Marshall Mission Files, Lot 54–D270
Minutes of Meeting Between General Marshall, Professor Wu Chi-yu, and Mr. Sun Tan-lin at No. 5 Ning Hal Road, Nanking, December 31, 1946, 5:30 p.m.
| Also present: | Colonel Caughey |
Professor Wu, interpreting for Mr. Sun, said that Mr. Sun was once the Minister of Interior, a close friend of Mr. Wu Pei Fu.45 Mr. Sun is strictly non-party and has the highest respect for the people of China. He would like to have an opinion from General Marshall on the future of China. General Marshall said that he had seldom seen any government officials except the Generalissimo, Dr. T. V. Soong, Dr. Wang, General Yu Ta-wei, and the Madame frequently but on social matters usually; that most of his contacts actually had been with General Chou En-lai. General Marshall said he had seen the Democratic League members several times and many of the non-party members including businessmen, professors, publishers; particularly the last two.
General Marshall stated that the reactionaries in the government had opposed his efforts throughout and that he was now convinced that the solution for a representative form of government in China is to bring to the fore the liberal elements in a single party as a force for clean government. General Marshall stated that this effort would first have to be made on the Government side with the ultimate objective of bringing into the Government, Communist liberal elements after the Communists had been convinced of the Government’s intention to enter into true democratic processes.
Mr. Sun said that all parties, whether they be Government parties or Communist parties, are enemies of the people: that bringing together the liberal elements within all factions is absolutely sound but that he was very skeptical as to the feasibility of this plan under [Page 670] the double pressure from the Kmt and CCP sides. General Marshall admitted that it would be a very difficult problem and that the idea would be impossible of accomplishment without the indirect support of the Generalissimo. General Marshall elaborated on his liberalization idea by telling Mr. Sun that what he visualized was a strong third party steering group consisting of selected non-party members and that this group would be augmented then with two liberal members from each of the various third parties. This small organization would have a very simple platform and it would have as its objective the backing of whatever appeared good government. General Marshall added that this organization should gradually knit together all of the liberal elements in China into an effective force.
Mr. Sun agreed fully to the need of a coalition of the minor parties, but he still doubted the feasibility of the plan for two reasons; 1) the minor parties have no root in the people of China and therefore would have no support or power; 2) even if the minor parties would abide by Western standards of party participation, the movement could not develop under the Generalissimo’s reactionaries and besides the CCP would think it was just another “tail” of the Kmt. Therefore, the minor party coalition could not command confidence of either side.
At this point General Marshall asked Mr. Sun what the alternative might be. Mr. Sun said that two conditions must be fulfilled and that these are good leadership and leadership backed with a real force. Mr. Sun added that the three men previously mentioned by General Marshall as possible leaders of the steering group (Mr. Mo Te-hui, Hu Lin, and Hu Shih) were personal friends of his, but that these individuals have no force and the people would not follow them.
General Marshall then asked Mr. Sun what he proposed. Mr. Sun said that the leadership for a coalition non-party group was most difficult; that Dr. Sun Yat-sen, Mr. Ho Hao-ming,46 or General Wu Pei Fu would be acceptable leaders but that these persons were dead. Mr. Sun added that he, personally, was willing to support the movement to make it a success but that he did not feel the leadership problem could be solved.
General Marshall again asked Mr. Sun what he suggested. Mr. Sun said that he felt that persons from the business world, such as bankers or factory owners might be called on, and he suggested the following three individuals: Chien Sui Chih, Director of the Bank of Commerce; Chen Kuang Pu, Director of the Shanghai Bank;47 and Lu Tsu Fu, Director of the Ming Sen Steamship Company. Mr. Sun said that these men were the equivalents of Ford and Rockefeller in the United States. General Marshall stated that the experience in the United [Page 671] States had been that this type of person did not do well in politics—that they were not equipped for the type of considerations necessary in political workings. As an example, he pointed out that Mr. Ford had run for the Senate several times but had been defeated. He also added that a banker, because of his financial background, usually could not dare to enter a political life. In the case of lawyers, however, they seem to have the facility of moving in. General Marshall told Mr. Sun that he was glad to have this suggestion but still wanted to know from Mr. Sun what other course might be taken. Mr. Sun replied that if the Kmt can give freedom, peace and liberty to the people of China, then Communism will die, and that if the Communists could give the same thing to the people the Kmt would die.