200. Memorandum of Conversation0
Secretary’s Trip to Rome, England, Alaska and Taiwan
PARTICIPANTS
- The Secretary
- Assistant Secretary Robertson
- Ambassador Drumright
- President Chiang Kai-shek
- Premier Chen Cheng
- Foreign Minister Huang
- Ambassador Yeh (Interpreter)
- Presidential Secretary-General Chang Chun
SUBJECT
- The Role of the Republic of China in the Free World
At the meeting with President Chiang this morning Secretary read following statement and left copies with him:
“The great danger faced by the GRC is not primarily military but political. It stems from the world’s longing for conditions of peace and the feeling shared by most of the free world countries that the relationship between the GRC and CPR not only endangers the peace but that the GRC wants it to endanger the peace and involve the US as the only means of returning to the mainland.
The two other ‘civil’ wars promoted by the Communists in Asia—the Korean war and the Indochina war—have been ended by armistices. In Europe Germany is divided but the Federal Republic has agreed not to attempt reunification by force. These three situations have involved considerable sacrifices but these sacrifices have been accepted in the interest of peace.
In the case of the China civil war there has been no armistice. Both sides claim the right to resume fighting. Fighting has gone on intermittently and is going on at the present time.
There is the deep desire on the part of the free world nations to see this ‘trouble spot’ liquidated in some way and they look to the GRC to be willing to make a contribution to this end. We believe that the willingness of the GRC to respond will largely determine whether or not the GRC can hold its own in the political battle now being waged, a battle in which the position of the GRC has been deteriorating because it is made to appear as a civil war survival essentially militaristic in its outlook. [Page 425] It seems to us that there is a great and assured future for the GRC if it makes clear to the world its recognition that the bases for GRC counterattack against the mainland are not in the armed might of the GRC or in its offshore island positions but rather in the minds and souls of the 600 million Chinese people on the mainland who hope and pray for delivery from their present bondage. They derive hope and are sustained during these dark days by the very existence of the free Chinese Government and the preservation by that government of the culture and tradition of the Chinese people. The GRC helps to keep alive the flame of freedom within the world’s largest nation.
The real battleground between freedom and Communism is in men’s minds. That is where our campaign should be centered. That is where the battles can be won. The GRC is unwilling to retreat and surrender more peoples to Chinese Communist rule. But on the other hand it is peace-loving and does not desire to be responsible for having the world consumed in flames.
The GRC recognizes that the militaristic image of itself largely held abroad is false. It will act to transform that unattractive image into one that all free peoples will welcome and support.
Among the acts which might be taken in an effort to dramatize the larger and enduring role of the GRC are the following:
- (1)
- The GRC should make clear that, so far as it is concerned, and on a basis of de facto reciprocity, it will conduct itself as though there were an armistice along the line of present division, and indeed would be willing itself to conclude such an armistice.
- (2)
- There should be re-emphasis on what the Generalissimo has already indicated—that the GRC will not initiate an attempt forcibly to return on the mainland.
- (3)
- There will be an avoidance of commando raids, and like provocations and of overflights.
- (4)
- So far as the offshore islands are concerned, the GRC recognize the danger of opposing military forces being in close proximity (e.g., demilitarized zone along Korean and Vietnam armistice lines). It will accept any solution which seems dependably to assure that the islands will not be turned over to the Communists or its civilian population up-rooted. The GRC does not intend to use these islands for its own prosecution of the civil war, e.g., for blockading the ports of Amoy and Foochow, or ‘jumping off’ to the mainland.
- (5)
- The character and the size of military forces of the GRC on the offshore islands and indeed generally will be reviewed from a military standpoint in an effort to achieve greater mobility. However, it is recognized that these adjustments cannot readily be made under fire.
The foregoing are negative acts. In addition there should be positive acts designed to dramatize the shift of effort to assure the survival of Chinese civilization. It should seek valid yet dramatic ways to cast itself in the role of the custodian of China’s real greatness. There should be increasing [Page 426] emphasis on Chinese education, art and other aspects of Chinese culture.
Thus the GRC can better thwart the materialistic efforts of the CPR on the mainland; can be a symbol which the mainland Chinese will observe and envy; can attract more lasting support on Taiwan; can better hold the loyalty of overseas Chinese; and can make itself into something which not only the US but the free peoples everywhere will want to sustain and cherish.”
After the Secretary briefly elaborated on this, the President suggested recess to give him time to consider it.