893.01/6–2547: Telegram
The Ambassador in China (Stuart) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 25—4:43 a.m.]
1394. Following is translation of text of a note which the Foreign Minister handed this morning to the Soviet Chargé d’Affaires (Embtel 1390, June 2477):
“The inspection mission under Lieut.-General Tung Yen-ping and Commissioner Chang Chien-fei, sent by the Chinese Govt to inspect the situation in the Port Arthur area and Dairen, arrived at Port Arthur on June 3, 1947. On the 4th and 6th, they twice conferred with the Soviet military authorities in Port Arthur regarding the programme of their inspection. As soon as inspection work commenced on June 7, however, various kinds of hindrances were encountered by them. They did not receive the assistance promised by the Soviet Govt, and as a result they were obliged to leave Port Arthur on June 12, without having fulfilled their mission. I will now relate to you the important points from the report submitted by the mission as follows:
- 1.
- On June 7, the so-called ‘Kwantung administration’, a local administrative organ established under the auspices of the Soviet military authorities at Port Arthur, rejected the demand of the officials despatched by Lieut.-General Tung Yen-ping regarding the work of inspection, on the ground that Lieut.-General Tung had neglected to pay a courtesy call on the administration. At the same time, the Soviet commander declared that the said ‘Kwantung administration’ was a representative organ elected by the people, and cannot be ordered by Soviet military authorities to accept, against its own wishes, the inspection of the Chinese Govt mission.
- In spite of a tardy agreement on June 11 of the ‘Kwantung administration’ to the inspection, the Chinese Govt mission was unable to proceed with the work of inspecting the local administrative organs, in consequence of a policy of hindrance and delay followed by the ‘Kwantung administration’.
- 2.
- On June 10 when the officials sent by Lieut.-General Tung [Page 526] went in company of a Soviet liaison officer to the so-called ‘municipal govt’ of Dairen to confer on the matter of inspection, the request was again refused by a representative of the ‘municipal govt,’ under the pretext that no order had been received from the ‘Kwantung administration’. Furthermore, the Soviet military authorities in Dairen, under the pretext of a shortage of ‘wholesome food and drinks’ in that city, declined to supply food to the inspection officials in Dairen, who had to spend almost a whole day without food or drink. Also, it was the original plan of the mission to go to Dairen on June 10 on board the Chinese warship Chang Chih. But owing to objections from Soviet military authorities, the warship could not sail to Dairen, and the inspection officials were obliged to make the trip by land. When they attempted, in company of the commander of Soviet garrison forces at Dairen, to inspect the neighborhood of the railway station at Kingchow where they had just arrived, they were peremptorily stopped by armed Chinese who wore police uniforms.
- 3.
- Within the Port Arthur naval base area, there are several districts, such as the region lying 12 kilometers south of Shih-Ho station, the vicinity of Ying Chen Tse and Tung Kong, which the Chinese inspection mission had been unable to inspect owing to the hindrances placed by Soviet military authorities.
With the aforementioned report of the inspection mission before them, the Chinese Govt must regard it as profoundly regrettable that in spite of the promise of the Soviet Govt, necessary assistance was not given to the inspection mission in order to enable them to perform their duties. At the same time, the aforementioned facts have further justified the decision of the Chinese Govt to despatch arequate military and police forces to the naval base area of Port Arthur and to Dairen, in order to insure the free exercise of its functions by the Chinese administration when it is re-established therein. In several notes to the Soviet Ambassador, I have repeatedly proved to him the right of the Chinese Govt, under the Sino-Soviet treaty of alliance and amity of 1945, to despatch army and police forces to the aforementioned zone, and I consider a further repetition unnecessary.
Therefore the Chinese Govt again requests a favorable reply to the aide-mémoire which I sent to the Soviet Ambassador on May 12, 1947 concerning the taking over of the administration of Dairen and the Port Arthur area.”
- Not printed.↩