711.93/543: Telegram
The Ambassador in China (Gauss) to the Secretary of State
[Received 6:10 p.m.]
2422. United States Army HQ has been informed by an “official British source” that Chinese Government circles here are deeply agitated over an article by Nathaniel Peffer in New York Times Magazine [Page 183] November13 or December 7 in which Mme. Chiang’s hypocritical utterances during her United States tour and China’s political corruption and combat inefficiency are “candidly discussed”.
While frank and just criticism of China and China’s war effort is undoubtedly beneficial in various respects (see Embassy’s despatch 1695, October 18[)], we are left in a difficult position in meeting Chinese resentment against it if not promptly and accurately informed in regard to published criticism of China in the United States and it would be helpful to us if the Department would promptly telegraph to us a résumé of any such recent article. Pearl Buck article in a May issue of Life, July IPR article by Bisson, Baldwin article in August Reader’s Digest—all of which caused widespread repercussions here as we reported fully at the time—reached us only indirectly long after publication and not only was our position made more difficult because of those circumstances but we were seriously handicapped in our endeavors to meet the situation in an appropriate way.
- November 7, 1943.↩