Historical Documents - Office of the Historian

893.34/12–347: Telegram

The Acting Secretary of State to the Ambassador in China (Stuart)

Washington, December 5, 1947—7 p.m.

1479. Issuance press release as drafted Urtel 2331 Dec 3 approved with following modifications:

1.: Phrase in first sentence third paragraph “passed by the 79th Congress of the United States on July 16, 1947” should be changed to read “passed by the 79th Congress of the United States and approved by the President on July 16, 1946.”
2.: Sentence in third paragraph beginning “Part of the vessels …”77 should read “A substantial part of the vessels covered by [Page 987] this agreement has already been turned over to the Chinese Navy under the provisions of lend-lease. These vessels are now being recaptured on paper and transferred to China under the terms of this agreement.”
3.: That portion of paragraph 4 beginning “for the reconditioning” and ending “maintenance of them and” should be omitted.
4.: Final paragraph as well as text of agreement and exchange of notes should be omitted as Navy wishes to avoid unnecessary publicity to possible claim by Bofors. You should request Chinese cooperation in this regard.

Lovett