Foreign Relations of the United States, 1946, Council of Foreign Ministers, Volume II

740.0011 EW (Peace)/11–1346

The British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Bevin) to the Chinese Minister for Foreign Affairs (Wang)¹¹

C.F.M. (NY) 9 (15)

New York, 9 November, 1946.

Dear Dr. Wang: I have considered carefully the letter which you addressed to me on the 3rd September concerning the attitude of the Chinese Government on the application of the Berlin and Moscow Agreements in relation to the conclusion of peace with Germany.¹²

In your letter you refer to the procedure adopted for the preparation of the draft peace treaties with Italy, Roumania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Finland, by which the task of producing draft texts was entrusted to the representatives of the governments which were the signatories to the respective Armistice Agreements, and you pointed out that a new decision of the Council of Foreign Ministers would be required as to whether the same procedure should be followed in the preparation of the Peace Treaty with Germany. You stated that, irrespective of the membership of the Preparatory Body, the convocation of the Peace Conference, should be entrusted to the five members of the Council of Foreign Ministers acting jointly by virtue of their responsibilities for the maintenance of the peace settlement.

I am glad to be able to assure you that His Majesty’s Government is in general agreement with the procedure in your letter. The Berlin Agreement lays down that the Council of Foreign Ministers shall be utilised for the preparation of a peace settlement with Germany and it is within the framework of the Council that a decision on the appropriate procedure for the preparation of treaty drafts will eventually have to be taken. My present view is that, just as the five treaties now under consideration in New York were prepared by the four European members of the Council, so it would seem logical that the preparation of the peace settlement with Germany should also be entrusted to the representatives of the Soviet Union, the United States, France and the United Kingdom. But when the moment comes to call a conference to consider the draft treaties thus prepared, I can assure you that His Majesty’s Government is entirely in agreement with your views that the Chinese Government should be fully associated in the preparation of the arrangements for the Conference.

Sincerely yours,

Ernest Bevin

11. Foreign Secretary Bevin transmitted a copy of this communication to Secretary of State Byrnes on November 13, 1946, under cover of the following message:

    “Thank you very much indeed for your letter about the Chinese application in regard to the peace settlement with Germany, and for the copy of your reply to Dr. Wang Shih-chieh.

    “I have now sent off my reply and I enclose a copy.”

12. For Foreign Minister Wang’s memorandum as sent to the Secretary of State on September 3, 1946, see p. 941.