153. Memorandum for the Record by Rear Admiral Truman J. Hedding, Special Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff1
SUBJECT
- Discussions with Chinese Nationalist Defense Minister Yu Ta-Wei, Friday afternoon, 24 February 1956.
Minister Yu, accompanied by General Ho, called on Admiral Radford at 1600 today. Rear Admiral Hedding was present during the subsequent discussions.
Minister Yu opened the discussions by stating that he was still worried about the U.S. command structure on Taiwan. He hoped that this matter would be straightened out. Admiral Radford replied that the necessary instructions have been issued by Admiral Stump, that Admiral Ingersoll is the over-all U.S. commander on Taiwan, who will coordinate all U.S. military activities and who will tie everything together. Admiral Radford advised Minister Yu that Admiral Ingersoll would be the U.S. point of contact with the Ministry of National Defense.2
Minister Yu stated that he did not agree with the recommendations of the U.S. military personnel on Taiwan who had recommended against the provision of 8” howitzers for Quemoy, and asked reconsideration of the Chinese request. Admiral Radford replied that he did not feel that he could argue with the recommendations of the U.S. military personnel on Taiwan. He then added that he felt that the Chinese Nationalists should work on the problem of resupply for the offshore islands. He stated he felt that this was of the greatest importance, that they should utilize night air drops and motorized [Page 316] junks as a method for resupply. He further stated that he did not agree with the mobile defense concept for Quemoy, and said he felt that the forces on Quemoy should be well dug in in prepared positions.
Minister Yu stated that he agreed with the Admiral’s views, that they were in a position [of] war on these offshore islands. He stated that they had an urgent need for the program for “Long Toms” and requested that the delivery of these guns be expedited. He further stated that in a discussion with General Taylor, General Taylor stated that he felt that guns were better than bombs. However, both Minister Yu and Admiral Radford did not agree. They felt that they should use both. Minister Yu then stated that for a while he would hold off bombing the mainland if he could get the proper guns.
Admiral Radford then mentioned that he had noticed that only from Taipei comes the announcement of local artillery exchanges in the offshore islands. Such announcements have not come from the Communists, therefore the Chinats should give consideration to the worldwide aspects of such announcements. Admiral Radford further advised that he had repeatedly told the Generalissimo that he does not think that the Generalissimo has a feeling for worldwide opinion, that he should try to look at the situation from a worldwide point of view rather than from a strictly local view. Admiral Radford therefore suggested that the Chinese Nationalists stop talking about these off-shore island incidents, artillery exchanges, etc. Minister Yu stated that he understood Admiral Radford’s thinking in this matter and would discuss it with the Gimo upon his return.
Minister Yu then discussed the matter of replacement training and the problem that the Chinese Nationalists are facing at the end of this year when the currently Japanese type trainees will have to be replaced by some 100,000 reserve trainees. Minister Yu stated that to meet this expanded training problem they would need more than the one set of training equipment, that they needed two more sets, particularly U.S. rifles. Admiral Radford stated that he would like to see the figures on this and Minister Yu replied that he would send such figures from Taipei.
Minister Yu then discussed briefly the status of the Chinese Nationalist Air Force, stating that they now have two F–84’s and one F–86 wing now combat ready. He then added that his goal was to have five groups by the end of this year. In connection with the Chinese Nationalist Navy, he stated that they were engaged in replacing Chinese ships with U.S. ships, as fast as they could obtain them.
[Page 317]Minister Yu then thanked the Admiral for his many kindnesses and stated that he was returning to Taiwan in much better health than when he came back here.
- Source: Naval Historical Center, Radford Papers, Memos for the Record. Top Secret.↩
- Admiral Ingersoll informed General Peng Meng-chi in a letter of February 28 that as Commander U.S.–Taiwan Defense Command, he was the Senior U.S. Commander on Taiwan and would be the point of contact for exchange of advice on all matters of military policy and operations. Chief, MAAG Taiwan would continue to be directly responsible under CINCPAC for the various military aid programs. (Department of State, Rankin Files: Lot 66 D 84)↩
- The source text bears a typed signature.↩