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

187. Memorandum From the Secretary of State to the President¹

Washington, April 1, 1955.

SUBJECT

• Action Relating to Chinese Students Who Have Been Refused Permission to Leave the United States

With reference to Mr. Hoover’s memorandum of March 3,² thorough consideration has been given to the question of the detention of technically-trained Chinese students in the United States in relation to the problem of Americans imprisoned in Communist China. It has been concluded, in the light of our discussions with the Chinese Communists at Geneva, UN Secretary General Hammarskjold’s negotiations at Peiping, and of other evidence, that detention in the United States of students who have been found eligible for departure by the Immigration and Naturalization Service under existing regulations would not contribute to the release of the imprisoned Americans. On the other hand, release of the students would enable the U.S. to press its case against the Chinese Communists more effectively in the United Nations and elsewhere. The Department of State has, therefore, informed the Immigration and Naturalization Service³ that it has no objection to the departure of any of these Chinese students who have been found eligible for departure or who may hereafter be found so eligible by that Service. Simultaneously, the Department concurred in the rescission of restraining orders which had been issued with respect to 74 Chinese students.

While cases of technically-trained Chinese students who wish to return to the Chinese mainland will continue to be screened under the provisions of Section 215 (a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952,⁴ under present criteria few, if any, applicants are likely to be denied permission to depart.

JFD

1. Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, Dulles–Herter Series. Confidential. Seen by the President on April 4 according to a handwritten note by Goodpaster on the source text.
2. The memorandum under reference, from Acting Secretary Hoover to the President, summarized the situation concerning the technically-trained Chinese students who had been denied permission to leave the United States. It stated that the question of their detention had been re-examined when direct talks were initiated with the Chinese Communists at Geneva in June 1954, that their cases had been reviewed and 27 had been granted exit permits as of October 1954, but that since the sentencing of the U.S. airmen, there had been no further action. It concluded that the Department of State was studying the problem and would have recommendations ready in the near future. (Department of State, Central Files, 211.9311/3–355)
3. In a letter of March 24, to INS Commissioner General Joseph M. Swing. (Ibid., IO Files: Lot 60 D 113, Chinese Students)
4. Approved June 27, 1952; 66 Stat. 163.