Office of the Historian

693.0031/3–145: Telegram

The Chargé in China (Atcheson) to the Secretary of State

Chungking, March 1, 1945—2 p.m.
[Received March 3—1:10 p.m.]

334. ReDeptel 1522, November 23, 5 p.m.;9 Embstel 1978, December 8, 11 a.m.,10 and Embdes 15, December 18.11

Foreign Affairs Political Vice Minister12 handed to me on February 23 brief oral statement on commercial policy of Chinese Government summarized as follows:

Chinese Government voluntarily supports free trade policy for which in recent years U. S. Government has energetically sought general acceptance and implementation, both at home and abroad, and earnestly seeks unremitting collaboration. When the Chinese Government establishes a postwar commercial policy it will be based on principles of reciprocity and equality in accordance with concept of international economic collaboration enunciated in Atlantic Charter13 as well as in spirit of article 7 of Mutual Aid Agreement between Chinese and U. S. Governments.14

Atcheson
  1. Foreign Relations, 1944, vol. vi, p. 1087.↩
  2. Ibid., p. 1093.↩
  3. Ibid., p. 1094.↩
  4. K. C. Wu.↩
  5. Joint declaration by President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Churchill, August 14, 1941; for text, see Foreign Relations, 1941, vol. i, p. 367.↩
  6. Signed at Washington, June 2, 1942, Executive Agreement Series No. 251, or 56 Stat. (pt. 2) 1494.↩