740.00119 FEAC/3–348

Memorandum by the Director of the Office of Far Eastern Affairs (Butterworth) to the Secretary of State 1

restricted

Subject: Admission of Pakistan to Membership in the Far Eastern Commission

Problem: To determine what attitude United States Government should take with regard to the application of Pakistan for membership in the Far Eastern Commission.

Discussion: The Department of State was notified on January 12, 1948, by Dr. Blakeslee of the American Delegation to the Far Eastern Commission that Pakistan had submitted a request to the Secretary General of the Far Eastern Commission for permission to become a member of the Commission. The terms of reference of the Far Eastern Commission state: “Membership of the Commission may be increased by agreement among the participating powers as conditions warrant by the addition of representatives of other United Nations in the Far East or having territories therein.” On January 26, 1948, the British Ambassador under instructions from his Government informed the Department that he had been instructed to support the application of Pakistan for membership in the Far Eastern Commission and that in the opinion of the Government of the United Kingdom the views of the 11 participating powers could most conveniently be exchanged in Washington through the respective diplomatic representatives. He also pointed out that the Government of the United Kingdom presumes that the term “agreement” in the terms of reference means “unanimous agreement”. On February 20, 1948, the Department replied to the British Ambassador stating its general agreement with the view that the terms of reference of the Far Eastern Commission require that an application for membership receive unanimous approval of the [Page 678] member Governments and that the Far Eastern Commission, as a body, is not competent to take action on such applications. The Department also stated that, in the view of the United States Government, Commission machinery could appropriately be utilized as a means of polling the member Governments, the representatives on the Commission voting as representatives of their Governments rather than as members of the Commission.2 The New Zealand representative on the Far Eastern Commission has informed the Department that the views of his Government are in substantial agreement with those expressed above and that with regard to the substantive aspect of the question New Zealand wholeheartedly supports Pakistan’s application for membership. In view of the fact that Pakistan has become a member of the United Nations and has presumably inherited certain rights which it formerly shared with the Government of India on Far Eastern matters it is believed that it would be difficult to oppose the application of Pakistan for membership in the Far Eastern Commission.

Recommendations:

1.
The United States should favor the admission of Pakistan as a member of the Far Eastern Commission.
2.
The machinery of the Far Eastern Commission should be utilized as a means of polling the member Governments, the representatives on the Commission voting in such case as representatives of their Governments rather than as members of the Commission.
3.
The United States should take the position that the application of Pakistan for membership in the Commission must receive the unanimous approval of the member Governments of the Commission.
4.
The United States member on the Far Eastern Commission should be instructed in the sense of Recommendations 1, 2 and 3 above.

Concurrences: Concurrences have been received from the following Offices and Divisions: A–S, FE, SOA and NA.3

  1. Approved by the Under Secretary of State (Lovett), March 18.
  2. A written reply to this effect was dated March 1, not printed.
  3. Mr. Lovett approved on March 18.