811.326/9–2845
Memorandum by the Under Secretary of State (Acheson) to the Director of the Office of Far Eastern Affairs (Vincent)
[Subject: Occupation of Chinese Cities by American Troops]
Before Mr. McCloy went away I had two talks with him on this subject.69 In the first one, he told me that he thought this plan was the residue of a larger plan in which it was contemplated that American troops would occupy several ports, including those now occupied by Soviet troops. He could not see much purpose in going ahead with the residue of the plan and his idea at that time was that it could be arranged to drop the plan.
He called me up the next day to say that he had had a talk with General Wedemeyer. He said that the General had stressed that there were in China somewhere in the neighborhood of 4,000,000 Japanese, 2,000,000 of whom were armed, whom it was necessary to evacuate. The General thought that the principal evacuation would take place through the ports at which it is now proposed to have American troops, although other ports would also be used. It was most essential that the ports should be strongly held and that the evacuation should take place in an orderly way. McCloy stated that the General further pointed out that the ports in question were those in the neighborhood of which trouble was most likely to start between the Government troops and the others and that therefore the presence of American troops would strengthen the position of the National Government, help to prevent any disorders from starting, and was desired by the Generalissimo. McCloy had asked General Wedemeyer to get in touch with you.
- See memorandum by the Director of the Office of Far Eastern Affairs (Vincent), supra.↩