Memorandum: Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Douglas) to the Secretary of State

Date: May 25, 1949, London

Subject: Problems of Taiwan

備忘錄： 駐英國大使（道格拉斯）致國務卿

日期： 1949年05月25日，倫敦

主題： 台灣問題

SIR: I have the honor to report that very little attention has been given in British official and unofficial circles to the various problems of Taiwan, such as the status of the island itself and the status of any Chinese Government which may be set up there, especially in view of the fact that much of China's resources are reported to have been transferred to the island. There is also a report in London that Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and his two sons have left Shanghai for Taiwan but the British Foreign Office has not been able to confirm this. In view of the above facts the Embassy has been endeavoring to obtain some indication of British thinking in regard to Taiwan and the following are the results:

主席先生：我很榮幸地報告，英國官方和非官方圈子很少關注台灣的各種問題，例如島嶼本身的地位以及可能在那裡建立的任何中國政府的地位， 特別是考慮到據報導中國的大部分資源已轉移到該島。 倫敦也有報導稱，蔣介石委員長和他的兩個兒子已離開上海前往台灣，但英國外交部未能證實。 鑑於上述事實，大使館一直在努力了解英國對台灣的想法，結果如下：

Official -- Foreign Office

    Mr. Dening, of the Foreign Office, stated that neither the British Cabinet nor officials of the Foreign Office have given much consideration to the problems of Taiwan and no Foreign Office policy has been established as yet. He stated that should a refugee Chinese government or a Chinese government in exile be set up in Taiwan, which is not yet legally Chinese territory, it is probable that the British Government would simply appoint a British Consulate in Tamsui as an office of the British Embassy in China. His own opinions were that any Chinese government established in Taiwan would be in a very ambiguous position and would present difficult problems to the governments of the world and especially to the United Nations. Should we or should we not recognize any such government as being the Government of China, entitled to appoint diplomatic representatives abroad and to the United Nations? Moreover, the problem of who should control Chinese Government funds abroad would arise.   . . . . .

官方 -- 外交部

    外交部 Mr. Dening 表示，無論是英國內閣還是外交部官員，都沒有過多考慮台灣問題，目前還沒有製定外交部政策。 他說，如果在台灣還不是中國合法領土的地方設立難民中國政府或中國流亡政府，英國政府很可能會乾脆指定一個英國駐淡水領事館作為英國大使館的辦公室在中國。 他自己的意見是，任何在台灣成立的中國政府都會處於非常模棱兩可的境地，並且會給世界各國政府，特別是聯合國帶來棘手的問題。 我們應該或不應該承認任何這樣的政府是中國政府，有權任命駐外和聯合國的外交代表？ 此外，中國政府的海外資金由誰控制的問題也隨之而來。   . . . . .

Parliament

    During the Debate on China in the House of Commons on May 5, Mr. Walter Fletcher (Conservative) wished to discuss the problem of Taiwan. He was ruled out of order by the Deputy Chairman (Mr. Bowles)   (Labor), who made the following surprising statement: "Formosa, I realize, is the seat of the present Nationalist Government of China. But it is not China. I think it was part of Japan . . . Formosa is a part of Japan, and is not really China, though the Chinese government may be there."   . . . . .

英國議會

    05月05日下議院就中國問題進行辯論時，Mr. Walter Fletcher（保守黨）希望討論台灣問題。 他被副主席（Mr. Bowles）（工黨）排除在外，他發表了以下令人驚訝的聲明："我知道，福爾摩沙是目前中國國民政府的所在地。但它不是中國。我 認為它是日本的一部分 . . . 台灣是日本的一部分，並不是真正的中國，儘管中國政府可能在那裡。" . . . . . "   . . . . .

Unofficial

    The Economist, on May 21, published a short note regarding the "Ownerless Isle", that is, Taiwan. The article described the present status of Formosa rather accurately . . . . . If the American Government still wishes to save anything from the wreck of its China policy, the unsettled status of Formosa in international law would afford a ground for treating the island as a separate entity, . . . . .

非官方

    05月21日，《經濟學人》就“無主之島”台灣發表短文。 這篇文章比較準確地描述了福爾摩沙的現狀。 . . . . 如果美國政府仍然希望從其對華政策的廢墟中挽救任何東西，那麼台灣在國際法中懸而未決的地位實為將該島視為一個單獨的實體提供了依據，。 . . . .

---

[ source: United States Department of State / Foreign relations of the United States, 1949. The Far East: China Volume IX (1949), pages 341-343 ]

See -- FRUS page for full content