740.00119 Council/1–1547
The Chinese Foreign Minister (Wang) to the Secretary of State 9
With reference to the meeting in London of the Deputies of the Foreign Ministers of the United States of America, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom and France and the forthcoming meeting of the four Foreign Ministers in Moscow on the peace settlements for Germany and Austria, the Chinese Government, in consistence with its previous declarations, wishes to invite the attention of the Government of the United States to the following observations:
In accordance with the terms of the Potsdam Agreement of August 2, 1945, which charges the Council of the Foreign Ministers, representing the five Principal Powers, with the task of continuing the necessary preparation for the peace settlements, it is the understanding of the Chinese Government that although the work of drafting a peace treaty with each of the six European enemy states, namely, Italy, Roumania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Finland and Germany, is entrusted [Page 146] to those members of the Council whose governments were signatory to the terms of surrender imposed upon the enemy state concerned, there should be prior consultation and agreement among all the five members of the Council of Foreign Ministers on matters concerning the convocation of the Peace Conference to which the draft treaty will be submitted. Such prior consultation and agreement is particularly necessary in the case of a peace settlement for Austria, for neither the draft of such a Peace Treaty nor in that connection the convocation of a Peace Conference is referred to in the Potsdam Declaration. Accordingly, the Chinese Government urges that the members of the Council of Foreign Ministers agree to the following: (A) There shall be a conference of the members concerned of the United Nations on peace settlements for Germany and Austria. (B) The conference shall be convoked in the name of the full Council of Foreign Ministers, with the Five-Powers represented thereon as sponsoring powers. (C) All procedural matters in connection with the convocation of the conference, such as the countries to be invited and the time and place of the conference, shall be subject to prior consultation and agreement among the five members of the Council.
As to China’s views concerning the substantive issues on the subject of peace settlements for Germany and Austria, the Chinese Government reserves the right to present them after the general procedure for the convocation of the peace conference has been agreed upon by the Council of Foreign Ministers as suggested above. When such agreement obtains, the Chinese Government will not insist upon participating in the work of drafting the peace treaty with either Germany or Austria. Lastly, it is understood that the competency of the forthcoming meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the United States of America, the Union of Social [Soviet] Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom and France shall be confined to questions connected with the drafting of peace treaties with Germany and Austria. Any departure from this scope must be a matter for prior consultation and agreement among all the members of the Council of Foreign Ministers.
Identical notes are being sent to the Foreign Ministers of the United Kingdom, the Union of the Social [Soviet] Socialist Republics and France.
- This message was transmitted to the Secretary of State by the Chinese Ambassador in Washington, V. K. Wellington Koo, in a note dated January 15, 1947, not printed.↩