890.00/9–949: Airgram
The Acting Political Adviser in Japan (Sebald) to the Secretary of State
[Received September 26—10:40 a. m.]
A–227. A special briefing was held on September 7 at the office of the Chief of Staff for Mr. Malcolm MacDonald, Commissioner General for the United Kingdom in Southeast Asia. An officer of this Mission attended the briefing.
A part of the morning session was devoted to the military and political situation in the Far East, consisting of a Top Secret presentation of latest intelligence information by Major General Charles A. Willoughby, Assistant Chief of Staff, G–2. This part of the briefing was concerned entirely with Soviet and Chinese Communist capabilities in the Far East, and the possibilities of communist containment by the United States. Emphasis was placed upon what General Willoughby described as the Main Line of resistance against communism, namely, the holding of positions through the island chain of Japan, the Ryukyu Islands, and the Philippines. General Willoughby included Formosa within the Main Line of resistance but with the qualification that its effective incorporation within this line was contingent upon political factors and decisions outside the scope of the Far East Command.
At the end of General Willoughby’s presentation, Mr. MacDonald raised a number of questions about Formosa. He stated that he and his military staff place top priority on preventing Formosa from falling into communist hands, intimating that he hoped the United States and Britain would reach an early and positive decision on this problem. Mr. MacDonald referred several times in the ensuing discussion to the strategic importance of the island from the standpoint of dealing with communist expansion on the continent. In the course of the discussion, General Willoughby pointed out that the Chinese Communists could offer no valid claim to the island, since its status is still undetermined, notwithstanding the present treatment of the island as an integral part of China by the Chinese National Government. General Willoughby also expressed the belief that for the present at least the Chinese Communists could seize Formosa only by extensive fifth column operations within the island combined with external attack.
Mr. MacDonald expressed deep appreciation for the scope and character of the intelligence briefing and said that it is his hope that a regular exchange of information and views on the communist problem in the Far East can be effected.