Office of the Historian

893.00/14605: Telegram

The Ambassador in China (Johnson) to the Secretary of State

Chungking, December 16, 1940—noon.
[Received December 16—6:40 a.m.]

622. My 612, December 7, 11 a.m., paragraph numbered 1.

1.
The Chinese informant mentioned in my 561, November 6, 11 a.m., informed our Assistant Military Attaché on December 13 that the Communist forces now quartered in Anhwei and Kiangsu have been instructed to move north of the Yangtze by the end of December and north of the Yellow River by the end of January; that the Communists have agreed to move their forces now south of the Yangtze but that they have indicated unwillingness to move north of the Yellow River because transfer of the forces in the winter presents too many difficulties; and that the matter of the transfer of these forces to areas north of the Yellow River accordingly remains unsettled and that the Central Government has not yet decided what measures are to be taken to reach a definitive settlement.
2.
The Embassy has now obtained copy of a telegram allegedly sent by Yeh Ting, commander of the new Fourth Army, to the authorities in Chungking on December 7 which indicated that the new Fourth Army will move northward but is delaying this action pending the [Page 472] receipt of pay in arrear, funds for winter uniforms, pensions for the wounded and killed, ammunition, and increased maintenance expenses.19
Johnson
  1. In despatch No. 2996, September 25, 1944, the Ambassador in China, Gauss, reported that Gen. Ho Ying-chin “a few days ago” had handed him a long telegraphic reply dated December 8, 1940, accusing the Communist forces of violating orders, ignoring instructions, and otherwise disrupting military policy in the war of resistance against Japan (893.00/9–2544).↩