793.94/16734: Telegram
The Counselor of Embassy in China (Butrick) to the Secretary of State
[Received 3:50 p.m.]
The same source mentioned in my June 25, 11 a.m., to Chungking, reports that Mao Tse-tung, the titular and actual head of the Chinese Communists, has issued an order to all his supporters subsequently [substantially?] as follows.
- 1.
- In order to recover a united front against Japan and other aggressor nations during the world crisis, avoid all conversations [activities?] with [against?] Kuomintang persons or policies and cease promoting further antagonism against the Kuomintang.
- 2.
- The German-Soviet war shows that the Soviet stands for the democratic way of living against all forms of Fascism. Unless Russia is betrayed by England and America which is not likely we can count on continued Russian resistance. We must therefore support England, America and Russia in fighting our common enemy.
- 3.
- Discredit anti-Communist slogans and propaganda. Demonstrate our genuine desire to establish real democracy in China. Under present conditions this is more important than any of the internal issues dividing us from the Kuomintang or other parties.
The above is probably authentic and may be expected to have an excellent effect on Chungking’s efforts to restore the so-called united front. The North China Japanese-controlled press, after a period of comparative silence, has recently begun a virulent campaign against [Page 527] the Communists’ influences and this seems to indicate that the Japanese now realize that their efforts to break the united front are on the point of failure.
While guerrilla warfare continues sporadically in North China, it is no longer very effective. The Chinese people prefer the continued security afforded them by the Japanese to the temporary successes of the guerrillas who thereafter retreat and leave them to be the victims of severe Japanese reprisals.
Sent to Chungking, repeated the Department and Shanghai.