893.24/12–345
Memorandum of Conversation, by Mr. Fulton Freeman of the Division of Chinese Affairs
In response to an inquiry as to the conditions and authority under which war materials (including airplanes) are now being shipped from the Burma and India theatres to China, Colonel Crume85 informed me on November 30 that materials in these theatres which are no longer needed are being transferred to China under military Lend-Lease under authority contained in the President’s proclamation on Lend-Lease86 allowing the continuance of “assistance to Allied forces engaged against Japanese forces which have not surrendered”. This assistance, Colonel Crume stated, while not restricted in categories of materials which may be so supplied, is limited to a six-month period ending March 2, 1946, at which time all Lend-Lease transfers shall cease.
With regard to the specific question of the shipment of aircraft from Burma and India to China which has been widely reported in the press, Colonel Crume stated that the transfer of these aircraft is also a part of the military Lend-Lease program and is in no way connected with either the 39 Division Program or the disposal abroad of surplus war materials under the OANLC. He said that title to these planes, as in all cases of military Lend-Lease, still remains with the American Government and the question of eventual turnover to the Chinese Government will be dependent on future policy determination among [Page 1190] the various agencies of our Government. Colonel Crume emphasized in this regard that the shipment to China of these aircraft was purely an interchange between theatres and was being carried out at the instance of General Wedemeyer.
When queried with respect to the status of shipments under the 39 Division Program, Colonel Crume stated that no transfers to the Chinese Government had been made under this program. However, he stated, the outline of the program had been used as a basis for screening war materials which had been sent to China under regular assignment. Colonel Crume estimated that in this way 85–90% of the total amount of goods to be transferred to China under the 39 Division Program were already in the theatre and that approximately 35% of this amount had already been turned over to the Chinese by V–J Day. Thus I gathered from our conversation that when our surplus war materials which are now in the China Theatre are turned over to the Chinese Government, the projected supplying under the 39 Division Program will lack little more than 10% from completion.
(Note: Colonel Crume was apparently being confusingly legalistic. It appears that the essence of the information he gave is contained in the last sentence of the preceding paragraph.)