Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, China, Volume II

143. Letter From the British Ambassador (Makins) to the Secretary of State¹

Washington, March 7, 1955.

My Dear Secretary of State: After discussing the Formosa situation with you on February 24 in Bangkok, Sir Anthony Eden sent a message to Chou En-lai in Peking which was delivered on February 28.² I understand that you saw this message.

I have been asked by Sir Anthony Eden to send you a copy of the reply Chou gave to Trevelyan on March 1.³ Sir Anthony Eden received this when he was in Singapore and sent a short interim reply of which I also enclose a copy.⁴

There the matter rests. Sir Anthony Eden will no doubt discuss this exchange with his colleagues in the Cabinet in London. As you will readily understand he is most anxious that these exchanges should not become publicly known and he has asked me to stress the importance of secrecy.

From Singapore, he went to Rangoon, where U Nu suggested to him that there should be a conference in New Delhi of the United Kingdom, India, China and Russia to exchange views on Formosa. This idea was later discussed between Sir Anthony Eden and Mr. Nehru in New Delhi and they agreed that it was not in present circumstances practicable to contemplate a meeting at which only one of the parties to the dispute was represented, the more so since no basis for agreement seemed to exist at present.

I look forward to seeing you at your convenience. I thought, however, that you would wish to have this information as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely,

Roger Makins

1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 793.00/3–755. Secret and Personal.
2. A copy of the message was sent to Dulles with a covering note of March 14 from Makins. The message stated that Eden was aware of the Chinese claims with respect to Formosa and the coastal islands but that the question at issue was the means by which those claims were to be prosecuted. It inquired whether the Chinese Government would state publicly or privately that while maintaining its claims it did not intend to prosecute them by force and stated that if so, the British would be prepared to approach the U.S. Government with what they believed was a good hope of finding a peaceful settlement of the situation in the various islands, (Ibid., 793.00/3–1455)
3. A copy of this message, headed “Formosa” and bearing Makins’ initials and the date March 4, 1955, apparently enclosed with Makins’ letter, is filed separately. The message rejected Eden’s proposal, declared that tension in the Formosa area had been created solely by the United States, stated that the Chinese Government supported the Soviet proposal for a 10-power conference, and insisted that the United States should cease its intervention in China’s internal affairs and withdraw its armed forces from Formosa and the Formosa Strait. (Ibid., 793.00/3–455)
4. A copy of Eden’s message of March 2 to Chou, headed “Formosa” and bearing Makins’ initials and the date March 4, 1955, apparently enclosed with Makins’ letter, is filed separately. The message stated Eden’s regret that there was as yet no common basis on which discussions for a peaceful settlement could take place. (Ibid.) Eden’s messages and Chou’s reply are summarized in Trevelyan, Living With the Communists, pp. 144–146.