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

286. Memorandum of Discussion at the 337th Meeting of the National Security Council, Washington, September 23, 1957¹

Washington, September 23, 1957

Present at the 337th Council meeting were the President of the United States, presiding; the Vice President of the United States; the Secretary of State; the Acting Secretary of Defense; and the Director, Office of Defense Mobilization. Also present were Mr. Fred C. Scribner for the Secretary of the Treasury; the Acting Director, Bureau of the Budget; the Special Assistant to the President for Disarmament; the Special Assistant to the President for Atomic Energy; the Acting Director, International Cooperation Administration; the Federal Civil Defense Administrator; the Director, U. S. Information Agency; the Counselor, Department of State; Assistant Secretary of State Robertson; Assistant Secretary of Defense Sprague; …; the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff; the Director of Central Intelligence; Special Assistants to the President Cutler and Dearborn; the White House Staff Secretary; Mr. Bryce N. Harlow, Administrative Assistant to the President; the Executive Secretary, NSC; and the Deputy Executive Secretary, NSC.

There follows a summary of the discussion at the meeting and the main points taken.

[Here follows discussion on items 1, “Special Report on Indonesia”, and 2, “Tenth Anniversary of the National Security Act of 1947”.]

3. U. S. Policy Toward Formosa and the Government of the Republic of China (NSC 5503; Memo for NSC from Executive Secretary, subject: “Report by the Interdepartmental Committee on Certain U.S. Aid Programs”, dated December 5, 1956; NSC Actions Nos. 1312–e–(2) and 1624–c; NIE 43–2–57;² Memos for NSC from Executive Secretary, subject: “U. S. Policy Toward Formosa and the Government of the Republic of China”, dated September 9 and 19, 1957³)

Mr. Cutler pointed out that Secretary Dulles had requested that the National Security Council not act at this meeting on the changes in the policy on Formosa proposed by the NSC Planning Board, because he wished to talk first with Under Secretary Herter, who had just returned from the Far East. On the other hand, Secretary Dulles agreed that Mr. Cutler should present the Planning Board report at this time because, as Mr. Cutler said, this would provide time for thinking about the two big problems in the Planning Board paper before the Council acted at its next meeting. Accordingly, Mr. Cutler briefed the Council in considerable detail on the Planning Board report and the Annexes thereto. (A copy of Mr. Cutler’s briefing note is attached to this memorandum,⁴ and a copy is also filed in the minutes of the meeting.)

At the end of his presentation of the report, Mr. Cutler asked Secretary Dulles and Mr. Allen Dulles whether they wished to make any comments at this time, but both indicated that they would withhold comment until the next meeting.

The National Security Council:⁵

a. Noted the draft report on the subject, prepared by the NSC Planning Board pursuant to NSC Action No. 1624–c and transmitted by the reference memorandum of September 9, 1957; in the light of the views of the Joint Chiefs of Staff transmitted by the reference memorandum of September 19, 1957.

b. Deferred action on the above-mentioned draft report until the next meeting of the Council.

[Here follows discussion of items 4, “Significant World Developments Affecting U.S. Security”, and 5, “U.S. Policy Toward Italy”.]

S. Everett Gleason

1. Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman Files, NSC Records. Top Secret; Eyes Only. Drafted by Gleason on September 24.
2. The first five items cited here are cited in the same order in footnotes 2–6, Document 281.

3. For the September 9 memorandum, see Document 281. The September 19 memorandum from Lay to the NSC is a covering memorandum enclosing a September 17 memorandum from the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the Secretary of Defense. In their September 17 memorandum, the Joint Chiefs of Staff reviewed the “Draft Report on U.S. Policy Toward Formosa and the Government of the Republic of China”, which was prepared by the NSC Planning Board on September 9, and found it to be generally acceptable:

   • “1. The Joint Chiefs of Staff have reviewed the subject draft report, prepared by the NSC Planning Board for consideration by the National Security Council at its meeting on 23 September 1957. The Joint Chiefs of Staff consider that the existing policy toward Formosa and the Government of the Republic of China (GRC) (NSC 5503) as written is, in general, adequate from a military point of view. The Joint Chiefs of Staff are in agreement with the interpretation of the missions assigned to the armed forces of the GRC as stated in paragraph 4b of the draft report. In this connection, the Joint Chiefs of Staff consider that the suggested rewording of paragraphs 3 and 13 of NSC 5503, as stated in paragraph 6 of the draft report, is preferable, in their opinion, since it clarifies the apparent ambiguity of missions.
   • “2. The changes to paragraphs 10 and 15 of NSC 5503, as suggested in paragraphs 10 and 11, respectively, of the draft report, are acceptable from a military point of view.
   • “3. Subject to the foregoing, the Joint Chiefs of Staff recommend that the existing statement of policy toward Formosa and the Government of the Republic of China, NSC 5503, be retained.” (Department of State, S/S–NSC Files: Lot 63 D 351, NSC 5503 Series)

4. Attached but not printed.
5. The following paragraphs constitute NSC Action No. 1790, approved by the President on September 25. The record copy of NSC Action No. 1790 is in Department of State, S/S–NSC (Miscellaneous) Files: Lot 66 D 95.