893.50 Recovery/3–1549
Memorandum by the Director of the Office of Far Eastern Affairs ( Butterworth ) to the Secretary of State
At the request of ECA, I appeared this morning before the House Foreign Affairs Committee in Executive Session and testified on behalf of the proposed interim China aid legislation.18 Yesterday ECA had run into heavy weather regarding the flexibility provisions which would permit this Government, for example, to assist Formosa should the National Government reach agreement with the Chinese Communists. I did not mention Formosa in my testimony.
Mr. Walter Judd19 seemed to be leading the group who while favoring the extension of the period beyond April 3, were reluctant to give the Administration power to deal with other than the National Government.
- Mr. Butterworth testified that, should negotiations between the Nationalists and Communists result in a joint government, the latter in practice would be under the domination of Communists. He envisaged the possibility that some areas of China might not acknowledge such a government; in such areas, he would give the United States latitude to render assistance, if in its national interest. For correspondence on Nationalist-Communist negotiations, see vol. viii, “Political and military situation in China”, chapter II.↩
- Congressman from Minnesota.↩