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ANNEX E.
O
TASS COMMUNIQUE.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign ..ffairs recently published a communique on questions relating to the situation in the area of the naval base of Port Arthur and at the port of Dairen and on the establishment there of a Chinese civil administration. In this communique the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs alleges that the Soviet Government has hindered the establishment by the Chinese Government of a civil administration in the area of the naval base of Port Arthur and at Dairen, by not agreeing to admit Chinese troops to the area indicated, and that as a consequence of this the Chinese Communists have allegedly been able to set up their armed forces around Port Arthur and Dairen. The communique. alleges that the despatch of Chinese troops to the Port Arthur area and to Dairen is an essential condition for the establishment there of a Chinese civil administration.
The communique also contains the assertion that a group of Chinese Government representatives headed by General Tung Yang-ping which recently visited the Port Arthur area and the port of Dairen allegedly did not receive the necessary assistance from the Soviet Command in carrying out the tasks laid upon it.
Further, referring to the note attached to the Soviet- Chinese Treaty of August 14th, 1945, the communique recalls the obligations of the Soviet Government to afford china moral support and assistance with military equipment and to respect Chinese sovereignty over the Three Eastern Provinces (Manchuria).
In regard to this communique of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, TASS is authorised to state the following:
As is already known from the official TASS communique published in April this year, as far back as December 1945 and January 1946 the Command of the Soviet troops then in Manchuria informed the Chinese Government representatives in Manchuria of its readiness to offer all assistance in establishing Chinese civil administration in Dairen. Readiness was also expressed to give the necessary assistance to the Mayor of Dairen when appointed by the Chinese Government. Despite the fact that the Soviet Command also at that time received the official notice of the Chinese Government on the appointment of a Mayor of Dairen, the Mayor did not arrive there.
On December 3rd 1946 the Soviet Government approached the Chinese Government with regard to the establishment of Chinese civil administration at Dairen and in the area of the naval base of Port Arthur. Receiving no reply, the Soviet Government again applied to the Chinese Government on March 7th 1947 with a proposal for the acceleration of the establishment of Chinese civil administration throughout the naval zone of Port Arthur and in the city of Dairen, in accordance with the Soviet-Chinese egreements of August 14th 1945. In the course of. further negotiations the Soviet Government guaranteed that the Soviet Military Command would afford the assistance to the Chinese civil administration in the execution of its functions.
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