894A.00/12–747: Telegram
The Consul at Shanghai (Pilcher) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 10—11:44 p.m.]
2788. ReDeptel 2080, December 5 (27 to Taipei and 469 to Nanking). Full text of story by Tung Ching entitled “What has the [Page 472] United States done in Taiwan” which appeared in November 27 issue Sin Min Wan Pao under dateline Taiwan October 31 follows:
Taiwan which returned to the bosom of the mother country just 2 years ago after half a century of Japanese domination has again become the coveted objective of all. The American run Manila Bulletin actually advocated openly the placing of Taiwan under trusteeship. Judging from recent American activities in Taiwan the plea for trusteeship serves only to expose some kind of underlying intrigues.
Remember that when General Wedemeyer visited China44 he also took a trip to Taiwan. There he made a careful inspection of the harbors, bases, as well as oil refineries, sugar and cement factories thus showing the concern which the United States has for Taiwan. He seemed very cautious. For fear of arousing any suspicion he particularly stated that the United States has no territorial ambition. However the facts of today are exactly contrary to the guarantee given by Wedemeyer and moreover Sino-American friendship is being seriously impaired. It is heart-rending to say that the Taiwan of today has in reality fallen under American control, since the visit to Taiwan of General Wedemeyer who declared the United States has no territorial design.
GI driven jeeps have frequently appeared on the streets and military planes with the star insignia also have often been seen overhead. This eye-shaped island has become the new Garden of Eden for American troops; it is said that large numbers of American Air Force personnel have already taken up quarters at various airfields everywhere on the island. The Sungshan airfield of Taipei city has become the base of the 13th USAAF. The American Air Force is also using the airfields of Taichung, Tainan, Kangshan and Pingting. The American Forces have put the Taichung airplane factory in operation again and they are currently beginning to assemble a great number of planes (note the said factory is incapable of manufacturing planes but airplane parts are being imported from the US and assembled there). The US Army is undertaking large-scale engineering projects for constructing military bases in Keelung, Kaoshun, Taipei, Taichung and Tainan. Of late large quantities of munitions are being shipped to Taiwan daily and they are hidden away at once so that the Taiwanese know nothing about them. This is naturally something of a secret nature.
It is rumored that in Wedemeyer’s report for aid to China he has suggested to designate Taiwan as military base for China and the United States. The US attempt to further tighten hold on Taiwan is therefore quite obvious but the Americans will not be satisfied. They are just preparing a greater plan. They want to dominate Taiwan altogether turning it completely into a new colony of theirs. The ambitious American elements are utilizing the disappointment and discontent of the Taiwanese toward the mother country as well as the fissure brought about by the February 28 bloody incident to launch a movement of alienating Taiwan from China. Moreover they have also created a lot of public opinion favoring the placing of Taiwan [Page 473] under trusteeship saying that since the Chinese Government was incompetent even to rule China proper naturally it can not rule Taiwan successfully.
The St. Louis Post in America played the same tune suggesting that the best thing to do was to let the Americans take over.
The absurd views of the Manila Bulletin represented another type of public opinion:
The strange views of a major (sub-head): Not long ago an American major told a certain city councillor something will inevitably happen to the Nanking Government in the not distant future. You Taiwanese must give your future some thought, he added. It is not convenient for me to discuss with you the Taiwan problem in detail. If you have the intention to bring order and improvement to Taiwan and feel that you need help from the United States you can go and talk over the matter with the director of the United States Information Service. Later on this city councillor through the introduction of a certain Taiwanese employed by a certain Consulate, not American Consulate, had an interview with the Director of the USIS with whom he held a 2-hour secret talk. The interpreter unintentionally disclosed the views of the Director of the USIS were:
- (1)
- Although the Cairo Conference declaration,45 the Potsdam declaration,46 and the Yalta pact47 defined the ownership of Taiwan yet prior to the conclusion of the Sino-Japanese peace treaty the ownership of Taiwan cannot be formally established.
- (2)
- The United States intends to apply the Atlantic Charter to Taiwan, then the Taiwanese can decide freely for themselves to whom they owe allegiance.
- (3)
- At present Taiwan is under General MacArthur’s control. If there is anything the Taiwanese want they can address their petition to MacArthur.
- (4)
- If the Taiwanese want to free themselves from Chinese domination the United States can help them.
- (5)
- If the Taiwanese wish to place themselves under American trusteeship they can set forth the terms they hope for as well as the period of trusteeship.
- (6)
- The United States will exert its utmost to assist Taiwan in her economic reconstruction and in reviving various industries so as to solve the problem of unemployment.
- (7)
- After Taiwan is placed under American trusteeship all those arrested in connection with February 26th civil commotion as well as all political prisoners can be released immediately and all such political measures as conscription and collection of land tax in kind can be immediately abolished.
The city councillor in question did not express any views then and there but said that he would further discuss the matter in detail after having solicited opinions from other prominent members of the gentry. But in the past few days this city councillor had already begun to be very active. He together with one prominent member of the gentry in Peitou and Saoshan frequently contacted and held talks with American quarters. As for what they were talking about nobody as yet knows anything about it.
According to a report by Associated Press reporter, those leaders of the Taiwan separatist movement directed by American ambitious elements will shortly make a formal demand for permission to attend the peace conference on Japan and will also demand that a plebiscite be held to decide whether Taiwan should still belong to China or break away from her. A certain leader wrote to his friend saying 99% of the Taiwanese people are willing to break away from China. We are asking help from the United States. But the regrettable thing is that under the current situation the United States cannot help much. I know we have a ray of hope now. We must take part in the peace conference on Japan and make public our public opinion. We must win a seat in the peace conference. He further stated my American friends urged me to consult you. It is still not known who these American friends are. The letter concluded Taiwan’s fate depends entirely on the peace conference. If we lose this opportunity we are doomed to suffer for a long time to come.
From the above fact we can plainly see the attempts of the American ambitious elements. They are availing themselves of the critical war situation in China to carry out their design of positively winning over gentry in Taiwan to promote the movement of placing Taiwan under trusteeship.
Sent Dept, repeated Taipei as 92, Nanking as 1850.
- See pp. 635 ff.↩
- The communiqué issued December 1, 1943; for text, see Foreign Relations, The Conferences at Cairo and Tehran, 1943, p. 448, or Department of State Bulletin, December 4, 1943, p. 393.↩
- “Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender” issued July 26, 1945; for text, see Department of State Bulletin, July 29, 1945, p. 137, or Foreign Relations, The Conference of Berlin (The Potsdam Conference), vol. ii, p. 1474.↩
- Signed February 11, 1945; for text, see Foreign Relations, The Conferences at Malta and Yalta, 1945, p. 984.↩