840.50 UNRRA/4–445
The Chargé in China (Atcheson) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 19.]
The Chargé d’Affaires, a. i., has the honor to transmit a copy of a memorandum of conversation25 between Mr. Benjamin Kizer, in charge of the UNRRA Mission in China, and a member of the Embassy regarding several phases of UNRRA activities in China.
Summary: There appears to be no intention to coordinate UNRRA activities with an overall Chinese plan for postwar economic reconstruction. Chinese with whom Mr. Kizer has talked have made no reference to such an economic plan. He believes that the Chinese Relief and Rehabilitation Administration will not endeavor to formulate an ad hoc general economic plan, but will content itself with the reconstruction of particular prewar productive facilities which have been wholly or partially destroyed.
It is believed that China’s original proposals to UNRRA under which she would have undertaken to expend some NC26 $2,727,000,000 (prewar value) internally in addition to paying more than US$1,500,000,000 for imports, will be very drastically curtailed. China will probably not expend more than US$1,000,000,000, most of which will consist of internal expenditures.
A group of UNRRA and Chinese personnel have been sent to Kweiyang to investigate the possibility of affording aid to distressed areas of Kweichow Province. End Summary.
Mr. Kizer expressed concern over the question of extending UNRRA assistance to areas under Communist control. Before reaching a decision in this delicate matter he intends to confer with the American Ambassador and with representatives of the Army.