393.1115/8–1149: Telegram
The Consul at Shanghai ( McConaughy ) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 11—11:23 a. m.]
3183. American community deeply apprehensive they may be trapped Shanghai. Apparent impossibility arranging any special flights Hong Kong and inability airlines restore regularly international service while Nationalist air blockade continues virtually rules out air evacuation. No word from either Nationalists or Communist authorities regarding permit for General Gordon or later ship. Belief prevalent that Communists will not permit entry unless large tonnage freight brought in, which Nationalists probably would not allow.
APL so far has 1400 applicants for passage Shanghai to US on Gordon with only 150 first class and 750 third class spaces allotted. Applicants include 275 Americans, 500 DP’s various categories, many of them in transit through US, and about 625 other aliens.
Little action being obtained on exit permits applications. Only dozen or so known to have been issued recent weeks and these apparently provisional. Communists indifferent to general desire foreigners for exit permits, have detailed only 3 clerks to process applicants. Prescribed process almost interminable and expensive account requirement newspaper notices. Can easily be drawn out indefinite if Communists wish to quibble without explicitly refusing permit. Applicants often subjected to long, time-consuming lecture on virtues Communism. Without radical change in procedure and augmented personnel, Communists, even with good will, could not possibly handle existing backlog applications within reasonable period. No present possibility group applications.
Majority American community convinced repeated airlifts with or without safe conduct from Nationalists only feasible means of initiating evacuation. With only few people leaving each day exit visa log jam might gradually be broken. Controversy between Communists and Nationalists as to whether freight should be brought to Shanghai (almost inevitable in case of ship) would be avoided. Daily contact with outside world would restore desperately needed mail service and relieve general feeling of claustrophobia which has plagued many foreign residents since cutoff from outside world 3 months ago. Most Americans firmly convinced that special flights would benefit Communists much less than Americans. Communist agents pass freely anyway between Hong Kong and Peiping–Hong Kong via Tientsin. Airline would not carry freight so would be of negligible economic value to Communists. Communists have orally agreed to request only [Page 1290] small percentage of seats for Chinese citizens. If this agreement not lived up to, additional flights could be cancelled on moment’s notice. Automatic suspension of special flights as soon as Nationalist blockade lifted would insure that resumption regular international service would not be deferred by reason of such special flights.
General American feeling seems to be that they do not know in which direction to move until they know more about our Government’s attitude on blockade. Many of them believe that if we actually disapprove of blockade we should take measures to have it lifted at least to extent of promptly opening way for relief ships and planes. If, on other hand, our Government believes the blockade, which undoubtedly has an economic death grip on Shanghai if unbroken, is promoting American policy by putting very successful squeeze on hostile Communist regime, Americans should be so informed at least indirectly so that they can prepare to go through a bad time or else try to get out clandestinely. In general, Americans here would sympathize and understand a policy of letting the blockade do its work as part of our cold war on Communism, even though such a policy making innocent suffer with guilty might have disastrous effect on them personally; but they feel they are entitled to know so that they can trim their sails accordingly.
I am counselling calmness and forbearance, pointing out to American leaders Department not unaware of or indifferent to plight American citizens here, but there are other complex factors Department has to consider which cannot be assessed properly from very oblique angle of Shanghai.
Sent Department 3183, repeated Nanking 1745, OffEmb Canton 990.