Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 62 Part 2.djvu/834

 INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS OTHER THAN TREATIES [62 STAT. ancdMarch 17,948 Agreement between the United States of America and China respecting [T. i. A. s. 17761 claims resulting from activities of United States military forces in China. Effected by exchange of notes dated at Nanking October 13, 1947, and March 17, 1948; entered intoforce March 17, 1948. The American Embassy to the Chinese Ministry of ForeignAffairs THI FOREIGN SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA No. 1197 The Embassy of the United States of America presents its compli- ments to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China and has the honor to refer to the latter's note, no. T'aio-36/09410, of May 8, 1947, [1] outlining certain suggestions in regard to investi- gation and payment of claims against the United States Government arising out of activities of the United States military forces in China. The note referred to was responsive to memorandum no. 885-19, dated February 28, 1946, [1] submitted by Lieutenant General Albert C. Wedemeyer to His Excellency, President Chiang Kai-shek. It is apparent that General Wedemeyer's proposal was made in light of the conditions then existing. Various military bases in Western China had been evacuated and a number of claims had not been settled nor other disposition made. The parts of China where the claimants lived were becoming inaccessible to American troops. Facilities for investigation and payment of accident claims were not readily available. The number of American military personnel in China was being reduced radically. What American Forces would remain in China was undecided. The circumstances of early February 1946 were substantially dif- ferent from those now prevailing. Claims which were then outstand- ing have been settled or other disposition of them has been made. Incidents and accidents reported have been investigated. Because of the lapse of time since American forces have withdrawn from re- mote areas, it is unlikely that additional incidents from those areas will be reported in the future. Claims arising from incidents oc- curring currently have been, and are being, processed under the pro- visions of the Act of Congress commonly referred to as the Foreign 31 St. .. 224 Claims Act and related regulations of the Army and Navy. The 31U.S.C.I224d ts . number of claims being presented now is small and sums of money involved are relatively limited. Conditions affecting claims have be- come more stabilized in the past months with the continued presence in China of certain elements of the United States Navy, the Army Advisory Group, Naval Advisory Group Survey Board, and units Not printed. 2116

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