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if properly pressured, even China could be brought into line.
He said he recognized that no such treaty could be considered
as coming. into force without Russian agreement, but that never-
theless, a common solution agreed upon by all other nations
would do much toward persuading Russia eventually to go along.
He said that the international situation naturally requires
that the U.S. retain occupation forces in Japan for the present
and that we should recognize that the final solution of the
peace treaty problem must await resolution of the current
United States-Soviet impasse. He said we certainly should
never withdraw our occupation forces so long as Russia could
technically find an excuse to move in. The presence of our
troops here is not so much to assure adequate defense of Japanese
territory, as to provide visible evidence to the Japanese people
of our continued support, and of our refusal to permit the forces
of communism to make further advances in their 'country.
General MacArthur said that in this connection, he had heard
informally, of certain Armly Department thinking which advocated 8,
change to over-all civilian control in Japan; with occupation
forces restricted to certain base areas and under separate command.
He said he felt any such conception is completely unrealistic.
He said the Japanese people would never accord full obedience
to a civilian administrator. They would more and more openly
rofuse to cooperate with our occupation forces and, with the
accompanying loss of prestige thus engendered, we would soon find
ourselves reduced to relative impotency. He said the present SCAP
arrangement has proved highly successful, it has been accepted by
the Japanese and is equally acceptable to all nations of the Far
Eastern Commission, except possibly, Sovict Russia. Therefore,
he strongly recommends that so long as we propose to maintain any
form of control in Japan, we retain SCAP essentially as presently
UMAN
organized.
ARCHIVES **MATIONAL SERVICE" RECORDS AND
IND SECRET
- 21 -
Annex "B"
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"ocrText": "or\nif properly pressured, even China could be brought into line.\nHe said he recognized that no such treaty could be considered\nas coming. into force without Russian agreement, but that never-\ntheless, a common solution agreed upon by all other nations\nwould do much toward persuading Russia eventually to go along.\nHe said that the international situation naturally requires\nthat the U.S. retain occupation forces in Japan for the present\nand that we should recognize that the final solution of the\npeace treaty problem must await resolution of the current\nUnited States-Soviet impasse. He said we certainly should\nnever withdraw our occupation forces so long as Russia could\ntechnically find an excuse to move in. The presence of our\ntroops here is not so much to assure adequate defense of Japanese\nterritory, as to provide visible evidence to the Japanese people\nof our continued support, and of our refusal to permit the forces\nof communism to make further advances in their 'country.\nGeneral MacArthur said that in this connection, he had heard\ninformally, of certain Armly Department thinking which advocated 8,\nchange to over-all civilian control in Japan; with occupation\nforces restricted to certain base areas and under separate command.\nHe said he felt any such conception is completely unrealistic.\nHe said the Japanese people would never accord full obedience\nto a civilian administrator. They would more and more openly\nrofuse to cooperate with our occupation forces and, with the\naccompanying loss of prestige thus engendered, we would soon find\nourselves reduced to relative impotency. He said the present SCAP\narrangement has proved highly successful, it has been accepted by\nthe Japanese and is equally acceptable to all nations of the Far\nEastern Commission, except possibly, Sovict Russia. Therefore,\nhe strongly recommends that so long as we propose to maintain any\nform of control in Japan, we retain SCAP essentially as presently\nUMAN\norganized.\nARCHIVES **MATIONAL SERVICE\" RECORDS AND\nIND SECRET\n- 21 -\nAnnex \"B\""
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