FAILURE OF MISSION

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27643, 27 April 1955, Page 13

FAILURE OF MISSION

Chiang Opposes U.S. Policy

(Rec. 11 p.m.) TAIPEH, April 25. Admiral Arthur Radford and Mr Walter Robertson, the United States Assistant Secretary of State, failed to gain Marshal Chiang Kai-shek’s support of United States policy toward the Formosa problem in their two-day mission, reliable sources said tonight. An American official said the situation was “grave” as a result of the abortive talks. The United States Ambassador (Mr Karl Rankin) was reported to be “displeased” at the outcome.

Admiral Radford, chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Mr Robertson, will return to Washington today. The reliable source said Marshal Chiang refused to consider joining any direct talks on Formosa in which Cominunist Chiha participated. In his six-hour talk on Sunday with the visiting Americans, Marshal Chiang also renewed his opposition to a Nationalist withdrawal from the offshore Quemoy and Matsu Islands, the sources said. It was understood that Mr Robertson communicated the results of Sunday’s conference to Washington, but he was not expecting further instructions. Admiral Radford and Mr Robertson flew to Taipeh on Sunday amid reports from Washington that they might try to persuade Marshal Chiang to withdraw from the offshore Marshal Chiang, meanwhile, called his Cabinet into an emergency session at which the Ministers approved civil defence plans for Formosa in the event of a Communist attack. At a luncheon at the American Embassy, Mr Rankin and the two American visitors discussed the recent United States-Nationalist Mutual Aid Treaty. Under the pact, the United States agreed to defend Formosa and the nearby Pescadores Islands. President Eisenhower later promised that the United States would defend territories related to the defence of Formosa, but he has not specified that the Quemoy and Matsu Islands fall into this category.