693.0031 Tibet/9–448
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Assistant Chief of the Division of Chinese Affairs (Freeman)
At the conclusion of a conversation on another subject, Mr. Tsui stated that he was of the understanding that the members of the Tibetan Trade Mission had returned to Washington for a few days and were perhaps still in the capital. He stated that Ambassador Koo had requested that he reiterate the position of the Chinese Government with respect to the Tibetan Trade Mission and urge that the U. S. Government take no steps which would in any way affect China’s traditional sovereignty over Tibet.
I assured Mr. Tsui that the Department was very conscious of the Chinese Government’s position in this matter and that there was no intention of altering our traditional attitude of recognizing China’s de jure sovereignty over Tibet, I added that the three members of the Mission had in fact returned to Washington for two days at the [Page 785] beginning of the week but that they had then gone back to New York where it was believed they would remain for a few more weeks.