893.00B/8–448: Airgram
The Ambassador in China (Stuart) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 17—3:49 p. m.]
A–203. Reference is made to Embassy’s Airgram 202 of August 3 [4], 1948 which contained the text of a recent statement by the Prime Minister on the attitude of the Chinese Communists toward the Cominform action on Yugoslavia. The Department may be interested in the antecedence of this statement as well as some of its preliminary consequences because they throw some light on the dilemma in which the Chinese Government believes it finds itself vis-à-vis the Soviet Union.
As has been reported to the Department previously, it occurred to the Embassy that Cominform action on Yugoslavia could well be exploited in China for the benefit of the Chinese Communists and of the non-Communist left and liberal groups as an object lesson of what happened to all of those who had the temerity to oppose the will of the Kremlin. It is believed that the Yugoslavia affair was all the more pertinent for China because the Chinese Communists in recent months have been guilty of precisely those sins for which Tito is being attacked.
During one of his calls on the Generalissimo the Ambassador took occasion to explain the foregoing to him in as much as there had been no particularly relevant comment on Yugoslavia in the Chinese press. The Generalissimo immediately expressed interest and said he would have Dr. Li Wei-kuo, formerly Kmt Minister of Propaganda and presently Secretary General of the Executive Yuan, discuss the question in more detail with the Embassy. Two days later Dr. Li did call, obviously reflecting the interest which had been shown by the Generalissimo. Shortly thereafter largely identical editorials which [Page 400] have elsewhere been reported to the Department28 appeared in all official and semi-official papers. The public reaction to the line adopted by the Government appears to have been so far favorable.
In the meantime the Generalissimo conceived the idea of making the statement himself. This was drafted by T’ao Hsi-sheng, his ghost writer, with revisions made by the Generalissimo. He was however persuaded against broadcasting the statement himself on grounds that this would make it too official. It was then agreed that General Ho Ying-chin should issue it, but General Ho demurred stating that this was a political rather than a military matter. It was finally decided that the Prime Minister would issue the statement. At no time was the Foreign Minister consulted nor was he even aware of it until it was published. When it was brought to his attention he was furious and informed the Generalissimo that the statement reversed his whole policy of conciliating the Soviets which had been approved by the Generalissimo and that therefore there was nothing for him to do except resign. He was at once summoned to Mokanshan where the Generalissimo was enjoying a brief vacation. His resignation has apparently been refused but there is as yet no indication as to how the seeming discrepancy in policy has been resolved, except for a brief statement to the press by the Prime Minister saying there had been no change of policy.
- For example, telegrams Nos. 1555 and 1660, July 12 and 23, respectively, from the Consul General at Shanghai, neither printed.↩