Editorial Note
On July 19, President Truman sent to the Congress a special message on the situation in Korea in which he set forth his views on the significance for the United States and the world of the events taking place there, and laid before Congress certain recommendations for legislative action. The text of the message is printed in Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Harry S. Truman, 1950, page 527. In his message, the President made the following statement on Formosa:
“In order that there may be no doubt in any quarter about our intentions regarding Formosa, I wish to state that the United States has no territorial ambitions whatever concerning that island, nor do we seek for ourselves any special position or privilege on Formosa. The present military neutralization of Formosa is without prejudice to political questions affecting that island. Our desire is that Formosa not become embroiled in hostilities disturbing to the peace of the Pacific and that all questions affecting Formosa be settled by peaceful means as envisaged in the Charter of the United Nations. …”
At 10:30 p. m. on the same evening, Mr. Truman delivered a radio and television address to the nation on Korea; text ibid., page 537. In the course of his talk, he quoted from a message recently received from General MacArthur wherein the latter stated: “Our hold upon the southern part of Korea represents a secure base … Our strength will continually increase while that of the enemy will relatively decrease. His supply line is insecure. He has had his great chance and failed to exploit it. We are now in Korea in force, and with (rod’s help we are there to stay until the constitutional authority of the Republic of Korea is fully restored.” The full text of General MacArthur’s message is printed ibid., page 542.