493.46G9/11–351: Telegram
The Consul General at Hong Kong (McConaughy) to the Secretary of State
1634. If US-type controls were adopted and strictly enforced by all UN members outside Sov bloc Chi Commies wld be squeezed much harder than they are today. Elimination of UN shipping wld leave them access only to negligible amt of tonnage Commie bloc can provide. Wld hot only put an end to shipments such as Pakistan cotton, Ceylon rubber, Eur drugs but also wld eliminate much of smuggling now going on through Macau. It wld probably not have any early effect on the ability of the Chi Commies to wage war in Korea on present scale since USSR wld undoubtedly make strong effort to fill gap. However it wld represent a steady heavy drain on USSR production and transport and hamper war preparations of the USSR and her satellites. Chi urban econ wld feel the strain considerably more than it does today and this wld increase dissatisfaction with the Korean war and the lean-to-one-side policy.
Of course the adoption of US-type controls by Hong Kong wld be a death-blow to the colony unless alternative sources of food were provided.