Executive Secretariat Files
Memorandum by the Secretary of State to the Executive Secretary of the National Security Council (Souers)
Subject: Implementation of NSC 34/2.61
Pursuant to NSC Action No. 123, October 6, 1948, the following progress report on the implementation of NSC 34/2, “United States [Page 508] Policy With Respect to China”, is submitted for the information of the Council:
While the United States Government is continuing the implementation of the China Aid Act of 1948, proposals to the Congress for further aid to the Chinese Government are at present restricted to a request by the Administrator for Economic Cooperation,62 supported by the Department of State, for an extension of the authority of the China Act of 1948 to permit commitment of unobligated appropriations after April 2, 1949, the present expiration date of the Act, until December 31, 1949. This request is now under consideration by the Congress. This action permits a continuation of the economic portion of the present aid program during the period when the outcome of political negotiations now being undertaken between the Chinese Government and the Chinese Communist Party is uncertain. This program does not include the extension of military aid beyond that provided for in Section 404(b) of the Act, the total amount of which will have been obligated by April 2, 1949, the date of the expiration of the Act. Until the situation in China is clarified, no further action is presently contemplated with respect to the extension of additional aid to the Chinese Government.
Active official contact is being maintained by the Embassy at Nanking and by the Embassy Office established at Canton with the various organs of the Chinese Government and all consular offices in Chinese Government areas maintain contact with the local officials and with non-official Chinese leaders. Official contact with local officials in Communist-held areas has been hampered by the refusal of those authorities to recognize the official status of foreign consular officers and the difficulty of access to high ranking Chinese Communist officials. Our consular officers at Peiping and Tientsin, which are under Communist occupation, have, however, had some contact with the lower ranking local officials at those cities.
The United States Government continues to recognize the National Government.
No action has yet been taken to reaffirm publicly the principles set forth in paragraph 15 of NSC 34/2. It is believed that such a public declaration would be inappropriate at the present juncture since it would have to be accompanied by a statement of the United States Government’s present position regarding aid to China and would thus be harmful to the National Government.
Steps are being taken to maintain our cultural and informational program, both official and private, at the most active feasible level. In connection with the evacuation of American citizens from China, [Page 509] efforts have been made to urge the evacuation of only those Americans who have no compelling reason to remain in China with the thought that key missionary and business personnel would remain and endeavor to carry on their normal activities to the greatest extent possible. Our USIS63 program is being carried on normally in National Government areas and is being continued in Peiping and Tientsin under Communist occupation except for the distribution of news releases to the vernacular press, the latter having been discontinued by order of the local Chinese authorities.
Every effort is being made through our USIS program and through VOUSA64 broadcasts to emphasize the imperialistic aims of the USSR in China and the threat to China from Soviet actions in Manchuria, Sinkiang and Inner Mongolia. The implementation of NSC 4165 regarding trade policy toward Communist areas should provide further means for exploiting rifts between the Chinese Communists and the USSR.
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