893.00/15038
The Chargé in China (Atcheson) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 25.]
Sir: I have the honor to transmit a memorandum83 by Second Secretary John S. Service describing the unfavorable reaction among Chinese intellectuals to the increasing tendency of the Generalissimo to interfere arbitrarily in cultural matters and to the strict censorship and cultural control of the Kuomintang.
Scholars have traditionally formed a privileged and very influential class in China. They have had an importance far out of proportion to their numbers. The treatment which they have received during the past few years has caused them to lose “face”. Most of them, having had a modern education, dislike the present reactionary trend of that part of the Kuomintang (the C-C group) which controls education and propaganda and is apparently aiming at the exclusion from China of all but Western scientific knowledge. They especially resent the Generalissimo, whom they regard as a poorly educated man, setting himself up in statements to the people and in books such as the recent China’s Destiny, as a “sage”.
If, as seems to be the case, the Generalissimo and the Party have lost prestige and influence among the intellectuals, the effects may be expected to be felt among the people as a whole.
Respectfully yours,
- Not printed.↩