CO129-591-13 Military Administration- proposed civil Affairs Agreement with China 20-7-1945 - 11-8-1945 — Page 27

ANNEX

The Charter of the Combined Civil Affairs Committee

at Washington (under the co-Chairmanship of British and American

representatives) was approved by the Combined Chiefs of Staff in

Paragraph six of this Charter reads as

September, 1943.

follows:-

2.

"Six.

When an enemy occupied territory of the United States,

the United Kingdom or one of the Dominions is to be recovered as a result of an operation, combined or otherwise, the military directive to be given to the force commanders concerned will include policies to be followed in the handling of civil affairs as formulated by the government which exercised authority over the territory before enemy occupation. If paramount military requirements, as determined by the. Force Commander, necessitate the departure from those policies, he will take action and report through

the Chiefs of Staff to the Combined Chiefs of Staff."

There is thus clear agreement with the Americans that

in British territories in the Far East which are in an American

command, the policies to be followed on the liberation of those

territories shall be laid down by H.M.G. and accepted by the

American Force Commander.

3.

This agreement relates to policies only. We have

assumed, however, that it carries the implication that British

Civil Affairs personnel should be used to carry out British

policies, and this is tacitly agreed by the Americans. We have

support for this assumption in the procedure that has been

followed in Borneo. In that connection we informed the

Americans, through the Civil Affairs Committee (London), that

we had collected in London a nucleus Civil Affairs Unit for Borneo

comprising experienced administrative and technical officers

who were in the service of the local Governments prior to

enemy occupation and that these British staffs would be at the

disposal of the American Force Commander. Following on this,

General