Foreign Relations of the United States, 1949, The Far East: China, Volume IX

894A.00/4–2549

Memorandum by Mr. Kenneth Krentz ³³ to the Director of the Office of Far Eastern Affairs (Butterworth)

[Washington,] April 25, 1949.

During my visit with General MacArthur in Tokyo last month General MacArthur asked a number of penetrating and informed questions about Formosa. At one point in our conversation General MacArthur misunderstood an allusion of mine to the Chinese army using Formosa as a base. He said very emphatically, “There is no earthly military reason why we (i.e., the United States) should need Formosa as a base. It would be no earthly use to us against our only possible major enemy and certainly they could not utilize it against us.”

As you well know, General MacArthur has been quoted by others as expressing opinions quite different from the foregoing. However, this statement was most emphatic and categorical.³⁴

33. Consul General at Taipei, temporarily in the United States.
34. Marginal notation by the Secretary of State: “Most interesting. I thought he took the opposite view. D A.”