893.00/15104
The Consul at Kweilin (Ringwalt) to the Chargé in China (Atcheson)16
Sir: I have the honor to report hereunder the substance of an interview with Mr. Liang Shu-ming, well-known promoter of experiments in Village Self-Government in Honan and Shantung Provinces, and a prominent member of the Federation of Chinese Democratic Parties. Mr. Liang agreed to talk freely with the undersigned only on condition that his anonymity be strictly safeguarded. The views expressed in this report, it must be understood, are those of Mr. Liang and not necessarily those of the undersigned.
Summary. The political power of the Generalissimo rests on the common and national will to expel the enemy from China. However, in recent years he has tended more and more to mistake national popularity as his own private possession, and to concentrate to a greater and greater degree political power in his own hands. With this increasing tendency to monopolize all political power, has arisen ineptness in all forms of government and the present political structure is becoming increasingly insecure; its eventual fall is inevitable. In such an event, there should be a minimum of disorder, as the will of the Chinese people for national resistance remains constant. The Federation of Chinese Democratic Parties does not believe in the overthrow of the Kuomintang, but rather in its reform from a party of national monopoly to one of national cooperation. The present role of the Federation, which is daily increasing in prestige and authority, is to develop a liaison for all political groups in China, consolidation of the ideals of the various parties and interests, and the preparation of a political program to serve as a guide when the crisis arrives. This problem should not prove to be too difficult of solution as the political struggle in China is not for class domination, which tends to divide the people, but for national independence, which serves to unite them.
[Here follows detailed report.]17
Respectfully yours,
- Copy transmitted to the Department by the Chargé in China in his despatch No. 1458, August 13; received September 3.↩
- In a memorandum dated September 23 Troy L. Perkins of the Division of Far Eastern Affairs observed: “Mr. Liang is perhaps too optimistic in regard to the ability of the spirit of resistance alone to carry on should China’s leader pass out of the picture, with the factional strife which would probably ensue. The Federation of Chinese Democratic Parties is not an antagonist of the Kuomintang; it hopes mainly to ameliorate the shortcomings of that party and to effect eventually cooperation of all parties.” (893.00/15104)↩