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Memorandum by the Ambassador in China (Johnson)92

Mr. Sun Fo93 stated in the course of a call that the situation in North China remained uncertain. He said that the Japanese have tried to get General Yen Hsi-shan and Mr. Hu Han-min to come forward and head a separatist government in the North, but that they have not met with success, as neither of these men wish to take the responsibility. He said that the Japanese were now looking for a civilian, but that they were also having difficulty here.

Mr. Sun Fo stated that Governor Yen Hsi-shan of Shansi had sent word to Dr. Kung at Nanking that he had received a call from a Japanese army officer who had with him maps showing that originally the Japanese plan had been to use China north of the Yellow River [Page 356] as a place for requisitioning supplies for troops in a war with Russia, but that now this plan had been changed to cover all of China north of the Yangtze.

Mr. Sun Fo stated that the Political Council had been abolished because the Nanking Government wanted to remove all elements that might be used independently of Nanking in North China. He thought that the Military Council would also be abolished for the same reason, thus forcing the Japanese to deal with Nanking rather than with the subordinate officers left in the North.

Nelson Trusler Johnson
  1. Copy transmitted to the Department by the Ambassador in China in his despatch No. 54, October 25; received November 18.
  2. President of the Legislative Yuan, Chinese National Government.