Although as far as is known Mr. Chien was not voicing the Government’s
attitude, it is believed that his views are shared by the majority of
Chinese officials.
[Enclosure]
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Second Secretary of
Embassy in China (Macdonald)
I called on Mr. C. C. Chien yesterday afternoon regarding strategic
materials. Following our discussion he turned the conversation to
Sino-Soviet relations and gave his reasons why he considered war between
Russia and Japan highly desirable from China’s standpoint.
Mr. Chien said that China has not received any supplies from Russia for
the past year. It is his opinion that the Soviets are being ultra
cautious in order not to offend Japan by giving assistance to the
latter’s enemies. Consequently, according to Mr. Chien, Russia will not
give China permission to import supplies from abroad over the northwest
route. He added that China has experienced great difficulty in
negotiating with the Soviets in the past.
I inquired if all the material supplied by Russia has been transported
into China and whether China has fulfilled its barter agreements with
Russia. Mr. Chien replied in the affirmative to both questions.
(According to information from reliable sources, China has not fulfilled
its barter agreements with Russia. A considerable amount of Russian
material which was delivered at Hami and other points by Russia has been
waiting for some time to be transported south by the Chinese.)
Mr. Chien said that if Stalin had been a good statesman he would have
declared war on Japan last December. Mr. Chien resents Russia’s present
argument that a second front in Europe should be established and said
that China also wants and needs a second front in Asia. According to him
there is no possibility that China will receive any assistance from
Russia until that country is involved in war with Japan. He thinks that
the Soviets will exert every effort to avoid hostilities with Japan but
feels confident that Japan will attack Russia thereby opening the second
front which he claims China desires so much.
I remarked that in the event of Russo-Japanese hostilities Russia might
require all supplies and means of transportation available to meet its
own requirements and, therefore, China would be no better off from that
standpoint. To this observation Mr. Chien replied that Russian
assistance will be forthcoming because China will be in a
[Page 84]
better position to negotiate as
soon as Russia becomes involved in war with Japan.
From Mr. Chien’s last remark it is quite obvious that China would open
negotiations on the basis that Chinese resistance might collapse unless
Russian assistance were received. At present such a threat probably
would not influence Russia, which is an important reason why China is so
anxious to see Russo-Japanese hostilities.
In this connection the question also arises whether China would make use
of any assistance received from Russia in prosecuting the present war.
One of the reasons why Russia has stopped sending materials to China is
due to the fact that China has not been making proper use of them in
resisting Japan.
