761.93/5–2047: Telegram
The Ambassador in China (Stuart) to the Secretary of State
[Received 1:45 p.m.]
1095. Following is translation of text of memo handed by Foreign Minister to Soviet Ambassador on May 12 re Dairen and Port Arthur. (Reference Embtel 1043, May 14.)
[Page 523]“In reply to the Ambassador’s memo of May 5, 1947, concerning the naval base area of Port Arthur, Dairen, and the Chinese Changchun railway, the Minister of Foreign Affairs wishes to state again the following views: The Chinese Government notes the Soviet Government has instructed the Soviet military command to render the necessary assistance to Lt. Gen. Tung Yen-pin, special commissioner Chang Chien-fei and their assistants, who will be sent to Port Arthur and Dairen by the Chinese Government to study local conditions. Lt. Gen. Tung, Mr. Chang, and about 10 assistants will be conveyed by a Chinese warship to the naval base area of Port Arthur and the city of Dairen in the immediate future to investigate the general conditions in these regions so that the Chinese Government’s preparations for the restoration of its administrative authority therein will be facilitated. The Minister of Foreign Affairs will inform the Soviet Embassy of the date of their departure in due course.
The Chinese Government also notes that with regard to the joint operation of the Mukden-Dairen section of the Chinese Changchun Railway, the Soviet Government agrees to the proposal of the Chinese Government that detailed arrangements be worked out by the board of directors of the said railway. The Chinese Government is not desirous of seeing the execution of these arrangements delayed once its administrative authority in Port Arthur and Dairen is restored.
As to the entry of Chinese troops into the naval base area of Port Arthur, the Chinese Government still maintains the stand stated in the Foreign Minister’s memo of April 17. Article I of the Sino-Soviet agreement on Port Arthur explicitly provides for the ‘joint use by the two countries of Port Arthur as a naval base’, and it is also stipulated in article II of the agreement that ‘the precise boundary of the area provided in article I is described in the annex and shown in the map’. It is clear that the area to be used jointly by China and the Soviet Union should be the whole area of the naval base of Port Arthur and not confined to the harbor of Port Arthur. The provision of article III of the agreement that Port Arthur ‘will be used only by Chinese and Soviet military and commercial vessels’ purports to restrict the use of the port by vessels of any third country, and not to mean that the scope of the joint use by China and the Soviet Union will be limited to the harbor district only. Consequently, the Chinese Government has the right to station troops in the naval base area. As to the number and location of Chinese troops in this area, they can be discussed and determined by the Sino-Soviet military commission, as the Foreign Minister has already stated.
Concerning the entry of Chinese troops and police force into Dairen, the Foreign Minister wishes to make the following observations supplementary to his statement contained in the memo of April 17, in the hope that the full understanding of the Soviet Government may be obtained. According to the Sino-Soviet treaty, Dairen is subject to the military controls established in the naval base of Port Arthur ‘only in case of war against Japan’. That the war against Japan has actually terminated is an undeniable fact, and it is therefore entirely unnecessary to establish any military control there. Moreover, even though the naval base of Port Arthur can establish control over Dairen in the event of war against Japan, it must be so established as to meet [Page 524] the requirements of joint military operations against Japan by China and the Soviet Union, since the very purpose of this control is to facilitate the prosecution of war. Apparently, the entry of Chinese troops and police force into Dairen to protect the freedom and security of its administration cannot be deemed at any time as detrimental to the requirements of military operations against Japan. It is the view of the Chinese Government that the fundamental principle of the Sino-Soviet treaty is to enable both contracting parties to prevent the recurrence of Japanese aggression in a spirit of mutual aid and cooperation. In the light of this principle, either party must not so interpret the treaty as to hamper the other party in dealing with any matter which is not explicitly provided therein. With respect to the despatch of Chinese troops and police force to Dairen, therefore, the Chinese Government still adheres to the decision set forth in the Foreign Minister’s previous memo.
The Chinese Government is agreeable to the Soviet proposal for the early establishment of the Sino-Soviet military commission. It is the opinion of the Chinese Government, however, that the commission can only work smoothly if the Chinese and Soviet Governments can reach an agreement regarding the above-mentioned fundamental questions.”
Department please repeat to Moscow.