396.1–NE/9–1150
The Acting Secretary of State to the Secretary of Defense (Johnson)
top secret
Washington, September 13,
1950.
Dear Mr. Secretary: I wish to acknowledge with appreciation your letter of September 11, 1950 to the Secretary of State which attached certain views of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Formosa. While the Department of State is in general accord with the views expressed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, it wishes to make two comments by way of clarification:
- a.
- It is assumed that any directive which would be issued to Commander in Chief, Far East (CINCFE) in relation to the situation discussed in paragraph 2c would be carefully considered by the United States Government in the light of any action taken by the United Nations. Since the situation is hypothetical at this point, it does not seem profitable to attempt to go into details but it would appear unlikely that the United States Government would wish to issue a directive to one of its Commanders without any restrictions whatever on his course of action.
- b.
- The Department of State accepts fully the objective of preventing the enhancement of the military position of the USSR in the Far East, as set forth in the first sentence in paragraph 2d. The remainder of that paragraph is concerned with the techniques of negotiation, on which the Department of State will have the views of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in mind. When a matter comes before the United Nations, it is to be expected that the United Nations would use the procedures most adapted to effective consideration of the problem. No single government can guarantee the procedures which might be adopted. It would not be possible to exclude all procedures in which the annexation of Formosa by the Chinese Communist Government might arise. That issue would arise if the matter were handled by diplomatic negotiation, in connection with the Japanese peace treaty, in the United Nations or, indeed, even if the United States should make an effort not to discuss the matter at all. Our purpose must be to meet the issue of Formosa and seek to have it settled on terms agreeable to the United States.
Sincerely yours,
James E. Webb