893.00/13618: Telegram
The Counselor of Embassy in China ( Peck ) to the Secretary of State
[Received July 15—11:35 a.m.]
226. Central News Agency has today released summarized translation of two speeches made to the Plenary Session by General Chiang Kai-shek on July 13. The translations state that among other things the speaker reiterated the declaration of the Fifth Nationalist Party Congress, November last, to the effect that “We shall not forsake peace until there is no hope for peace and we shall not talk slightly of sacrifice until driven to the last extremity which makes sacrifice inevitable” and explained that “any infringement upon China’s sovereign and territorial integrity by a foreign nation will drive her to the last extremity when she will think sacrifice inevitable”. In explanation the speaker said, “If any foreign power compels us to sign an agreement in recognition of ‘Manchukuo’ it will then be the time when we shall not fear any longer and when we shall make our last sacrifice”. He said that hope for peace had not been exhausted but was even brighter than before. He declared that China would not be afraid [Page 247] to make sacrifices for world peace and justice like a second Ethiopia though China was quite unwilling to be a conquered nation as Ethiopia is. This fate could be avoided if the whole nation should exert utmost efforts for national salvation. Referring to activities in the Southwest the speaker is quoted as saying, “We should all remember that if your internal administration is unified and our national foundation stabilized, all powers in the world will respect us. Just as when China has achieved real solidarity no nation in the world will dare become our enemy.”