693.0023/4–2047: Telegram
The Ambassador in China (Stuart) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 21—4:05 a.m.]
854. Following is English translation of Chinese note dated April 16 [17]. (See immediately preceding Embassy telegram):
In reply to Your Excellency’s memorandum of April 10 regarding Port Arthur, Dairen and the Chinese Changchun railway, I have the honor to communicate to you the following statement:
[Page 516]The Chinese Government wishes to express its appreciation for your statement that the Soviet Government has already instructed the Soviet military authorities at the Port Arthur naval base to render assistance to the Chinese administrative personnel and that there are no anti-Government troops in Dairen and the Port Arthur area.
The Chinese Government has decided to send Lieut. Gen. Tung Yen-ping, Mr. Chang Chien-fei, special commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and assistants to Dairen and the Port Arthur area to investigate local conditions there. I wish to request, through Your Excellency, the Soviet Government to give order to the Soviet military authorities in the Port Arthur area, to render all necessary assistance to the aforesaid Chinese officials, so that they will be able to perform their task in safety.
Regarding the drafting of statutes for the Chinese Changchun Railway and the determination of the railway properties, the two commissions charged with these tasks may begin work in Nanking as soon as the Soviet members of these commissions have arrived.
The Chinese Government also agrees that after the return of the Chinese administrations to Dairen and the Port Arthur area, the Mukden-Dairen section of the Chinese Changchun railway can then be put under the joint operation of China and USSR. Detailed arrangements will be made by the board of directors of the Chinese Changchun Railway.
Concerning the appointment of the principal administrative officers for the Port Arthur naval base area and for the municipality of Port Arthur, the Chinese Government will act in accordance with article V of the Sino-Soviet agreement concerning Port Arthur.
It is true that according to the Sino-Soviet treaty of 1945, Dairen shall be subject to the control of the Port Arthur naval base area only during time of war against Japan. But the unconditional surrender of Japan took place more than a year ago; therefore the war against Japan no longer exists today. Certainly the Chinese Government should not be subjected to any restrictions in the exercise of its right to despatch troops to Dairen. There is no provision in the Sino-Soviet treaty of 1945 that restricts China’s right to send troops to Dairen even in time of war. The Chinese Government has now decided to despatch, beside armed police forces, about two brigades of the Chinese Army to Dairen. In case of necessity, Chinese Government will increase its military forces whenever an occasion should arise.
Under the terms of the Sino-Soviet treaty of 1945, the Port Arthur naval base is a military area to be jointly used by China and the Soviet Union. In principle the Chinese Government has the right to despatch troops to be stationed therein. The question of the number of troops and the localities where they will be stationed in this area can be discussed and settled by the Sino-Soviet military commission as matters relating to the joint use of the naval base.
The number of armed police forces to be sent by the Chinese Government to the Port Arthur naval base will be determined by the security and administrative requirements of the civil administration. In any case, the number of such police forces must be adequate for insuring the security of the administrative personnel and the unhampered [Page 517] performance of their duty. Upon these conditions, the Chinese Government does not object to local negotiation and settlement, between Chinese and Soviet representatives, of the questions of the numbers of armed Chinese police forces to be sent to the Port Arthur naval base area and the localities wherein they will be stationed. As to the number of armed Chinese police forces and of troops to be sent to Dairen and the localities wherein they will be stationed, the questions should be determined by the Chinese Government itself.
Sent Department 854, Department please repeat to Moscow as 18.