740.0011 PW (Peace)/8–2247: Telegram
The Ambassador in China (Stuart) to the Secretary of State 33
1770. I was summoned by the Foreign Minister yesterday evening (August 21) and handed a letter addressed by him to you which he asked to have transmitted through our facilities, indicating that he did not wish to rely on the security of the Chinese Embassy in Washington.
The Foreign Minister made it plain that he was much concerned over the attitude of the Soviets and the consequences of Soviet refusal to go along with the American peace proposal. He said that the Chinese Government wished to avoid offending the Soviets, especially because of the bearing of the matter on the problem of Dairen.34 He said that he felt sure that the Soviets would use a peace treaty negotiated without their participation as an excuse for intrenching themselves even deeper and for refusing any form of cooperation with China with respect to Dairen.
Following is text of letter:
“Dear General Marshall: I would not write to you personally were it not for the fact that the matter I am going to discuss in this letter is particularly important and merits your immediate attention.
Shortly after the contents of the verbal statement made by General Hilldring on July 11 were received, the Chinese Government informed the State Department through its Ambassador in Washington of its views regarding the proposed conference on peace with Japan. It will be recalled that in that reply the Chinese Government stated, among other things, that it would have to re-examine the matter in the event of Soviet Russia refusing to participate in the conference on the terms suggested by the United States and that the Chinese Government would like to know what further steps the American Government would take in case such a contingency arose.
[Page 497]Since then the Soviet Government has made its reply, from which it is clear that the stand taken by the Soviet Government in the matter is radically different from that of the American Government and that unless some modification of the original American proposal is conceded, it is scarcely possible to expect her attendance at the proposed conference. It is the opinion of my Government that the purpose of this conference being to seek the creation of greater stability in the Far East and thus to reap the fruit of real peace, no effort should be spared in securing the Soviet Government’s participation, so as to prevent her from pursuing independent lines of action. The policy of my Government in this matter will be based primarily on this consideration.
With a view to reconciling the divergent views and seeking a formula under which participation by all the interested powers would be possible, the Chinese Government thinks that the Foreign Ministers of the United States, the United Kingdom, the USSR and China should get together at the time of the forthcoming meeting of the General Assembly of the United Nations and engage in an exchange of views on the organization and procedure of the conference on peace with Japan in the hope that some agreement may be reached and an all-inclusive conference brought about. I shall appreciate it very much if you will give your careful consideration to this suggestion and let me have the favor of an early reply.
I am looking forward to the pleasure of meeting you again in September when the General Assembly of the United Nations meets.
With kindest personal regards, yours very sincerely, (Signed) Wang Shih-chieh.”
- Repeated in telegram 105, August 26, 7 p.m., to Petropolis, Brazil, for the U.S. delegation, headed by the Secretary of State, to the Inter-American Conference for the Maintenance of Peace and Security, held August 15–September 2, 1947.↩
- For documentation on the status of Dairen, see volume vii .↩