What did the declassified documents reveal?

This episode of Declassified presents a Top Secret memorandum of conversation from the American Embassy in Taiwan, dated February second, nineteen-fifty-five. The document details negotiations between American and Chinese officials regarding the operation of certain radio communications units in Formosa. This record is available via documents two dot the black vault dot com. This Top Secret memorandum was declassified on May thirtieth, nineteen-seventy-nine, under the Freedom of Information Act, case number seven-seven-zero-zero-five-eight. The declassification authority was the Assistant Archivist for Declassification. It is part of a larger collection of declassified intelligence records concerning U S engagement with China. The memorandum is titled, Memorandum of Conversation, and lists participants as Mr. Hsu Shao-chiang, Director, Department of American Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Mr. W. P. Cochran, Junior, Counselor of Embassy. The subject is, Negotiations Concerning Radio Communications Units. While in the Foreign Office on another subject, Mr. Hsu adverted to our previous conversations concerning an agreement for the operation in Formosa of certain radio communications units. He apologized for not having called me sooner to continue negotiations, but said he had been having constant exchanges of views with the Ministry of National Defense. He said negotiations appeared to be progressing satisfactorily with only one remaining big problem, namely, the length of life of the agreement. I asked for twenty-five years. He said that apparently some of his people felt that excessive; and could we suggest any lesser period? I replied that we had suggested an indefinite period; that this had not been satisfactory to the Chinese Government and that as a compromise we had proposed twenty-five years; that it was up to the Chinese Government to suggest some period. Mr. Hsu was careful never to indicate what period was in his mind. At the same time, he kept pressing his argument with MND. He said I did not know precisely what these units were going to do. I said that I had no information on this other than I had given him; that exact details were on a need to know basis, and that it was obviously felt that I did not need to know, a situation in which I concurred. I reminded him that the operation of these units involved the expenditure of a very considerable sum of money, in the inventory of barracks, towers, radio equipment, etc., and that my government was unwilling to embark on this expense unless it could be sure that it would have time enough to obtain therefrom the results which are anticipated. He asked me how much money would be involved. I said I did not know. He asked me if it would be as much as five or ten million dollars. I replied that one of our immediate problems was the water supply, that the matter for decision at the moment was whether to invest some quarter of a million dollars in piping water from the nearby river, a…

Why was this case declassified?

This material entered the public record through the U.S. declassification and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process. The originating source document is linked on this page so the citation chain is auditable.

Case File · ARCHIVE-393Declassified

Filed SEP 27 · 2026Runtime 1 min

CIA This Episode Of Declassified Presents A Top Secret Memorandum Of Conversation

U.S. public record · FOIAUpdated September 27, 2026

intelligence-vault

◆ BLUF — The short version

This episode of Declassified presents a Top Secret memorandum of conversation from the American Embassy in Taiwan, dated February second, nineteen-fifty-five. The document details negotiations between American and Chinese officials regarding the operation of certain radio communications units in Formosa.

Date: SEP 27 · 2026
Release: Declassified · U.S. public record (FOIA)
Source document: View the primary source document

↯ Dispatch — press play1:00

0:001:00

↯ Share

X in r/

Episode notes

View the primary source document

Questions about this case

What was CIA This Episode Of Declassified Presents A Top Secret Memorandum Of Conversation about?: This episode of Declassified presents a Top Secret memorandum of conversation from the American Embassy in Taiwan, dated February second, nineteen-fifty-five. The document details negotiations between American and Chinese officials regarding the operation of certain radio communications units in Formosa.
Why was this case declassified?: This material entered the public record through the U.S. declassification and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process. Storyflo narrates it directly from the public release.

intelligence-vault

Related cases

✉ Dispatches

A short dispatch when a new file is released — narrated, answer-first, and linked straight to the primary source. No spam; unsubscribe anytime.

↯ Subscribe to the feed

RSS feed Browse all cases

CIA This Episode Of Declassified Presents A Top Secret Memorandum Of Conversation

Questions about this case

Related cases

CIA China Treaty With U.s.s.r. Secret, Intelligence Brief

This Episode Of Declassified Presents A Declassified CIA Record Detailing U.s.

CIA Today, We Examine A Declassified Government Record From Vault.fbi.gov

CIA Probable Developments In Taiwan

CIA United States State Department Memorandum Concerning The Activities

Questions about this case

Related cases

CIA China Treaty With U.s.s.r. Secret, Intelligence Brief

This Episode Of Declassified Presents A Declassified CIA Record Detailing U.s.

CIA Today, We Examine A Declassified Government Record From Vault.fbi.gov

CIA Probable Developments In Taiwan

CIA United States State Department Memorandum Concerning The Activities

Get the next declassified case in your inbox