894A.00/12–2349
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Butterworth)
| Participants: | Dr. V. K. Wellington Koo, Chinese Ambassador |
| Mr. W. Walton Butterworth, Assistant Secretary, FE | |
| Mr. Livingston T. Merchant, Deputy Assistant Secretary, FE |
The Chinese Ambassador called at his request this afternoon and left with me for transmission to the Secretary the attached communication concerning Formosa.78 He then briefly recapitulated the steps recently taken by his Government with respect to Formosa, including the appointment of K. C. Wu as Governor, the inclusion as a majority of Formosans among the heads of the provisional departments and the introduction of certain land tax reforms.
I accepted the communication and stated that without benefit of having read it and without prejudice to its consideration, I wished to make clear our view that the economic resources on Formosa were so rich, the stocks of arms so large and the collection of administrative talent so impressive that the Island could be developed with tranquility and prosperity to a state where a comparison of conditions there with those existing on the Mainland would have a powerful influence on the Chinese under Communist rule in China proper. I said that I had a very high opinion of K. C. Wu’s administrative genius but that the test would be the extent of the powers granted him and [Page 457] I went on to cite his difficulties when Mayor of Shanghai which arose from his lack of control of the military and made mention of my fear that the same situation might exist on Formosa. I then referred to the apparent confused lines of authority among the various military commanders. Finally, I stated that we were concerned by evidence from time to time that the Chinese authorities on Formosa were thinking in terms of making certain arrangements or instituting reforms because they thought the United States desired them. I emphasized that we had no such desire to impress our will and that such affairs were exclusively a Chinese responsibility. I concluded by reminding him that we had no intention of using American troops to defend the Island.
The Ambassador elaborated on his earlier remarks and emphasized the degree of autonomy which K. C. Wu and General Sun Li-jen as Commander of the defenses of the Island possess.
I then asked the Ambassador if as a matter of military policy it was intended that the Island was to be utilized as a base for military operations against the Mainland or devoted to the defense of the Island and the well-being of its inhabitants. The Ambassador replied that the Island’s own resources were sufficient for its own support and defense but that the thought underlying the request for aid contained in the communication he was leaving was based on the intention of developing the Island to carry the war to the Mainland. The Ambassador then said that the details of the economic aid which his Government requested had already been communicated to ECA and that he would be glad to supply us next week with the details of military aid which was being requested.
I thanked the Ambassador and assured him that his Government’s communication would receive our urgent attention and I reminded him that Formosa had been the subject of intensive attention by the United States Government since the days of Chen Yi.79