Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, China and Japan, Volume XIV, Part 1

793.5/10–1354

No. 338
Memorandum by the Counselor (MacArthur) to the Secretary of State¹

top secret

[Washington,] October 13, 1954.

This morning Admiral Radford made reference to your letter to Secretary Wilson² regarding the possibility of a security treaty with the Chinese Nationalist Government. Admiral Radford said he had not interpreted your letter as requiring the JCS to come up with a massive study and recommendation with respect to such a treaty. He said that furthermore, in the light of the President’s views on this question as indicated by your recent exchange with the President, it would seem to be a little bit academic.

I said it was my understanding that the purpose of your letter was to acquaint Secretary Wilson and the JCS with the fact that a security treaty with the Chinese Nationalists was a possibility. I added that I believed you would be operating on the assumption that this was consistent with the position of the JCS and Department of Defense.

I added that I believed Admiral Radford’s interpretation was correct that your letter was not indicative of a desire for a massive study by the JCS with recommendations.³

D Mac

1. A notation on the source text indicates that it was seen by Secretary Dulles.

2. A letter of Oct. 8 from Dulles to Wilson reads as follows:

   “In a telephone talk I had with the President yesterday, he indicated that if Chiang went along with a program for ending the fighting relating to the offshore islands, we might consider a security pact to make clear our determination to hold Formosa and the Pescadores.

   “This has not been before the NSC, but I understand that the conclusion of such a security treaty has the approval of the JCS.” (793.5/10–854)

3. A memorandum of Oct. 12 from Admiral Radford to Generals Twining, Ridgway, and Shepherd and Admiral Carney states that the Secretary of Defense had requested that the JCS views concerning the desirability of a bilateral security pact between the United States and the Republic of China be given to him by Oct. 27. A note of Oct. 22 from the JCS Secretaries to the Joint Chiefs of Staff states that, in a discussion of the subject on October 13, the Joint Chiefs of Staff agreed “that from a military viewpoint the status quo in United States-Nationalist Government of the Republic of China relationships was preferable to a firm United States-Nationalist Government of the Republic of China bilateral security pact” and that the JCS Chairman would transmit these views orally to the Secretary of Defense. (Both documents constitute JCS 1966/91; JCS files)