690B.9321/2–2054: Telegram
No. 146
The Ambassador in the Republic of China
(Rankin) to the Department of State
priority
471. 1. Re Department 722 Taipei, 1640 Bangkok, 728 Rangoon.1 Delivered memo and discussed unsatisfactory surrender of guerrilla weapons with responsible Chinese Foreign Ministry official February 20. He stated Chinese Government has done everything in its power to assure maximum turnover of weapons to Joint Committee and has issued numerous orders to this end. Implementation of order, however, rests with local guerrilla leaders who are not under firm control of government in far-away Formosa. Foreign Ministry official promised prevail upon Ministry of Defense to issue yet another order to guerrilla leaders to surrender all arms. Foreign Ministry will also seek further cooperation by Colonel I Fu-de, who is still said to be expecting proceed Taipei to Bangkok shortly.
2. Re Department’s 728 Taipei, 736 Rangoon, 1647 Bangkok.2
Contents communicated orally to Foreign Ministry simultaneously with item 1 above. Official stated will do best to increase evacuee rate to 150 daily and complete Mong Hsat evacuation by mid-March. Request for cease-fire extension requires conferring with higher Foreign Ministry officials and Ministry of Defense, which he hopes to have completed by Monday February 22. Reply presumably requesting extension to end of March promised that day. Embassy will forward reply soon as received.
- Telegram 722, Feb. 18, instructed the Embassy in Taipei to impress the Chinese Government with the need for the evacuees to turn in more of their arms. (690B.9321/2–1754)↩
- Dated Feb. 19; it instructed the Embassy in Taipei to remind the Chinese Government that its proposal for the second phase of evacuation called for increasing the flow of evacuees to 150 daily and to urge that the Mong Hsat evacuation be completed by mid-March. (690B.9321/2–1954)↩