800.20293/6
The Chargé in China (Atcheson) to the Secretary of State
[Received September 1.]
Sir: With reference to the Embassy’s despatch No. 540 of July 24, 1942,14 in regard to Chinese propaganda, psychological warfare and morale agencies, there is enclosed a copy of despatch No. 6 of July 5, 1943, from the Secretary on detail at Lanchow15 describing the use of wall slogans by Chinese propaganda agencies in the Northwest.
The Embassy is commending Mr. Service for the excellent character of this despatch, which through a careful and inclusive study of the use of wall slogans for propaganda purposes, material hitherto unstudied, reveals to a considerable extent the lines of political thinking of the Kuomintang, with the latter’s insistence on the leadership principle and the primacy of the Party, and the evident seriousness of the problems which face the Central Government, such as provincialism, conscription, grain collection, opium growing and Mohammedan dissidence.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[Page 298]Mr. Service expresses doubt that these slogans have a popular appeal to the masses of people, vast numbers of whom cannot read, and feels that the failure of the Party to devise new and original slogans (there has been no change in the character of the slogans used since the beginning of Sino-Japanese hostilities) to keep up the interest of the people and to meet the changing conditions of the war seems to indicate a growing sterility and deterioration of Kuomintang propaganda.
Respectfully yours,
- Not printed, but see report of July 10, 1942, by the Third Secretary of Embassy in China to the Ambassador in China, Foreign Relations, 1942, China, p. 202.↩
- Not printed.↩