Foreign Relations of the United States Diplomatic Papers, 1941, The Far East, Volume V

893.00/14743

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

No. 9

Chungking, June 2, 1941.
[Received June 19.]

Sir:

1. I have the honor to refer to this Embassy’s despatch no. 835, April 15, 1941,⁹² in regard to Kuomintang-communist relations, and to enclose as of probable interest to the Department, a copy of a memorandum⁹² prepared by an officer of the Embassy⁹³ as the result of a conversation held with Mr. Chou En-lai, Chinese communist leader and liaison agent, on the evening of May 30, 1941.

2. Mr. Chou confirmed reports already available to the Embassy from authoritative Government sources to the effect that the past few weeks have seen no significant changes in Kuomintang-communist relations. Recent negotiations are reported to have been confined to a single conference held between General Chiang Kai-shek and Mr. Chou which took place about the middle of May. At that conference General Chiang is reported to have “requested” (not instructed) the Eighteenth Group Army to cooperate in attacking the Japanese forces which were endeavoring to dislodge the Chinese forces stationed in the Chungtiao mountain range of south Shansi. Mr. Chou, according to a source close to General Chiang, is reported to have given assurances that the Eighteenth Group Army would participate in the operations against the Japanese. However, according to reports emanating from Government sources in the latter part of May, no reports had yet been received of participation by the Eighteenth Group Army in the fighting in Shansi.

3. It will be seen from the enclosed memorandum that Mr. Chou asserts that units of the Eighteenth Group Army have been in action against the Japanese in Shansi since about May 20; that reports to that effect have been received by Government sources in Chungking; and that there appears to be a plot on foot in Chungking to keep from the public the news that the Eighteenth Group Army is active in the south Shansi campaign in the hope of discrediting the Eighteenth Group Army and the Communist Party.

4. Reference to the Embassy’s telegram no. 198, May 21, 6 p.m.⁹² will show that charges of inactivity have recently been leveled at the Eighteenth Group Army in the Chungking press, especially by the independent and influential Ta Kung Pao. There has accordingly developed an interesting exchange of views between the editors of that journal and Mr. Chou En-lai. These articles have been published and are being translated and will be made the subject of a separate despatch.

5. It will thus be seen that the Japanese campaign in Shansi has introduced a new element into Kuomintang-communist relations: the charge that the Eighteenth Group Army is not cooperating with other Government forces in this decisive struggle and the counter-assertion of Mr. Chou En-lai that this Army is cooperating but is the object of a press campaign to impugn its actions and motives. In the light of the information available in Chungking, it would be difficult to undertake an evaluation of these claims and counterclaims.

6. These claims and counterclaims seem to suggest, however, that the Eighteenth Group Army was not active in the early stages of the current battle for supremacy in south Shansi; that the Eighteenth Group Army perhaps joined in the battle against the Japanese in the closing days of May; and that the attacks of the Eighteenth Group Army, when started, were probably not on a scale reminiscent of the attacks of communist troops on Japanese lines of communications in 1937 and 1938.

7. It is to be hoped that Japanese propaganda and increased Japanese military pressure will serve to remove some of the tension which has existed between the Kuomintang and communists and will pave the way for closer cooperation between the two factions. It would appear that the Japanese operations in Shansi have resulted in a slight resurrection of that collaboration which has been missing for these many months. It may be that the Japanese have taken the step which will bring about some semblance of unity between the opposing groups.

Respectfully yours,

C. E. Gauss

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93. Everett F. Drumright, Second Secretary.
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