Office of the Historian

893.00/14615: Telegram

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

Chungking, December 28, 1940—11 a.m.
[Received 2:07 p.m.]

638. My 622, December 16, noon, Kuomintang-Communist relations.

1.
General Shang Chen, Hake [who is?] now Director of the [Page 475] General Office of the Military Affairs Commission in Chungking, yesterday informed an officer of the Embassy that there has been no recent marked change in Kuomintang-Communist relations. He asserted, however, that in addition to the new Fourth Army, which has been instructed to complete its transfer north of the Yellow River by the end of January, those Eighteenth Group Army units now quartered south of the Yellow River have been instructed to move north of that stream by the end of the present month. He went on to say that the Communist forces concerned had indicated that they would comply with the instructions of the central authorities but that they had requested a time extension which the Central Government is considering. He did not indicate what action if any the Communist forces have already taken to comply with the demands of the Government. General Shang emphasized that the chief desideratum of the National Government is that the Communist units shall comply with its instructions; otherwise they must be regarded in the same category as bandits. He declared that the Communist forces have been inactive against the Japanese, citing the Japanese construction of the railway from Tehchow to Shihchiachuang as evidence; and that the Communists have constantly been expanding their control in the so-called occupied areas and spreading propaganda. He went on to say the National Government could no longer tolerate these actions on the part of the Communists and indicated that the present plans of the Government for the removal of the Communists from Central China are directly related to this problem. He also asserted that the Communist military leaders are willing to comply with the orders of the Chungking Government and that it is chiefly the Communist civilian authorities headed by Mao Tse Tung who are adopting obstructive tactics.
2.
It is the Embassy’s view that since it seems now physically impossible for the various Communist units to comply with the transfer demands of the Government within the set time limit, the latter will probably grant a time extension. It seems not unlikely that if the Communists actually commence to move northward—as they probably will—several months must elapse before the transfer can be completed.
Johnson