#5-557

To Vice Admiral Charles M. Cooke, Jr.

September 24, 1946 Radio No. GOLD 1552 Nanking, China

Reference is made to your OTP/emf dated 19 September 46 concerning ammunition and equipment for the Chinese Maritime Customs.1 The amount of munitions involved is not large, but I am concerned over the fact that some of it, regardless of the amount, might fall into hands of combat troops, and also that a damaging publicity campaign can be manufactured out of such transfer. However, I will concur in principle to the transaction but request that the Maritime Customs Office be required to give formal assurance that this ammunition will not be employed in the present civil strife.2

Document Copy Text Source: Records of the Department of State (RG 59), Lot Files, Marshall Mission, Military Affairs, GOLD Messages, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland.

Document Format: Typed radio message.

1. In mid-September, Admiral Cooke had recommended selling limited quantities of small arms and ammunition to the Chinese Maritime Customs organization—whose job was to patrol the coast and the Yangtze River and protect against smuggling, theft of cargoes in ports, and piracy. Marshall replied: “I would prefer that you stop any possible sale for this purpose for the time being.” (Marshall to Cooke, Radio No. GOLD 1494, September 13, 1946, NA/RG 59 [Lot Files, Marshall Mission, Military Affairs, GOLD Messages].)

In his September 19 response, Admiral Cooke said he thought that there was sufficient justification for granting the request and recommended that Marshall approve “in principle now, even though it may be necessary to impose restrictive conditions so as to insure that transferred arms and ammunition will be used for legitimate Maritime Customs functions and not for combat purposes.” (Cooke Memorandum for General Marshall, September 19, 1946, NA/RG 59 [Lot Files, Marshall Mission, Military Affairs, Navy, vol. 2].)

2. On October 4, a message from the chief of naval operations noted: “In view of General Marshall’s comments, the State Department would only with reluctance concur in principle transfer of arms and ammunition. . . . In light of above, transfer of arms and ammunition to Chinese not approved at this time.” (Foreign Relations, 1946, 10: 762.)

Recommended Citation: ThePapers of George Catlett Marshall, ed.Larry I. Bland and Sharon Ritenour Stevens (Lexington, Va.: The George C. Marshall Foundation, 1981– ). Electronic version based on The Papers of George Catlett Marshall, vol. 5, “The Finest Soldier,” January 1, 1945–January 7, 1947 (Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003), pp. 690–691.