893.6359/12–1747
The Ambassador in China (Stuart) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 31.]
The Ambassador has the honor to refer to the visit during the period October 23 to November 28, 1947, of Mr. Hubert D. Keiser, representative of the United States Atomic Energy Commission, who conducted with Dr. Wong Wen-hao, Chairman of the National Resources Commission, and with other Chinese officials, discussions in regard to the known Chinese deposits of uranium and thorium and also in regard to the basis on which American field exploration parties might enter China for the purpose of visiting those deposits and exploring other areas where additional deposits might be discovered.
Upon his departure from Nanking, Mr. Keiser expressed the view to an Embassy officer that he felt reasonably certain that he had obtained from Dr. Wong and his associates all of the worth-while information available to the Chinese Government regarding the known deposits of radioactive minerals. Regarding the second phase of Mr. Keiser’s mission, reference is made to the Embassy’s top secret telegram No. 2265, November 20, 1 p.m., containing the full text of a draft agreement, approved by Dr. Wong, which provides for Sino-American collaboration in the field of atomic energy, with special reference to the sending to China of American geologists for field surveys.
In commenting on the work here of Mr. Keiser, the Embassy wishes to take this opportunity to state that he accomplished his mission in an exceptionally competent manner. He gained the confidence and won the esteem of all Chinese officials with whom he had conversations. They, in turn, have expressed their desire to have Mr. Keiser [Page 1029] return to China after the draft agreement is approved by the Atomic Energy Commission. In his final talk with Dr. Wong on November 27, Mr. Keiser was asked whether he could be present when the draft approved by the Atomic Energy Commission is presented by Dr. Wong to the Generalissimo. Mr. Keiser assertedly gave Dr. Wong no assurance that he would be authorized by the Commission to return for that occasion but stated that if Dr. Wong were insistent in the matter, he should make his wishes known orally to the Ambassador for possible reference to the Commission and the Department.
The Embassy urgently recommends that Mr. Keiser return to China, if not in response to Dr. Wong’s above stated suggestion, then definitely as leader of the proposed American working party which would cooperate with the Chinese geologists in making detailed field explorations. The Embassy believes that Mr. Keiser is exceptionally well qualified, by reason of his technical competence and ability to work with the concerned Chinese officials in a friendly and diplomatic manner, to serve as the leader of the American party and to supervise the implementation in China of the proposed agreement in so far as the United States is concerned. The Ambassador personally stated to Mr. Keiser, at the time of his departure, that the Embassy was prepared to make the foregoing recommendation to the Department.
The Embassy has received from Dr. C. Y. Hsieh, Director of the Mineral Exploration Bureau of the National Resources Commission, a copy of Dr. Hsieh’s report entitled “The Occurrence of Monazite Deposits in China”, dated December 1947, a copy of which is enclosed.21 Dr. Hsieh stated that this report was compiled mainly for the purpose of summarizing the known information regarding monazite sand deposits, and that it contains little or no new information on the subject. Under separate cover there is transmitted a box containing about 20 kilograms of monazite sand from northeast Kwangsi Province, received from Dr. Hsieh for transmittal to Mr. Keiser.
- Not printed.↩