What did the declassified documents reveal?

Basing of U.S. Strip Alert Fighters at Tainan Airfield, Taiwan – Action Memorandum, May twenty‑ninth, nineteen sixty‑nine. This Department of State memorandum outlines a proposal to station fighter aircraft on strip alert in Taiwan to protect aerial reconnaissance missions along the Communist Chinese coast. The document is hosted in the public archive of The Black Vault. The memorandum was made publicly available through The Black Vault’s online collection, identified in the archive entry for the declassified Department of Defense record. The release is part of the agency’s ongoing effort to provide public access to historical intelligence and policy documents. No specific Freedom of Information Act case number is cited in the archive entry, but the document is presented as a fully declassified record. The memorandum reads: “From: Department of State, Washington, D.C., two‑zero‑five‑two‑zero. Date: May twenty‑ninth, nineteen sixty‑nine. To: Ambassador Johnson; Mr. Green; Winthrop G. Brown. Subject: Basing of U.S. Strip Alert Planes at Tainan Airfield on Taiwan – Action Memorandum. Current Joint Chiefs of Staff directives governing the conduct of aerial reconnaissance along the coast of Communist China prevent our aircraft from operating closer than fifty miles from the coast, as compared to a combat air patrol of twenty miles that was in force before the EC‑121 shoot‑down, and direct maximum fighter strip alert as feasible. The only feasible place to provide fighters on strip alert for the protection of planes reconnoitering along the South China coast is Taiwan. The Department of Defense has asked the Department to secure Republic of China permission to deploy sufficient fighter aircraft to Taiwan for this purpose. Four fighters would be kept on alert at a time, and at least one or two more would be needed on Taiwan in reserve. Fighters will be launched at any time that the reconnaissance aircraft receives warning conditions one or five and would proceed to the defense of the reconnaissance plane. They might be launched earlier as a precautionary measure, but in that case would be held in a ready combat air patrol orbit well clear of the mission aircraft unless a more serious threat developed. In any event, our aircraft will certainly be observed by the Communist Chinese radar. This would mean that for the first time since the last Taiwan Strait crisis the United States will be regularly operating combat aircraft potentially targeted against a Communist Chinese target from Taiwan. We must assume that this will be seen by Peking as a significant escalation of the U.S. base use in Taiwan, something that we have been trying to avoid at least until we could come to decisions on National Security Study Memorandum fourteen, Policy Toward China. It obviously also risks a clash between U.S. and Chinese Communist aircraft, a clash that would be linked with Taiwan. Moreover, this will probably be seen by Chiang Kai‑shek as further evidence of the…

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.

Basing Of U.s.

◆ BLUF — The short version

S. Strip Alert Fighters at Tainan Airfield, Taiwan – Action Memorandum, May twenty‑ninth, nineteen sixty‑nine. This Department of State memorandum outlines a proposal to station fighter aircraft on strip alert in Taiwan to protect aerial reconnaissance missions along the Communist Chinese coast.

Date: AUG 7 · 2026
Release: Declassified · U.S. public record (FOIA)
Source document: View the primary source document

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Basing of U.S. Strip Alert Fighters at Tainan Airfield, Taiwan – Action Memorandum, May twenty‑ninth, nineteen sixty‑nine. This Department of State memorandum outlines a proposal to station fighter aircraft on strip alert in Taiwan to protect aerial reconnaissance missions along the Communist…

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Questions about this case

What was Basing Of U.s. about?: S. Strip Alert Fighters at Tainan Airfield, Taiwan – Action Memorandum, May twenty‑ninth, nineteen sixty‑nine. This Department of State memorandum outlines a proposal to station fighter aircraft on strip alert in Taiwan to protect aerial reconnaissance missions along the Communist Chinese coast.
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.

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