840.51FC93/8–2548: Telegram
The Ambassador in China (Stuart) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 25—7:15 a.m.]
1573. Tung Ling of Foreign Office at express request of Foreign Minister and Finance Minister called us in this morning to plead for US Government cooperation on location and identification of Chinese assets held in US. While well-informed on US position (substance of Deptel 1142, August 961 having been given him in letter August 13 which in turn he duplicated and distributed to interested Chinese Government agencies), he asked nevertheless if Department would [Page 393] explore any and all possible forms of assistance this regard on informal or unofficial basis.
We pointed out inflexibility our position but promised to transmit his request. In strictest confidence and unofficially he asked what response of US Government might be to any request of Chinese Government that Chinese assets be refrozen. No hope extended him in, reply. Tung Ling stated that under chairmanship Chinese Consul General San Francisco,62 committee of prominent Chinese residents US is being formed to assist Chinese Government in location Chinese-owned assets and identification evaders.
Please pass to Treasury.
- This telegram described arrangements regarding assets in the United States of nationals of countries assisted by the European Recovery Program; it explained that since these arrangements only applied to blocked assets the situation was entirely different from that of China which had no blocked assets in the United States (840.50 Recovery/7–2648).↩
- Tse-Chang Kent Chang.↩