Office of the Historian

893.50 Recovery/5–3148: Telegram

The Ambassador in China (Stuart) to the Secretary of State

Nanking, May 31, 1948—4 p.m.
[Received May 31—7:40 a.m.]

979. Continuing uncertainty composition Cabinet and Wong’s80 preoccupation with its creation has made impossible as yet any detailed corollary discussions with responsible officials along lines Deptel 738, May 15. At first opportunity such talks will be opened. However, during call on Generalissimo on May 22, just prior my departure for Taiwan, I left with him informal memorandum keyed to Chang Chun’s 10 points and based largely on Deptel 738. Copy being air pouched to Department.81 This memo was briefly discussed and described by me as my jottings on directions and distance in which Chinese Government still had far to go in order to meet both its avowed intentions and the hopes of American people. It mentioned inter alia land reform, closure river ports, slowdown on cable negotiations, Civil Air Transport Agreement difficulties,82 and Central Bank circular 131.83 Copies of this memo will be left with handful of key officials to provide uniform agenda for concurrent talks.

Meanwhile FonOff pressing us to open negotiations on bilateral which, one official states, after study of Department draft, appears to offer no serious difficulty. Embassy will continue delaying tactics at least for next few days to keep general pressure on and to afford opportunity launching corollary discussions envisaged. Embassy assumes [Page 537] Lapham will arrive briefed on substantive comments promised in Deptel 773, May 24.

Stuart
  1. Wong Wen-hao’s appointment as President of the Chinese Executive Yuan was approved by the Legislative Yuan on May 24.↩
  2. See despatch No. 258, June 3, p. 537.↩
  3. For correspondence on these difficulties, see pp. 775 ff.; for correspondence on negotiation of the agreement signed at Nanking, December 20, 1946, see Foreign Relations, 1946, vol. x, pp. 1228 ff.↩
  4. Published earlier in May; it required importers to deposit with the Central Bank 50% of the c. i. f. value of their imports when their import licenses were approved.↩