740.0011 EW (Peace)/7–1246: Telegram
The Ambassador in France (Caffery) to the Acting Secretary of State44
[Received 2:41 p.m.]
Unnumbered. Dept please transmit following to Nanking as Paris number 7.
Please transmit following reply from the Secretary of State to the communication received from Foreign Minister Wang Shih-Chieh (re your 1105 to Dept, July 8, and repeated to Paris).
“The Moscow agreement of December 1945 provided for the convocation of a conference in Paris for the purpose of considering treaties of peace with Italy, Rumania, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Finland when the work on the drafts had been completed by the members of the Council of Foreign Ministers charged with their preparation. It was then also provided that a conference consisting of the five members of the Council of Foreign Ministers together with all members of United Nations which actively waged war with substantial military force against European enemy states should be held in Paris not later than May 1, 1946.
“As the Chinese Govt is likewise aware, the Foreign Ministers of the US, UK, and USSR have further agreed that the procedure adopted at Moscow for dealing with these specific treaties does not constitute a precedent for peace settlements which are not the subject of the present discussions.
“Owing to circumstances of which the Chinese Govt is fully cognizant it was not possible to call the conference on the scheduled date. The July 4 agreement of the Ministers, charged with the preparation of the draft peace treaties, related solely to the establishment of a new date for the conference.
“In accordance with the agreement of December 1945 modified as to the date by the agreement of July 4, the French Govt has issued invitations to the forthcoming conference on behalf of the Council of Foreign Ministers and in accordance with the Council’s decision of July 8.
“Furthermore the Ministers who prepared draft treaties have proposed to the members of the conference that its chairmanship will be held in the first place by the representative of the host govt and thereafter in turn by each of the members of the Council of Foreign Ministers in the French alphabetical order. It is hoped that the Chinese [Page 918] Govt will be represented in the person of its Foreign Minister who in accordance with this proposal would assume the presidency of the conference immediately after the representative of France.
“The United States Govt is confident that the Chinese Govt will recognize that no modification of the Moscow agreement has been made by the Foreign Ministers assembled in Paris and that it will continue to demonstrate its full cooperation in facilitating the process of its settlements in Europe by participating in the work of the conference and its commissions.
“On July 5 I informed the Chinese Ambassador here fully with regard to this matter and I am looking forward with the greatest pleasure to renewing our association of last September at the meeting of the Council in Paris later this month.”45
- This message was repeated by the Department to Nanking on July 12, 1946.↩
Telegram 1178, July 23, 1946, from Nanking transmitted the following reply from Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Shin Chieh:
↩“I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note transmitted to me through your Chargé d’Affaires in Nanking on July 14, 1946, concerning the convocation of the Peace Conference at Paris.
“I appreciate your assurance that the agreement of July 4 of the 4 Foreign Ministers related solely to the establishment of a new date for the Conference, and that no modification of the Moscow agreement has been made by the Foreign Ministers assembled in Paris. The Chinese Government has decided to participate in the Peace Conference to be held at Paris on July 29, 1946.
“I personally look forward to the opportunity of cooperating with you again at the forthcoming conference towards the attainment of our common goal.” (740.0011 EW (Peace)/7–2346)