Office of the Historian

811.3393/5–1749

Memorandum of Telephone Conversation, by the Chief of the Division of Chinese Affairs (Sprouse)

[Washington,] May 17, 1949.

I telephoned Captain Hummer this morning and, without mentioning any names, informed him that the Department agreed with Admiral Badger’s recommendation in his telegram of May 1620 regarding the timing of the withdrawal of U.S. naval forces from Tsingtao. I added that the Department’s concurrence was based upon the understanding that Admiral Badger would withdraw earlier than May 24, the date proposed in his telegram, if Shanghai should fall before that date. In that case, I pointed out, we felt that his withdrawal should coincide with the fall of Shanghai.

  1. Not found in Department of State files.↩