of these points had been received and he found them in general of a favorable nature.
His Government takes the position that it must first build up its domestic aviation before profiting by reciprocity in international aviation and for that purpose China would welcome American assistance in the way of planes and equipment. He said that he had mentioned this in his recent talk with Mr. Berle, and that Mr. Berle had said that it would be proper for him to set forth in our group meeting this desire of his Government.
I said that I fully understood the desire of China to build up its domestic aviation before moving into the foreign field, but I assumed that even though China did not yet feel in a position to profit through reciprocity in international aviation, nevertheless, in view of the great advantages which would accrue to China through admitting foreign carriers, his Government would view with favor the proposals we had made for the establishment of airlines from the United States to his country. Mr. Chang replied that political as well as transportation problems were here involved and that while China would be glad to admit American carriers, his Government would feel differently about admitting the carriers of certain other countries.
Mr. Chang then said that the Soviet Ambassador had told him that we had already held three meetings with the Soviet aviation group and he asked me if I could tell him what progress had been made in our discussions. I replied that our initial talks had been chiefly concerned with clarifying the various points on our agenda, and that while the Russian group had indicated a generally favorable attitude towards some of these points no concrete agreements had yet been reached because, of course, the Russian group had found it necessary to consult the Government in Moscow.
[Page 491]Mr. Chang said that he was leaving for New York tomorrow to be absent most of next week, but that he would be glad to have a further meeting of our respective groups at any time during the following week, in order to tell us of his replies from Chungking. I said that I would consult my associates and would let him know in due course on what date a meeting could be arranged.