033.1193 Currie, Lauchlin/23
The Ambassador in China ( Johnson ) to the Secretary of State
[Received March 22.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to my telegram no. 78, dated February 28, 12 noon, regarding the visit of Mr. Lauchlin Currie and Mr. Emile Despres and to submit as of possible interest to the Department the following remarks relative to their sojourn in Chungking.
The Generalissimo sent Mr. Hollington K. Tong, Vice Minister of the Central Publicity Board, to Hong Kong to meet Mr. Currie and accompany him to Chungking. The Chinese Government provided a special plane and the party arrived at the Chungking airport on Friday morning, February 7. They were met by Mr. Drumright, Second Secretary of Embassy, and Major McHugh, Assistant Naval Attaché, and officials from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Finance, Economic Affairs and Communications. Following introductions to the members of the reception committee, Mr. Currie and Mr. Despres were brought to my house by Mr. Drumright and Major McHugh. I had a luncheon party that day to which all members of the Embassy staff were invited.
After luncheon I took Mr. Currie to call on the Generalissimo. Mr. Currie presented President Roosevelt’s personal greeting to General Chiang Kai-shek.
[Page 606]On Saturday, February 8, I accompanied Mr. Currie on official calls on the various Ministers and other high-ranking officials. On February 12 we were received by Mr. Lin Sen, Chairman of the National Govermnent of China.
The Chinese Government provided Mr. Currie with the best available quarters in Chungking and after spending his first three days as my guest he moved into the house provided by the Government. Every effort was made by the Government to provide all possible comforts and conveniences for the visitors. They were also assigned two motor cars for their personal use.
On Monday, February 10, Mr. Currie began his discussions. The first several days were spent interviewing bankers and officials of the Ministry of Finance. Among the numerous persons interviewed the first few days were Dr. H. H. Kung, Minister of Finance; Mr. Hsi Te-mou, General Manager of the Central Bank of China; Mr. Y. C. Koo, General Manager of the Farmers Bank of China; Mr. Hsu Pai-yuan, Assistant General Secretary of the combined office of the Central Bank of China, Bank of China, Bank of Communications and the Farmers Bank of China; Mr. Hsu Kan, Vice Minister of Finance; Mr. K. P. Chen, Chairman of the Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank; and Mr. Tsuyee Pei, Manager of the Hong Kong branch of the Central Bank of China, who flew to Chungking from Hong Kong at the request of Mr. Currie.
Following the above interviews conversations were continued with Dr. Wong Wen-hao, Minister for Economic Affairs, various other officials in the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Mr. Chang Kai-ngau, Minister of Communications; Mr. Peng Hsueh-pei, Vice Minister of Communications; Mr. W. Tan, Managing Director of the Yunnan-Burma Highway Transport Administration; General Ho Ying-chin, Minister of War; General Pai Chung-hsi, Deputy Chief of the General Staff; General Shang Chen; Mr. T. F. Chiang, Director of the Department of Political Affairs, Executive Yuan; and other high-ranking military observers.
Among other persons with whom Mr. Currie had extended conversations were Mr. F. B. Lynch, American Advisor to the Central Bank of China; Mr. J. Freeman, American Advisor to the Central Bank of China; Mr. W. Wesselius, American National Red Cross; Mr. Frank Price, Professor of Theology at the Nanking University now at Chengtu; and Mr. G. Stein, an Austrian refugee economist who now publishes a news letter on Far Eastern affairs.
The above list does not include all the officials and other persons whom Mr. Currie saw and many of those mentioned above were interviewed several times.
[Page 607]Mr. Currie had several long discussions with the Generalissimo and was the guest of General and Madame Chiang Kai-shek from Saturday, February 15 to Monday, February 17.
Mr. Currie received the leading American missionaries at a tea one afternoon. Among those attending were Mr. G. Fitch, Secretary of the Y. M. C. A.; and Dr. Hawk and Mr. W. A. McCurdy of the Methodist Episcopal Mission, Chungking.
Mr. Currie had the opportunity of having a long talk with Mr. Chou En-lai who is the Chinese communist liaison officer in Chungking. As of possible interest to the Department the following facts are related regarding this interview. Mr. Currie expressed a desire to see Mr. Chou En-lai but since he was an official guest of the Chinese Government he considered it inadvisable to see Mr. Chou without consulting the Generalissimo. He spoke to Mr. Hollington Tong, Vice Minister of Publicity and one of General Chiang’s closest confidants, about the proposed meeting and although Mr. Tong saw no objection he suggested that the matter be mentioned to the Generalissimo. During a visit to the Generalissimo the following day Mr. Currie broached the subject and General Chiang said that he had no objection whatsoever to Mr. Currie meeting Mr. Chou but he thought it would be better if Mr. Chou did not call on Mr. Currie and suggested that the meeting be arranged to take place somewhere else. The British Ambassador, Sir Archibald Kerr Clark Kerr, had spoken to Mr. Currie about Chou En-lai a few days before and offered to have him to tea if Mr. Currie desired to meet him. After receiving the Generalissimo’s approval of such a meeting Mr. Currie spoke to Sir Archibald and the following day he and Mr. Chou were invited to tea at the British Embassy. There were no other guests besides Mr. Currie, Mr. Chou and Mr. Despres. Lady Clark Kerr joined them later for a few minutes. Upon returning from the tea Mr. Currie remarked to Mr. Macdonald and Major McHugh that he did not find Mr. Chou particularly radical and that he considered him interesting and sympathetic. In order to avoid any publicity or speculation by the press regarding the reasons for this interview extreme caution was taken to see that Mr. Currie’s meeting with Mr. Chou En-lai was not made public.
I assured Mr. Currie upon his arrival that all the facilities of the Embassy were at his disposal and not to hesitate to call upon any member of the staff for assistance. Second Secretary Macdonald and Major McHugh, Assistant Naval Attaché, spent their entire time with Mr. Currie and Mr. Despres during their visit here and assisted them in receiving visitors, collecting data and performing any other duties that helped facilitate their mission.
[Page 608]The Chinese Government made every effort to assist Mr. Currie in obtaining the information he desired. The Generalissimo told Mr. Currie to let him know at once if there was any difficulty in obtaining data and that he would see to it himself that it was forthcoming. Dr. H. H. Kung detailed one of his special secretaries to assist Mr. Currie and the Central Bank of China likewise detailed one of its officials from the Economic Research Department to be of whatever assistance he could. Numerous statisticians and government officials worked late into the night preparing data. Several officials remarked that memoranda had been prepared in a few days for Mr. Currie that ordinarily would have taken several weeks or months.
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Mr. Currie’s visit undoubtedly accomplished a good purpose. All members of the Chinese Government feel more confident of the future as they look upon Mr. Currie’s visit as definite evidence that the United States is seriously interested in China’s future and is determined to continue giving additional assistance.
The visit of Mr. Currie and his investigations may be compared in a way to an audit since it brought to the attention of the Chinese Government more clearly many of the weaknesses and problems facing the nation. An excellent opportunity was afforded for a thorough check-up of the country’s present state of affairs and the chance to discuss major problems with an economic expert. During the past several months China’s economic position has been the country’s greatest worry and officials have been uncertain as to what course they should pursue. There has been a growing feeling that American expert advice was essential. In this connection I wish to refer to my despatch no. 738, dated January 2, 1941, entitled “Opinion of Vice Minister of Finance regarding China’s Financial Condition”.
Mr. Currie’s visit has given the Government considerable encouragement and undoubtedly Mr. Currie has given the officials valuable advice which they unquestionably appreciate.
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Respectfully yours,