893.00/12614
The Counselor of Legation in China (Peek) to the Secretary of State
[Received January 2, 1934.]
Sir: I have the honor to state that in the course of a call upon Dr. H. H. Kung, Minister of Finance, on November 28, 1933, I endeavored to ascertain his views upon the present situation arising from the independence movement by the 19th Route Army, initiated at Foochow on November 20. Dr. Kung was, as usual, unwilling to express any definite opinion, so I told him that I would take the liberty of stating what I conceived to be, in a general way, the present situation and would ask him to inform me whether my statement was substantially correct. I said that it appeared to an outsider that following the independence movement by the 19th Route Army at Foochow the question confronting the National Government was whether Canton, Kwangsi, and Hunan would be sympathetic with that movement, would be neutral, or would actively support the National Government.
Dr. Kung assented that I had described the situation correctly in general terms, but he remarked that he did not think there was any great danger that the Canton regime would join with the independence movement because, in the first place, it was General Chen Chi-t’ang, the present principal leader at Canton, who had ejected from that position General Chen Ming-shu, who is heading the rebellion in Fukien. As for the possibility that the rebels and Canton might decide to agree not to attack each other, Dr. Kung admitted that this was a possibility, since General Chen Ming-shu might be doubtful whether the soldiers of the 19th Route Army, being Cantonese, would be willing to fight against Canton.
In regard to Kwangsi, Dr. Kung said that the Government had received fairly satisfactory telegrams from General Li Tsung-jen and other leaders; and in regard to Hunan, he said that he did not think that the Chairman of the Hunan Provincial Government, General Ho Chien, would dare to join in a movement against Nanking, because he would be unable to retain his present post if he were to do so.
Dr. Kung went so far as to refer to the well known fact that southern leaders had strongly criticized General Chiang Kai-shek, taking him as a convenient object for their attack.
It is obvious that Dr. Kung, as Minister of Finance and as related to General Chiang Kai-shek by the fact that their wives are sisters, [Page 475] could hardly venture to be more explicit than he was. Nevertheless, his forced optimism was somewhat belied by the preparations made by the National Government in the way of aircraft mobilization and troop movements to prevent the 19th Route Army from attempting to come to the Shanghai area.
Very respectfully yours,