893.00/13940: Telegram
The Counselor of Embassy in China ( Lockhart ) to the Secretary of State
[Received January 22—7:10 a.m.]
34. According to today’s North China Star, General Sung Che Yuan24 issued an order at Tientsin yesterday to various military and administrative offices in Hopei and Chahar directing that they (1) refrain from internal warfare, (2) resist all foreign aggression, and (3) annihilate all Communists and bandits. Report states Sung informed subordinates that suppression of bandits and Communists is not to be regarded as internal warfare. In a separate manifesto to soldiers of the 29th Army General Sung admonishes them to (1) support the unification of the country and carry out the orders of the Central Government, (2) safeguard the three important attributes of a sovereign state, namely, sovereignty, land and the people, (3) exterminate Communism.
2. No broadcasts from Sian have been heard for 4 or 5 nights. Information of value concerning the exact military position in Sian, Kansu, and the exact relationship between Yang Hu Cheng and Yu Hsueh Chung on the one side and the Communist armies on the other is extremely hard to obtain in Peiping. Many hold to the belief that the situation may yet be settled by negotiation and that no major military operations will occur. The trend in China definitely is in the direction of doing away with internal warfare as far as possible.
By mail to Tokyo.
- Chairman of the Hopei-Chahar Political Affairs Council.↩