Editorial Note
The United Nations Security Council met on August 31 from 3:00 to 8:20 p. m.; for the record of the meeting, see U.N. document S/PV.493. The Council agreed to place on its provisional agenda the complaint of the People’s Republic of China against alleged United States bombing of Manchuria and then proceeded to debate at great length this and other items on the provisional agenda. The Soviet Representative proposed a draft resolution (S/1745/Rev.1) condemning the raids, but no vote was taken on it. The United States Representative stated that investigations showed that possibly one aircraft might have strafed a Chinese airstrip on August 27. The United States, he said, would welcome an on-the-spot investigation by a Security Council commission and would pay damages if it was found that an attack had occurred. Finally, the Security Council voted to place an item entitled “Complaint of bombing by air forces of the territory of China” on its agenda. The vote was eight in favor (including the United States) to three opposed (China, Cuba, and Egypt).
In the late afternoon of August 31, President Truman held a news conference at which, in response to a query on Formosa, he said:
“The Formosan situation as set out in my various messages is one for settlement—in the Japanese peace treaty with the allies who fought in the Japanese war and with those occupation forces—by those nations that have occupying forces in Japan now. Of course, it will not be necessary to keep the 7th Fleet in the Formosa Strait if the Korean thing is settled. That is a flank protection on our part for the United Nations forces.” (Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Harry S. Truman, 1950, page 607)