Canberra, undated1
Confidential
Recognition of People’s Government of China
1. The Chinese Communist Armies are now in virtually complete control of the whole of the mainland of China. According to the latest reports two more Nationalist generals in southern China have defected to the Communists, together with their troops, and the remaining Nationalist forces have been driven almost to the border of Indo-China. It appears that, apart from isolated guerilla activity, Nationalist Government resistance is now confined mainly to Formosa, Hainan and a few other islands off the China coast.
2. The question of recognition of the Central People’s Government at Peiping as the Government of China has been the subject of consultation for several months between British Commonwealth and other governments. The principal point at issue has been whether, on the assumption that the Chinese Communists would have assumed effective control over the whole of China within a short time, recognition should be accorded to them without delay or should be withheld as long as possible, or at least until they had given certain firm guarantees that they would respect China’s existing international obligations.
3. The matter was discussed with Mr. M.E. Dening, Under Secretary in charge of Far Eastern Affairs at the United Kingdom Foreign Office, during his visit to Canberra early in November. Mr. Dening indicated that the United Kingdom Government was on the whole in favour of granting recognition without too much delay, on the argument that while the new government was obviously dominated by fully-fledged Communists it need not necessarily be assumed that it would let itself be dictated to by the Soviet Union, and that every effort should be made to preserve China’s traditional commercial and other contacts with western countries. He pointed out also that unless normal relations were established with the Government at Peiping, Britain’s extensive commercial interests in Hong Kong and in China itself would be in danger of extinction. Mr. Dening had just come from a meeting in Malaya of all British Far Eastern representatives, which had agreed unanimously that the advantages of early recognition outweighed the possible disadvantages. The United Kingdom Government has now decided to accord full recognition on 2nd January, 1950, unless there is any convincing objection raised by other governments.
4. The United States Government has all along been anxious that recognition should not be hastened. In particular, influential quarters in the United States Congress have strenuously opposed any suggestion of recognition. On 12th October, the United States Secretary of State, Mr. Dean Acheson, stated that any government seeking recognition from the United States should meet the following three conditions:
(a) it should control the area it claims to represent;
(b) it should recognise and carry out its international obligations; and
(c) it should rule with the acquiescence of the ruled.
The United States attitude is still founded on these principles. Whilst it might now be prepared to admit that the first and third have been fulfilled to the point where no excuse is left for withholding recognition, recent events such as the detention by the Communists of the United States Consul-General at Mukden and other United States citizens2 are cited by the United States as evidence of lack of intention on the part of the Communists to observe their international obligations and have served to harden the United States attitude against recognition.
5. The Canadian Government, which was at first inclined to share the United States distaste for recognition in any form, has recently modified its views and is now inclined to consider early recognition, but not until after the forthcoming British Commonwealth Conference at Colombo.3
6. The Indian Government has for some time been anxious to grant recognition, and had proposed that all British Commonwealth Governments should do so as soon as possible after the end of the recent session of the United Nations General Assembly, i.e. in the last half of December.
7. The Ceylon Government is also in favour of early recognition, but is prepared to wait until the matter can be discussed at Colombo.
8. The attitude of the New Zealand Government before the recent elections was against recognition at this time, on the argument that it would offer no advantages and would at the same time serve to encourage Communists everywhere.
9. The Burmese Government has now accorded recognition, and it is known that the Government of Thailand is anxious not to delay much longer. The position throughout the whole of South-East Asia is that governments are apprehensive regarding the effect of protracted delay in stirring up discontent among the large Chinese minorities within their borders.
10. Consideration has been given by governments to the question whether the Communist Government might be recognised de facto instead of de jure, at least until the resistance of the Nationalist Government is completely extinguished. The Communists have made it clear, however, that they are not interested in anything less than de jure recognition, and the argument has been advanced strongly by British Commonwealth representatives in Nanking that a decision to offer de facto recognition would be looked upon by the Communists as a hardening of opinion against them and would be worse than no decision at all.
11. It is for decision by the Government:
(a) Whether de jure recognition should be accorded to the People’s Government in the near future, or postponed indefinitely;
(b) Whether, if early recognition is to be granted, this should take place before the Colombo Conference—i.e., simultaneously with the United Kingdom Government—or immediately after it.
(c) Whether, if it is decided to accord recognition after the Colombo Conference, the United Kingdom Government should be urged to do likewise in the interests of British Commonwealth unity.4
P.C. Spender
Minister for External Affairs
[NAA: A4940, C1433]
1 The submission is undated, but was clearly written in December.
2 Angus Ward, the US Consul-General in Mukden, Liaoning Province, was arrested on 24 October with other members of his staff. They were held incommunicado, and when released were ordered to leave China immediately under a one-year suspended sentence.
3 The Foreign Ministers of the British Commonwealth met in Colombo from 9 to 14 January 1950. The conference resulted from an agreement at the Commonwealth Prime Ministers’ Conference of 1948 that Commonwealth Foreign Ministers should consult on a regular basis.
4 The minutes of a Cabinet meeting on 20 December 1949 record that ‘Cabinet decided that it did not favour de jure recognition of the People’s Government in China at the present time. It decided nevertheless to inform the United Kingdom authorities that the Australian Government raised no objection to the course of action proposed by the United Kingdom Government to recognize the People’s Government of China at an early date’. It further agreed that ‘if as a result of the discussions at the Colombo Conference, all the other Governments of the British Commonwealth decided on immediate recognition of the People’s Government, the matter should then be reconsidered’.