793.5 MSP/11–2054: Telegram
No. 399
The Ambassador in the Republic of
China (Rankin) to the Department of
State
351. Chinese Foreign Ministry has given Embassy “agreed draft” dated November 5 of Mutual Defense Pact1 and last night Acting Foreign Minister showed me Department’s revised draft (November 14) of main body of exchange of notes to accompany treaty.2
Shen indicated his government puzzled by US insistence on joint approval for “removal” of military elements from Formosa and Pescadores. Apparently Chinese have no serious practical objection except that such undertaking would be widely interpreted as infringement of sovereignty; Communists would hail it as proof US “occupied” Formosa. Text of note could scarcely be kept confidential for long.
General Chase and I believe situation would be adequately covered if Chinese undertook simply to remove no military elements from territory described in Article 6 without prior consultation between two parties. Flexibility would have to be retained for Air and Naval Forces in any case and US has adequate means at hand to discourage movements of which it disapproves. “Use of force” could remain subject to joint agreement.
I do not know that above proposal acceptable to Chinese, but believe it might be.
- Not found in Department of State files.↩
- See footnote 2, Document 394.↩