800.00B Communist International/300
Memorandum by Mr. Augustus S. Chase of the Division of Far Eastern Affairs
Information received by the Department indicates that the differences between the Chinese Communists and the Chinese National Government at Chungking are probably of too fundamental a nature to be susceptible of adjustment by amicable negotiation. While an armed clash does not yet appear imminent, it is increasingly apparent that Chungking is determined to liquidate the Communists, and that, if the extreme anti-Communist elements in the Kuomintang retain their present influence, Chungking will not hesitate to attempt to suppress the Communists by force at some favorable opportunity.
[Page 255]The attitude of the Soviet Union toward the dispute is of course a factor of vital importance, upon which the outbreak and the outcome of civil war between the Chinese Communists and Chungking might well depend.
Information on the recent relations between the Chinese Communists and the Soviet Union is extremely limited and provides no indication of the extent to which the Soviet Union has supported, and might continue to support, the Communists in their present conflict with Chungking. Reports from available sources in China throw no light on the subject. However, it does not appear that the possibilities of obtaining information from sources in Russia have been exhausted.
The attached draft telegram to Moscow88 has been prepared in the light of the foregoing considerations. It is believed that such an effort to elicit what information on this subject may be available to the Embassy is timely in view of the recent dissolution of the Comintern.
- Telegram No. 455, infra. ↩