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COM TENTIAL
159 the
In this connection, I have been struck by the whole
issue of the Isbrandtsen ships, in the stopping and
seizure of two of them by the Chinese Nationalists. It
seems to me that one of the questions that is most easily
understood by the American public-- and not just recently
but al the way back- is the question of the right of
American ships to trade freely in various parts of the
world. Had action been taken--again I won't try to
define it, I don't know the technical details aga but had
action been taken to defend the right of these American
ships to trade through a blockade (which is not a block-
ade but technically a port closure, a port closure which
we have already asserted we don't recognize as a blockade),
I thinle it would have been very difficult for any opponents
of the process of moving toward recognition to say this
shall not be done, because this kind of action is highly
intelligible to the broadest kind of American public opin-
ion.
Therefore, I'd like to suggest, as a generalization,
that the process of disentanglement be carried forward as
rapidly as we can carry 1t forward, as a basis for pre-
paring public opinion as a basis for early recognition.
MR, STALEY: It seems to me in this connection that
It might be valuable to get out at some point a statement
that would-make the points that our Chairman mentioned
about our traditional policy on recognition, before taking
any final action here. I don't know just what the best
technique would be, whether a direct statement or an
inspired statement of some sort, but to get across to the
public that traditionally the United States recognizes the
regime chat controls the country and shows indication of
willingness and ability to live up to its international
obligations. Let people kick that around for awhile and
maybe that will prepare the way for the conclusion on the
part of the public that the informed group represented
here seems to be reaching.
One further note on the drift of public opinion in
our area. As you kmow, Roger Lapham has recently returned
from China where he was head of the ECA mission, and he is
a former Mayor of San Francisco. He gave a speech a couple
of weeks ago out there before the Commonwealth Club, and
ARCHIVES AND JULY
RECORDS
everybody Imows, of course, that he is completely unsympa-
=
SERVICE'^
thetie to the Communists, but he came out rather directly
and emphatically for recognition, going a good deal farther
than most people have been going in speaking on the subject.
Subsequently,
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"ocrText": "COM TENTIAL\n159 the\nIn this connection, I have been struck by the whole\nissue of the Isbrandtsen ships, in the stopping and\nseizure of two of them by the Chinese Nationalists. It\nseems to me that one of the questions that is most easily\nunderstood by the American public-- and not just recently\nbut al the way back- is the question of the right of\nAmerican ships to trade freely in various parts of the\nworld. Had action been taken--again I won't try to\ndefine it, I don't know the technical details aga but had\naction been taken to defend the right of these American\nships to trade through a blockade (which is not a block-\nade but technically a port closure, a port closure which\nwe have already asserted we don't recognize as a blockade),\nI thinle it would have been very difficult for any opponents\nof the process of moving toward recognition to say this\nshall not be done, because this kind of action is highly\nintelligible to the broadest kind of American public opin-\nion.\nTherefore, I'd like to suggest, as a generalization,\nthat the process of disentanglement be carried forward as\nrapidly as we can carry 1t forward, as a basis for pre-\nparing public opinion as a basis for early recognition.\nMR, STALEY: It seems to me in this connection that\nIt might be valuable to get out at some point a statement\nthat would-make the points that our Chairman mentioned\nabout our traditional policy on recognition, before taking\nany final action here. I don't know just what the best\ntechnique would be, whether a direct statement or an\ninspired statement of some sort, but to get across to the\npublic that traditionally the United States recognizes the\nregime chat controls the country and shows indication of\nwillingness and ability to live up to its international\nobligations. Let people kick that around for awhile and\nmaybe that will prepare the way for the conclusion on the\npart of the public that the informed group represented\nhere seems to be reaching.\nOne further note on the drift of public opinion in\nour area. As you kmow, Roger Lapham has recently returned\nfrom China where he was head of the ECA mission, and he is\na former Mayor of San Francisco. He gave a speech a couple\nof weeks ago out there before the Commonwealth Club, and\nARCHIVES AND JULY\nRECORDS\neverybody Imows, of course, that he is completely unsympa-\n=\nSERVICE'^\nthetie to the Communists, but he came out rather directly\nand emphatically for recognition, going a good deal farther\nthan most people have been going in speaking on the subject.\nSubsequently,"
}