January 5, 1950
Admiral Souers telephoned the Secretary this morning shortly after ten o'clock and said that the President had asked him to read to Secretary Johnson the statement on Formosa which would be released at 10:30 a.m. today, which he had done. Admiral Souers said he had also been requested by the President to read it to General Bradley and that General Bradley was very much concerned about one particular point in it. The President wanted Admiral Souers to check this point with Secretary Acheson.
The part in question had to do with the sentience which read "The United States had no desire to obtain special rights or privileges or to establish military bases on Formosa at this time or to detach Formosa from China."
General Bradley stated that the situation might arise where they will march South, in which case we may want to detach Formosa from China. For that reason, the question arose if it might not be wise to delete the phrase "or to detach Formosa from China."
The Secretary, while Admiral Souers waited, read the statement and agreed that it was all right to delete the phrase in question, although he said he would have preferred to leave the phrase in the statement.
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