Office of the Historian

S/P–NSC files, lot 62 D 1, NSC 128

No. 21
Memorandum by the Senior State, Defense, and CIA Members of the NSC Staff to the Executive Secretary of the National Security Council (Lay)1

top secret
Washington, April 23, 1952.
1.
Pursuant to NSC Action No. 624-b,2 preliminary discussions were held on April 9th by representatives of the Department of [Page 46] State and the Central Intelligence Agency with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and representatives of the Department of Defense. Discussion centered on the interpretation of the views of the Joint Chiefs of Staff contained in NSC 128.3
2.

a. It was agreed that the recommendation of the JCS that the U.S. should “take such measures as may be necessary to deny Formosa to any Chinese regime aligned with or dominated by the USSR” was consistent with present U.S. policy as defined in NSC 48/5.4

b. It was agreed that the recommendation of the JCS that the U.S. should “in its own interests, take unilateral action if necessary, to insure the continued availability of Formosa as a base for possible United States military operations” should be interpreted to mean that the present situation, in terms of availability of bases on Formosa to possible U.S. use, should be continued.

c. It was agreed that the recommendation of the JCS relative to the mission of the 7th Fleet should be interpreted to mean that the U.S. should continue the mission presently assigned to the 7th Fleet with regard to Formosa but should keep the possibility of revision of that part of the mission restricting Nationalist activities under continuous review in the light of the world situation and the situation in the Far East.

d. It was agreed that the recommendations of the JCS with regard to support of a friendly Chinese regime on Formosa, and with regard to the development and maintenance of the military potential of that regime were consistent with present U.S. policy as defined in NSC 48/5.

3.
It was agreed that a working group would be established with representatives of the Departments of State and Defense and the Central Intelligence Agency to proceed with additional discussions looking toward preparation of the report called for by NSC Action 624-b.
Charles E. Bohlen

Senior State Member
Frank C. Nash

Senior Defense Member
Allen W. Dulles

Senior CIA Member
  1. Circulated to the NSC Senior Staff with a covering memorandum of Apr. 24 from Lay.↩
  2. See footnote 6, Document 14.↩
  3. Document 11.↩
  4. Dated May 17, 1951, Foreign Relations, 1951, vol. vi, Part 1, p. 33.↩