Oral Answer: Sir Winston Churchill
Date: February 1, 1955
Subject: The Formosa Situation



Mr. Emrys Hughes asked the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on his recent interchange of views with President Eisenhower on the question of Formosa.

The Prime Minister (Sir Winston Churchill) I have nothing to add to the very full statement made by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary on 26th January, and his reply to Questions yesterday. A new fact has however occurred. The Security Council has decided to send an invitation to the Chinese Government to attend the discussion. Her Majesty's Government regard the Security Council's action as a genuine attempt to seek a peaceful solution and they therefore very much hope that the Chinese Government will accept the invitation.

Mr. Strachey Does not the Prime Minister agree that it would be most valuable if the British Government made it publicly known that they regard the early withdrawal of Nationalist troops, at any rate from the offshore islands, as the most important practical step towards a cease-fire in this area?

The Prime Minister I have no further statement to make on these subjects at the present time.

Mr. Sorensen asked the Prime Minister to what extent his joint declaration with the late President Roosevelt and the late Marshal Stalin that Formosa should be restored to the Chinese Government, remains the policy of Her Majesty's Government.

The Prime Minister There seems to me to be a misprint in the hon. Member's Question. To correct it the words "Marshal Stalin" should be left out and the words "Generalissimo Chiang Kai shek" inserted. This was, in fact, the Cairo Declaration of 1st December, 1943. It contained merely a statement of common purpose. Since it was made a lot of things have happened. As the right hon. Member for Lewisham, South (Mr. H. Morrison) explained to the House on 11th May, 1951 — and I shall be very glad to send the hon. Member a copy of what he said — the situation has changed. The problem of Formosa has become an international problem in which a number of other nations are closely concerned. The question of future sovereignty over Formosa was left undetermined by the Japanese Peace Treaty.

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[ source: HANSARD 1803 - 2005 / Commons Sitting, 1 February 1955   vol 536   cc900-2 ]

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