Editorial Note
For the text of a letter of September 26, 1951, from Secretary Acheson to Senator H. Alexander Smith of New Jersey, stating United States policy on the question of recognition of Communist China, Chinese representation in the United Nations, and the disposition of Formosa, and Senator Smith’s letter of September 18, to which it replied, see United States Senate, Committee on Foreign Relations, Subcommittee on Nominations, 82d Congress, 1st Session, Nomination of Philip C. Jessup: Hearings (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1951), pages 648–650. The original exchange of correspondence is filed under 611.93/9–1851. Acheson’s letter was delivered to Senator Smith on September 26 by Assistant Secretary Rusk, who took with him a number of documents concerning United States [Page 1811] recognition policy in 1949 for the Senator to examine. Subsequently, at Senator Smith’s request, the Far Eastern Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee met on September 28 in executive session with Deputy Assistant Secretary Merchant, who reviewed United States policy on the question of recognition and read a number of documents to the subcommittee. The meeting was recorded in a memorandum of conversation by Philander P. Claxton, September 28, 1951, not printed (790.00/10–951). The memorandum of a conversation of October 8, 1951, between Rusk and F. S. Tomlinson of the British Embassy, which touched on this subject, is included on page 1005.
The hearings cited above, held between September 27 and October 18, 1951, concerned the nomination of Ambassador at Large Philip C. Jessup to represent the United States as a member of the United States Delegation to the Sixth Session of the United Nations General Assembly. Much of the discussion was related to United States China policy, particularly United States policy in 1949 on the question of recognition and Jessup’s role in formulating it.