BRITISH EMBASSY, WASHINGTON, D.C. 6th
December, 1949
DEPARTMENT OF STATE Memorandum of Conversation
Date: December 6, 1949
Subject: Recognition of Chinese Communist Regime
Participants: Madame Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit - Ambassador of India Mr. T. N. Kaul - First Secretary, Indian Embassy The Secretary Mr. Mathews - SCA
Copies to: S/S, NEA, FB, UNA, USUN, DRN, CIA, G, Embassy New Delhi
The Indian Ambassador called at her request. I thanked her for the message which her government had sent to the Chinese Communist authorities in connection with the Ward case, and said that we felt that the interest shown by the Government of India and other governments had contributed to the solution of this problem. Madame Pandit intimated that she was pleased if her government had been of assistance.
Madame Pandit then referred to the memorandum which she had left with Mr. Webb setting forth her government's views on the recognition of the Chinese Communist regime. She said that her government would like very much to have our reactions. I replied that we had been studying her memorandum and that if she had not been so good as to ask to see me, I should have requested that she call. I went on to say that we appreciated the action of her government in giving us the benefit of its views.
I introduced my further comments by saying that I was giving her our estimate of the situation and of the factors involved in our approach to the problem of recognition of the Chinese Government regime, but that I did not presume to advise her government or to suggest the course of action which it should follow. In the first place, I considered it an illusion to believe that a government which extended early recognition would gain gratitude or other lasting benefits from its action. The Chinese Communists seem to have embarked upon a definite course, and recognition or non-recognition was not apt to cause them to deviate.
Aside from that, there were two aspects of the problem which seemed to us to have a definite bearing upon the wisdom of extending recognition. The first of these is the attitude of the Chinese Communists toward their international obligations. Our analysis leads us to believe that there are many analogies between the position of the Chinese Communists today and that of the Russian Communists in 1917. The Chinese Communists apparently do not intend to recognize any continuing responsibilities inherited from preceding regimes; they seem to regard themselves as a new state unfettered by the past. Madame Pandit interjected at this point that the Chinese Communists seem to want the rights of a state without its responsibilities. I agreed that this seemed to be the case and said that we believed recognition should be withheld until the Chinese Communists either definitely confirmed that they did not intend to honor inherited obligations or that they were prepared to assume them.
I said that the second matter which gave us concern was the conduct of the Chinese Communists. Recognition, of course, entailed the establishment of diplomatic and consular relations. Our experience led us to wonder whether the Chinese Communists would so conduct themselves as to make such relations worthwhile. I referred to the great difficulties which the Government of Bulgaria was putting in the way of our representatives in that country, and commented that we sometimes wondered whether the effort of maintaining relations with such countries was warranted by the very meager advantages gained. We should like to be better satisfied than we now are that the Chinese Communist Government would accord normal facilities to foreign diplomatic and consular officials.
I stated that in view of the factors which I had just reviewed, we had hoped that there would be an international hesitation in extending recognition to the Chinese Communists. We did not have in mind a general agreement, but rather a general desire on the part of the democratic countries to act together at such time as the Chinese Communists might give evidence of their intention to honor the obligations of a government.
I commented that another factor which led us to regard recognition with some reserve was the continued existence of areas in China under the control of the Chinese Nationalist Government. I then said that in any case I did not feel that I could properly advise the President on the question of recognizing Communist China until the Congress had reconvened and we had had an opportunity to consult with Congressional leaders, and to give Congress an opportunity to discuss this problem.
In closing, I told the Ambassador that we were fully aware that other nations had other factors to consider in connection with this problem, such as geographic location and trade. I said that each nation must in its own unfettered wisdom reach its own decision. Nonetheless, we still hoped for some measure of international hesitation in recognizing the Chinese Communist regime.
The Ambassador thanked me for the foregoing exposition of our views and said that she would report it to her government.
NEA:SOA:EGMathews:gep