893.248/186
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Chief of the Division of Controls (Green)
Dr. T. V. Soong, President of the Central Bank of China, called at my office this morning by appointment. He referred to my recent conversations with the Chinese Ambassador and Mr. Arthur Young in regard to the purchase of military planes by the Chinese Government. He said that he had now been authorized by his Government to act as its agent for the negotiation of the necessary contracts. He added that his Government desired to obtain at least a few planes immediately.
I replied that this Government was very anxious to make it possible for the Chinese Government to obtain a few planes immediately. I added that in view of the needs of the Chinese Government we had been somewhat surprised that it had placed no orders for combat planes in this country this year.
Dr. Soong said that the failure of the Chinese Government to place orders heretofore was due to the fact that it had relied upon the U. S. S. R. to furnish it with combat planes, but that as it had been [Page 687] disappointed in the number of planes furnished by the U. S. S. R. it has now resolved to place orders in this country. Dr. Soong asked whether I could make an appointment for him to see Mr. Philip Young, Chairman of the President’s Liaison Committee.
In Dr. Soong’s presence I called Mr. Young’s office by telephone and made an appointment for Dr. Soong to see Mr. Young tomorrow afternoon.
I told Dr. Soong that Mr. Young was fully informed of the desire of the Department of State that arrangements be made which would permit the delivery of at least a few planes to the Chinese Government in the immediate future and that I felt sure that if an order were placed Mr. Young and his committee would find it possible to make the necessary arrangements. Dr. Soong then asked my advice as to how he should approach Mr. Young.
I suggested that he should be perfectly frank with Mr. Young, place the entire problem before him, and discuss it with him freely in all of its aspects. I added that I felt that he and his Government could fully rely upon any advice which he might receive from Mr. Young and his committee in regard to the types of planes for which it would be most advantageous for the Chinese Government to place orders.
Dr. Soong then mentioned the Thai planes now in Manila. He said that he hoped that his Government might be able to purchase those particular planes.
I replied that that might be the solution, but I pointed out that those planes were dive bombers of an extremely powerful type. I added that for many reasons I thought that it would probably develop from his discussions with Mr. Young that it would be far more advantageous to his Government to acquire other planes rather than the Thai planes at Manila.