693.0023/4–2047: Telegram
The Ambassador in China (Stuart) to the Secretary of State
[Received 10:59 p.m.]
853. Following is English translation of Soviet note dated April 10 (see next following Embassy’s telegram):
In reply to your statement of March 31 on the questions of the naval base of Port Arthur, of Port Dairen and of the Chinese Changchun Railway, I have the pleasure to transmit to you the following statement:
The Soviet Government has taken into account the statement of Chinese Government regarding its intention to despatch a Chinese civil administration to Dairen City and to the zone of the naval base of Port Arthur. This decision of the Chinese Government is in accordance with the desire of the Soviet Government, mentioned in my statements to you on December 3, 1946 and on March 7, 1947. The Soviet military command in the naval base has been instructed to give assistance to the Chinese Civil Administration in the carrying out of its functions and duties.
With regard to your statement that the establishment of the Chinese Civil Administration in Dairen and Port Arthur was delayed due to the presence of non-Government troops in the vicinity of these cities, I am obliged to state to you that there were in the past, and there are at present, no such troops either in the vicinity of Dairen and Port Arthur, or in the territory of the naval base. The alleged situation mentioned in your statement cannot, therefore, be considered as the reason for the delay of the establishment of Chinese civil administration in the above mentioned zone, which is provided in the Sino-Soviet agreement on Dairen and Port Arthur.
In article V of the agreement on Port Arthur, it is provided that in making appointments for the principal posts of the Chinese administration in the area of the naval base, the interests of USSR in the area should be taken into account by the Chinese Government. The principal officials of the civil administration in the city of Port [Page 515] Arthur shall be appointed and dismissed by the Chinese Government in agreement with the Soviet military command.
In pursuance of this provision, the Soviet Government expects the Chinese Government to act accordingly. The Soviet Government has no objection to the despatch of Chinese police into Dairen and into the area of the naval base of Port Arthur, in such numbers as are deemed necessary for the functioning of the civil administration. At the same time, the Soviet Government considers it to be necessary that the question of number and location of the Chinese police force to be sent into the area of the naval base should be a matter of prior agreement with the Soviet military command, in accordance with article V of the agreement on Port Arthur, which provided that the recommendations of the Soviet military command on questions of security shall be carried out by the Chinese Civil Administration. The intention of the Chinese Government to send Chinese troops into the naval base area of Port Arthur is not in accordance with the Sino-Soviet agreement on Port Arthur, insofar as the defence of the naval base is entrusted to the Soviet Government by the Chinese Government regarding Port Dairen, it is in accordance with the Sino-Soviet agreement that in time of war with Japan, Dairen shall be subjected to the military control established in the area of the naval base. As the state of war with Japan is not yet terminated, because there is not yet a peace treaty with Japan, the military control of the naval base is still being extended to Dairen.
Based on the reasons mentioned above, the Soviet Government cannot agree to the sending of Chinese troops into the naval base area of Port Arthur and Dairen, as it is contrary to the Sino-Soviet agreement.
As to the resumption of the work of the commissions on the determination of property and the drafting of the statutes of the Chinese Changchun railway, the Soviet Government is prepared to send to Nanking its representatives to serve on the afore-mentioned commissions.
Meanwhile, the Soviet Government, in accordance with its proposal of March 7 of this year, considers it necessary to reestablish, without further delay, the joint Sino-Soviet operation on those parts of the Chinese Changchun Railway, especially the part between Mukden and Dairen, in which operation is now possible.
Department please repeat Moscow as 17.