Office of the Historian

893.24/4–2248

The Chinese Embassy to the Department of State

Memorandum

1.
The Chinese Embassy refers to the Memorandum of the Department of State dated March 4, 1948, transmitting four Lists94a indicative of the types and quantities of ammunition in Hawaii and in the Marianas available for purchase by the Chinese Government through surplus channels, and desires to inform the Department that the contents of the said List had been duly communicated to the Chinese Government, certain agreements had been executed and a portion of the ammunition in Saipan had already arrived in China.
2.
As the military situation in China is becoming more urgent and is assuming greater proportion, specially in the Northeast and the Northern provinces of the country, the need for the ammunitions and items of military supplies indicated in the Lists attached to the Memoranda of the Embassy to the Department dated November 4th and December 23, 1947,95 has become increasingly pressing. The requirement for cartridges of .30, .45, and .50 calibers is particularly [Page 60] acute in view of the fact that the Chinese Army divisions armed with the American type of equipment are running out of ammunition. According to the four Lists of the Department referred to above, the total numbers of cartridges of these three calibers made available to China are 25,456,700 rounds, 1,000,000 rounds, and 3,540,600 rounds respectively, much falling short of the actual requirements of the Chinese Government as indicated in the Lists attached to the aforementioned Memoranda of the Embassy. Of the total number of cartridges of the .30 caliber, there are only 52,500 rounds suitable for carbines. On account of the weather conditions in the Pacific islands in which the ammunition has been stored, some of the cartridges are expected to be unusable or unsteady.
3.
In the light of these facts and the exigency obtaining in China, the Chinese Government requests earnestly that the United States Government would undertake to make available to China through surplus channels 30,000,000 rounds of .30 caliber ammunition for carbines. In the List attached to the Memorandum of the Embassy dated December 23, 1947, mention was made of the requirements of the Chinese Government for the different types of ammunition of such caliber with indications as to their priorities. A comparison of the figures shown in the said List will reveal that 30,000,000 rounds represent only a part of the requirements. It will be greatly appreciated if the United States authorities would accord this request their favorable consideration and make such cartridges available to the Chinese Government at the earliest practicable date.

Washington, April 22, 1948.
  1. None printed.↩
  2. Foreign Relations, 1947, vol. vii, pp. 913 and 934, respectively.↩