Office of the Historian

84. Telegram From the Acting Secretary of State to the Embassy in the United Kingdom1

Washington, February 4, 1955—8:23 p.m.

4011. Eyes only Ambassador Aldrich. Deliver Approximately 9 a.m., Saturday, February 5. President has been giving personal attention to your wires, for which he is most appreciative, regarding Formosan situation, and has asked me to convey to you his sense of the extreme importance of the maintenance of Formosa and the Pescadores outside the Communist orbit. He attaches urgent necessity to supporting a high morale on the part of the Chinese Nationalist forces at this critical juncture and in face of persistent and insidious efforts by Chinese Communists to demoralize forces resisting them and to sow dissention between Chinese Nationalists, the United States and our associates of the western world. These forces represent a big investment of our effort, money and weapons.

President believes that there would be a severe blow in lending an appearance of surrender of Quemoy and Matsu at this time and that this would have a most serious effect throughout Far Eastern area. You of course know that the Communists are fully aware of the possibilities inherent in this situation and that they are exerting themselves to exploit fully and to divide the western world.

Foregoing is for your background information and in the hope that it may be of utility to you during the course of whatever conversations [Page 215] you may have on this general subject. It is my feeling, in which he fully concurs, that some of the conferees may be overlooking this factor.

Hoover
  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 793.5/2–455. Top Secret; Niact. Sent at the direction of the President. A memorandum of February 5 by Goodpaster states that he had advised Hoover the previous evening that the President felt a message should be sent to Aldrich and outlined the points which were to be included. (Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, Miscellaneous Series, Conferences on Formosa) This telegram was drafted by Murphy and Hoover and sent to USUN for Lodge as telegram 408, February 5. (Department of State, Central Files, 793.5/2–555)↩