893.796/4–848: Telegram
The Ambassador in China (Stuart) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 8—1:27 p. m.]
632. George Yeh, Vice Minister [at] Foreign Office, told us today that final Soviet note on CAT Port Arthur incident, our 559, March 30, stipulated latitude and longitude of incident which was clearly right over Port Arthur. Rather than to argue the question of the location of the incident further, Chinese have replied to Soviets, he said, giving description of markings of all Chinese civil and military aircraft and taking unqualified position that such planes have right to fly at all times over Dairen and Port Arthur.
Asked whether Chinese Government still had under consideration possibility taking question Sino-Soviet treaty85 to International Court of Justice, Dr. Yeh replied that, while such action might give opportunity for sympathetic comment, Chinese Government had decided it would serve no practical purpose at the moment. Basic Chinese policy in respect of USSR at moment, he said, was to do nothing to disturb the situation in the Far East at this stage. Until such time as our efforts in Europe had brought about sufficient improvement in the situation as to permit us to devote more political and material attention to Asia, he thought the sensible course for China was to continue that policy. Should situation develop so that a more aggressive [Page 187] policy by China in the Orient in respect of the USSR, could be expected to have effective support from the US, then would be the time for China to consider revising her course of action.
- Signed at Moscow, August 14, 1945; United Nations Treaty Series, vol. 10, p. 300, or United States Relations With China, p. 585.↩