740.0011 Pacific War/3541
The Ambassador in China (Gauss) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 18.]
Sir: Referring to the Embassy’s telegram no. 1649, September 7, 4 p.m. in regard to the Chinese attitude toward a campaign for the recapture of Burma, I have the honor to enclose a copy of a memorandum on this subject, dated October 20, 1943,85 prepared for General Stilwell by Second Secretary of Embassy John S. Service, attached to General Stilwell’s Headquarters.
Summary. Chinese public opinion is generally hopeful of an early campaign for the recapture of Burma and the reopening of the Burma Road. The public has been led by Allied propaganda to believe that [Page 155] such a campaign will be conducted with the coming of the dry season and feels that the success of the campaign will enable China to receive sufficient war supplies for its armed forces and to solve some of its economic problems through the import of needed materials. There will be widespread disappointment among the Chinese people if the campaign does not take place. The press, under strict government control, may be expected to be moderate in its criticism but public resentment, if the Burma drive is abandoned or delayed, is certain to result in an increase in the already existing distrust of Great Britain, which may be directed, to a lesser degree, against the United States. Among higher government circles alone does there seem to be an exception to this attitude. They realize the difficulties of the campaign, the possibility of failure if full British support is not forthcoming, the relatively small amount of supplies which China might expect to receive via a reopened Burma Road and the possible wisdom from the Chinese standpoint of having the war fought around rather than across China, i. e. along the Singapore route. An off-the-record press conference held by Admiral Mountbatten during his recent visit to Chungking, at which Chinese editors and foreign newspapermen were present, gave them the impression that Admiral Mountbatten’s primary interest was in Singapore and that there would be no Burma drive. The Chinese press has, however, so far been only mildly critical of such a strategy. End of summary.
Dr. Sun Fo, President of the Legislative Yuan, in an article recently published in the National Herald, the local English language daily, voiced the opinion that the opening of the Burma Road would mean little to China in the way of supplies and that the real solution lay in the recapture by Allied forces of a port on the southeast coast of China. This is not the view of the man in the street, however, who feels that the opening of the Burma Road will result in the import of commercial commodities as well as military supplies. Chinese merchants are said to have made large purchases in India with a view to the import of goods over the Burma Road and large quantities of hoarded goods are reported to have been placed on the market in recent months against the arrival of new stocks from India. One Chinese newspaper correspondent has privately stated that even though only military supplies would be allowed to be transported via the Burma Road, the Chinese proclivity for smuggling would ensure the importation of large quantities of commercial products into China by that route. This informant expressed the opinion that there would be deep disappointment among the Chinese people if the Burma campaign were not undertaken and that its effect would be seen in the increasing seriousness of the Chinese economic situation.
Respectfully yours,
- Not printed.↩