125.8576/7–2249: Telegram
The Consul at Shanghai (McConaughy) to the Secretary of State
[Received July 22—3:34 a. m.]
2880. Following is text memo dated July 20 mailed Foreign Affairs Bureau July 21 re closure USIS: [Page 1240]
“Memorandum to the Director of the Foreign Affairs Bureau
“Reference is made to the oral order issued on July 15 by the Foreign Affairs Bureau to Mr. John W. Henderson, Acting Director of the United States Information Service, at Shanghai, directing the immediate suspension of all cultural, educational and informational activities of the United States Information Service at Shanghai.
“Acting on the instructions of the United States Government and in behalf of that Government, the undersigned lodges an emphatic protest against the suspension of the United States Information Service activities at Shanghai. A grave view is taken of this action which constitutes regrettable interference with the normal functioning of this Consular establishment, of which the United States Information Service comprises an integral part; violates the principle that informational and educational activities form a legitimate part of the work of a Consular establishment, a principle which is recognized in all parts of the world; and discriminates against United States Information Service activities as compared with certain similar activities of the Soviet Union, which are still carried on unimpeded in this city.
“The unfriendly action taken by the local regime in denying the residents of Shanghai the informational, technological, recreational, educational, musical and artistic benefits which such large numbers of them received from the United States Information Service news file, library, concerts, motion pictures and art exhibit in Shanghai, can only be construed as a blow at the interests of the people of this area.
“The cessation of these cultural and technical services of the United States Information Service means a corresponding impoverishment of the cultural and technical resources available to the people of China.
“The reason given by the Military Control Commission for the closure order—namely, the absence of formal diplomatic relations between the United States and the Communist regime in China—appears not well-founded in that the work does not involve any diplomatic negotiations or liaison and does not depend on official diplomatic recognition for its existence.
“The activities of the United States Information Service at Shanghai are being reluctantly suspended under protest, in compliance with the order issued by the Military Control Commission. On the assumption that the suspension order will prove to be temporary, this office is retaining the numerous Chinese employees on the United States Information Service payroll for the time being in order to enable the authorities to have a reasonable period of time in which to reexamine all the implications of this issue.
“It is difficult for the writer to believe that the suspension order is intended as a deliberately unfriendly act against the United States. It is urged that this unfortunate decision be reconsidered in the light of the foregoing observations.
“If the local authorities desire to establish friendship and understanding between the Chinese and American peoples, it is confidently anticipated that this suspension order will be rescinded. (Signed) Walter P. McConaughy.”
Sent Department 2880; repeated Nanking 1620, Canton 910, Peiping 216, Tientsin 102.