793.94/14240: Telegram
The Ambassador in China (Johnson) to the Secretary of State
[Received 12:10 p.m.]
519. Central News carries account [of] opening People’s Political Council October 28 and digest of message from Chiang Kai Shek in which he made deductions encouraging to China from the Japanese drive into South China which he asserted evidenced increasing exhaustion and gave China military advantages. He said Chinese Government policy had always been to reconstruct West China into base for consolidation of national strength and that “the war has been going as China had previously planned—not only have military plans been completed but also political organizations have been established in the areas under Japanese occupation”. He concluded by hoping [Page 350] that members of the Council would effectively build up political and economic bases in the rear and stimulate populace in occupied areas and expressed confidence that thus “the materialization of China’s plans to crush the enemy will come to pass in the near future.”
Repeated to Peiping.